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Negotiations for Proposed Stadium Hit a Snag : Football: Hubbard says that neither NFL nor Raiders have committed to Hollywood Park site.

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TIMES DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR

Negotiations among the Raiders, Hollywood Park and the NFL have hit a snag that could jeopardize the construction of a proposed $200-million, 65,000-seat football stadium in Inglewood.

R.D. Hubbard, chief executive officer of Hollywood Park, said there will be no stadium unless the NFL commits to at least three Super Bowls at the location.

“I’m very pessimistic at this time,” Hubbard said. “The NFL has not committed to what we feel we need to make the deal work. And we’re running out of time.”

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Hubbard said the deal has to be completed by early March if construction is to be completed by September, 1997.

“If this is the way it stands, then there will be no stadium,” he said.

Hubbard’s pessimism may in part reflect the 11th-hour stage the negotiations have reached, combined with the lack of action by the other participants.

The major obstacles remaining deal with commitment rather than resources. There is a preliminary agreement on financing from NationsBank in North Carolina.

The NFL has publicly indicated that it would be willing to help Los Angeles get a state-of-the-art stadium and offered Super Bowls as a way to make it worth the effort. However, no formal promise or plan has been made by the league.

The other major stumbling block remains a commitment from Raider owner Al Davis, who has had a proposed agreement on his desk for several months. Davis has traditionally been a difficult negotiator, choosing to wait until the last minute, always angling for a better deal.

UCLA probably would also play at a Hollywood Park stadium. The school recently disclosed its dislike for the Rose Bowl, at the same time virtually eliminating the Coliseum as a viable home.

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Representatives of the NFL and Raiders could not be reached Thursday night.

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