Anaheim Says Disney, Big A Top Its Agenda

City officials said Thursday they would welcome the Seattle Seahawks if the football team ever decides to move here, but they emphasized that their top priority is negotiations with Walt Disney Co. over the renovation of Anaheim Stadium, a condition of Disney’s partial purchase of baseball’s California Angels.

“Football is important to us, but so are a lot of other things,” said City Manager James D. Ruth.

Sources in Seattle said Thursday the team was preparing to move to the Los Angeles area next season, with Anaheim rumored to be a possible destination. Seahawk and Seattle officials met Thursday but no announcement was made.

Ruth downplayed the notion that Anaheim is in serious negotiations with the Seahawks to play in Anaheim and would say only that there have been “some discussions.” He would not elaborate.

Ruth said the city is determined to reach agreement with Disney over Anaheim Stadium renovations that could cost as much as $110 million. A March 17 deadline has been set by Disney, which can walk away from the baseball deal if an agreement with the city is not reached.

“The timing of this is difficult because we have a lot of issues on the plate,” Ruth said. “It’s a matter of making all of the pieces fit.”

Ruth said he does not expect the city’s interest in a football team to affect the stadium negotiations with Disney. He said those talks have not involved Disney investing in a football stadium.

Disney Sports Enterprises officials, who operate the Mighty Ducks professional hockey team and would handle day-to-day operations of the Angels, did not want to comment Thursday.

“Right now we’re hearing a lot of different things,” Sports Enterprises spokesman Bill Robertson said. “We don’t want to comment on anything that’s not a deal.”

Ruth acknowledged that if the Seahawks were to make Anaheim their permanent home, it could create some logistics problems. If an agreement is reached with Disney, Anaheim Stadium, currently a two-sport facility although without a football team, would probably be undergoing renovations to return it to a more intimate, baseball-only park.

A renovated Big A and a brand-new football stadium are already components of Sportstown Anaheim, the city’s proposed sports, entertainment, retail and office complex slated to be built on 159 acres of stadium property. Its undetermined price tag would be funded with private money, Anaheim officials have said.

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At the time of the unveiling last month, Ruth said the city would know “within 90 days” if it was going to land a football team this year. On Thursday, he confirmed that he was talking about the Seahawks.

Regardless of any Disney involvement, it is clear that Anaheim badly wants a football franchise to replace the Rams, particularly as an important component of its Sportstown project.

“Football is a very important element,” said Councilman Lou Lopez. “Anaheim really is a sports town and we want to have sports on a year-round basis.”

Still, many wonder how Anaheim, operating under a bare-bones budget the last few years, can come up with money for a renovated baseball stadium and a new football stadium.

“It’s a mighty jigsaw puzzle with a lot of pieces,” said former Disneyland President Jack Lindquist, who was co-chairman of Save the Rams, a group that sought to keep that team in Anaheim before it moved to St. Louis last year.

“It would be great if it could all come together,” Lindquist said. “But it’s going to take a lot of work. The first objective has to be to keep major league baseball in Orange County. The next step is to keep NFL hopes alive for us.”

Some observers said that the ambitious sports complex might give Anaheim an edge in landing a football franchise.

“Sportstown is tremendously attractive,” said Newport Beach-based sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who was also a co-chairman of Save the Rams.

Steinberg added that “Ruth and [Mayor Tom] Daly have been extremely diligent in making contact with a variety of teams.”

Several sources said they would be surprised if Disney did not become involved in football in Anaheim at some point down the road.

Disney has long been wary of being seen as “stealing” another city’s team; it doesn’t want to offend consumers in any market. That’s one reason Disney had expressed more interest in acquiring an expansion team than in buying an existing team, Disney insiders have said.

But certain arrangements--such as having Anaheim acquire the team, then having Disney step in later--could help the company avoid being seen as raiding another city. If Anaheim were to land a team first, Disney could take over some time later, city and Disney sources said.

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this story.