Anaheim Clippers: Why Not? : Basketball: The Pond looks inviting, but Sterling is convinced that L.A. is the place.

Should the Clippers move to Anaheim?

The NBA’s worst team, the Clippers are also the NBA’s worst draw, averaging 8,057 fans for their first 11 games at the Sports Arena, which will be the NBA’s oldest venue when the Boston Garden closes at the end of the season.

However, they have averaged 17,624 for three regular-season games at The Pond of Anaheim, a state-of-the-art $120-million arena that opened in 1993. The Clippers are in the first year of a three-year agreement that calls for them to play seven games a season--six regular-season games and an exhibition--at The Pond.

When the earthquake left the Clippers homeless last January while the Sports Arena was being repaired, they set a franchise attendance record by drawing 17,507 for a game against the New York Knicks at The Pond.

“When we were able to host the Knicks game last year, I think it proved to the Clippers’ staff that our staff was able to put on a first-class event even if you only give us 36 hours notice,” said John Nicoletti, The Pond’s promotions director.

After attracting 16,976 for an exhibition against the Golden State Warriors at Anaheim last season, they drew 10,590 for an exhibition at the Sports Arena the next night even though all tickets were only $5.

The Pond has everything the Sports Arena, opened in 1959, doesn’t--84 luxury suites on two levels, 1,700 club seats, a private restaurant-bar overlooking the court, spacious locker rooms and a state-of-the-art video scoreboard.

Based on attendance figures and arena amenities alone, moving to The Pond would seem the right move for the Clippers.

But they maintain that staying in Los Angeles is the right move for the long term because they can cut a better arena deal than at The Pond.

They signed a three-year extension of their original 10-year Sports Arena lease last December but it includes a clause enabling them to leave at the end of each season. Under the terms of the original lease, they also have two five-year options, which can be exercised at any time.

By leaving Los Angeles, where they haven’t been able to displace the Lakers in the hearts and minds of fans since moving here from San Diego in 1984, the Clippers might be able to establish their own identity in Anaheim, as did the Angels, who played at Dodger Stadium before moving to Anaheim Stadium.

Clipper owner Donald T. Sterling, who lives and works in Beverly Hills, is adamant about remaining here.

“The owner is very, very firm on it,” said Andy Roeser, Clipper executive vice president. “He’s an L.A. guy and he’s absolutely committed to improving in Los Angeles. And that’s the great thing. At a time when businesses are leaving for Nevada, Colorado and Arizona, I don’t think we get the credit for our commitment to stay.”

Tony Tavares, president of Disney Sports Enterprises, thinks Orange County could support Disney’s Mighty Ducks and the Clippers, but says the Clippers probably won’t move.

“I understand that it’s a difficult decision for them to make,” Tavares said. “Their owner has got a great deal of ties to L.A. and I think that seems to be one of the driving forces behind it. Certainly Orange County has supported the Clippers and shown that they’d do rather well down here, but I try and not make decisions for other teams.”

The Rams’ attendance increased initially after the team moved from the Coliseum to Anaheim Stadium in 1980, but they were unable to maintain the momentum when the team declined and appear set to move to St. Louis.

“I think any time a new pro team comes into an area, there’s a rush of excitement,” a Ram executive said. “It happened with us. But then I think it could be a little tougher. I don’t know that automatically having the NBA in Anaheim can guarantee success.”

Roeser insists that the Clippers will remain in Los Angeles, either at a renovated Sports Arena or a new venue and is confident the team can draw as well in Los Angeles as it has in Anaheim.

“What’s the price you pay for leaving Los Angeles and giving up the opportunity to be the one to build a new arena in this market?” Roeser said. “That’s a huge price to pay, too big.

“It’s not a gamble. It’s going to happen. We are going to (build an arena). It’s a certainty.”

Roeser says the Clippers are considering several arena sites in Los Angeles, including several downtown, and a proposal to renovate the Sports Arena.

Said Roger Kozberg, a member of the Coliseum Commission, which oversees the Coliseum and Sports Arena, “We’ve made it very clear that we’re very hopeful of being able to renovate the Sports Arena and turn it into as close as possible a state-of-the-art venue for professional sports.

“We haven’t done any work other than a lot of planning. We’ve had studies done and they tell us that the footprint of the arena is as good as any in the industry. It’s just really a question of having to renovate so that the sight lines and the seating and the fan and team facilities are comparable with what you’ve got in modern arenas.

“I think the great advantage we have over any possible competing venue in Southern California is that we don’t have to tear down at all. Essentially, what we would do is slice off the top and scoop out the insides and redo it and put the top back on slightly higher in order to get the necessary sight lines and elevation for suites.”

Kozberg said the Clippers would probably have to move out of the Sports Arena for a season while renovations are completed.

But the Clippers have been mulling over renovation proposals for several years without making a decision.

“The cost of the project is between $150 million and $200 million, and $200-million projects don’t just get done overnight,” Roeser said. “If anybody’s guilty, I have to take responsibility, because when we started this process, I probably was a little over-aggressive in my estimates of how quickly it could be accomplished.”

Roeser also said fan reaction to a move to Orange County was not all positive.

“I’ve been surprised by the number of people who’ve been down to The Pond and been back here and have said to me, ‘I like this building better. It’s more comfortable. It’s easier to get to and more relaxed,’ ” he said.

Darla Romick of Arcadia, who has had Clipper season tickets since the team moved to the Sports Arena in 1984, prefers it to The Pond.

“(The Pond) is nice, but it doesn’t feel like home,” she said. “The Sports Arena feels like home for the Clippers. The parking at the Sports Arena is a lot more convenient. For me, it would feel like a loss to see them move to Anaheim.”

Although attendance would probably increase initially, moving to Anaheim might not be a sound financial move, long range, for the Clippers. Disney’s Mighty Ducks, The Pond’s first tenant, control the sale of luxury suites, which range from $70,000 to $100,000 a year, and club seats, which range from $4,000 to $6,900 a season. Disney also controls arena advertising revenue at The Pond.

Under terms of the Ducks’ 30-year lease, Disney gets 100% of all hockey-related advertising and splits the revenue from other arena advertising with the Ogden Corp., which manages The Pond. Disney also gets to sell the advertising for other teams at The Pond.

Disney wouldn’t be willing to give up advertising and ticket revenue to lure the Clippers to The Pond. But the Clippers might be able to get concessions from Ogden, because The Pond, which had 186 events in its first year, might become more profitable with an NBA team adding 41 dates. The price of suites and club seats would probably increase.

“The first franchise in any building is also going to be the one that gets the best share of the revenue,” Nicoletti said. “The second team has the opportunity to share in some of that revenue but can’t make as good a deal as the first team.

“But I think there’s concessions in the Disney contract that would allow for a basketball team in this building. With a second team in the building, there would be three entities that could share in a higher price for the luxury seats and (advertising).”

Tavares said Disney isn’t willing to give up any revenue to get the Clippers to The Pond.

“I do understand that we have indeed cut a pretty good deal here and there isn’t some of the opportunity there would be in another facility for another team,” he said. “We’re not going to give anything up. . . . I like Donald Sterling a whole lot, but we’re certainly not going to write checks to him out of the goodness of our heart.”

The Clippers, who have a season-ticket base of about 3,500, smallest in the NBA, sold nearly all of their season-ticket packages for their seven-game series at The Pond.

The Clippers moved to Los Angeles without NBA permission but would have to get approval from the NBA Board of Governors to move to Anaheim.

That’s because the NBA sued the Clippers after the ’84 move and under the terms of the settlement, Sterling, who forfeited $6 million in expansion fees, agreed that the league has the right to approve all franchise shifts.

However, a league spokesman said the NBA would probably approve the move because Commissioner David Stern would like to have all the league’s teams playing in modern facilities.

“We’re interested in listening to anything that the Clippers can do to upgrade their facility and anything we can do to help them,” said Jan Hubbard, the league’s media relations director.