Ken Behring Says His Team, Whatever the Name Is, Will Be in L.A. ‘Very Soon’

Ken Behring, owner of the Seattle Seahawks, said Saturday he is committed to immediately bringing his football team to Los Angeles with the dream of moving into a state-of-the-art football facility for the 1998 or 1999 season.

In his first interview since announcing in a statement that the Seahawks were leaving Seattle, Behring said his organization is close to finalizing details with the Magnolia School District for the use of Rams Park in Anaheim, and he said his team will be moving there “very soon,” as soon as this week.

Speaking from his Danville, Calif., land developing offices, he said he has not contacted the Rose Bowl because of legal considerations, but his intention is to have his team play there on an interim basis.

“We couldn’t contact the Rose Bowl yet because we don’t want any possibility of Seattle starting legal action to take the team away from us,” he said. “It just depends on when our legal counsel determines we can do that, but I can tell you this, I’m committed to Los Angeles.”

Behring, who is expected to tour the Rams Park facility Monday, said his first order of business will be finding a Southern California partner, and he said he will concentrate his efforts on the entertainment industry here, including the Walt Disney Co.

“A partner from the area helps us meet people much faster and lets us know what people here are looking for,” said Behring, who owns more than 95% of the Seahawks. “We want to do everything we can to make this the type of team people will like. We want to have a great stadium, a stadium that still has some reasonably priced seats available for people.”

He said he has no deal in place with a prospective minority owner or no understanding as such with Michael Ovitz, a close friend who is now president of Disney. He said that won’t preclude Ovitz from possibly becoming his partner at some time, but he said Ovitz’s ties to Disney and Disney’s reluctance to attach itself to a team leaving another city have forced him to be cautious in his dealings with Ovitz.

“I’m a Californian, and this is where I want to be,” Behring said. “We’re going to come down there with all the advantages of an expansion team and yet still have the advantage of having an organization in place. We’re leaving all logos, pictures, trophies, stationary, everything behind and starting out as Los Angeles’ team.”

Behring, 67, said he will let the area determine the name of the team, whether it be by contest or some other idea suggested, and he indicated his son, David, who is president of the team, will be moving to Los Angeles immediately to oversee the organization.

“We’ll let the people decide the colors for the team too,” Behring said. “We want this to be an L.A. team all the way.”

In Washington, a King County judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order Friday, but the Seahawks have interpreted that to mean the team cannot be sold or play its home games anywhere besides the Kingdome. They do not believe it keeps them from moving their administrative offices and practice facilities here.

“The most that could happen if everything goes bad is flying up to Seattle a certain length of time for Sunday games in the Kingdome,” Behring said. “But I don’t know how they can make us go in there.

“We know morally we can’t play in the Kingdome. We cannot take the liability, morally or financially, to play in a place where we are fully aware of the dangers. Their own report addresses the seismic concerns.”

For that reason, Behring said, he does not expect the NFL to block the Seahawks’ move to Los Angeles. He said he will present his case to fellow owners at this week’s meetings in Chicago.

“We have been working with the NFL for the last year, and we will try to do everything within the rules when we start talking about a permanent site for a stadium,” he said. “But who knows?

“But then what team owner is going to let his players play in a stadium when they are aware that if an earthquake comes, people will be injured or killed?” Behring said. “I don’t know of anybody willing to take that liability on.”

Behring said he is familiar with all the sites that have been mentioned in the Los Angeles area for the construction of a football stadium, but he said he has conducted no negotiations with anyone at this time. Anaheim city officials, in exchange for their cooperation in providing Rams Park, believe they will have a six-month window of opportunity to court Behring.

“I don’t know who will want us,” Behring said. “We want to get started as soon as possible and have a new stadium by at least 1999. I’d like it to be 1998.”

Behring said he can foresee no scenario in which a deal could be struck to remain in Seattle. And although King County officials are urging him to sell the team, he said, “That would only be the last resort. I’m sure that’s what they [King County] would like to see happen, but it would be absolutely the last resort. I don’t need the money.”

Behring said he tried to negotiate a settlement with King County officials, but instead he became a target of insults and duplicitous conduct.

“They decided to make a vicious personal attack, while we tried to do it the other way,” he said. “They said they were going to get back to us, but they went out and filed a lawsuit. They absolutely lied.

“We have not gotten anything [from King County]. They have no money to spend. They put $320 million into baseball, and that finished them. It will be a long time before they spend any money on another sports franchise. Maybe if they get a local owner--I wasn’t a local owner.”

Behring, who was labeled a “rogue and bum” by one sports columnist in the Washington area, said the fact he was not a local owner doomed his stay in Seattle.

“I’ve taken a beating from the day I went up to Seattle to own the team,” Behring said. “Right away they pegged me as a ‘rich California developer,’ the three most hated words in the dictionary, as they say so often. They drove George Argyros [former owner of the Mariners, who resides in Orange County] out, and he’s a great person. It was just never a good relationship; they treated me as an outsider.

“When I purchased the team I guess I thought it was a business, but it is more than a business. You have to get more involved, but I had so many things going on, and I wasn’t able to devote enough time to it. I learned a lot and don’t intend to make the same mistakes in Los Angeles.”

The move of the Seahawks, on the heels of the Cleveland Browns’ proposed move to Baltimore, has raised the ire of many football fans, but Behring said it all comes to down to stadium revenue and competition for free agents.

“Football cannot survive in cities where a few teams do not have the stadium income to compete with others. We’re down now to only a few teams with such problems, but cities have to improve stadiums or they will have to move. I could fill up every seat and every luxury box--I have no advertising revenue, no parking revenue--and I would have $2 million a year. That’s not counting money made from tickets sold. But in the same situation, there are teams like St. Louis that will make between $20 million and $40 million a year.

“I can’t compete in the free agent market; I don’t mind breaking even, but I don’t see why I should lose money. You have to have a stadium to provide you that income to bring players in. I’m not coming here for greed. I have more than enough money now. I’m at an age now where I have a dream.

“One of the reasons I’m coming down there is because it’s the best city in the world to do something like that. I want to do things for education and make a difference. I want our young players to be role models, and I want to see maybe the NFL Experience, retail stores and a huge complex surrounding a football stadium. I don’t know yet if that can be done, but I want the people of Los Angeles to become a part of our organization.”

Behring, however, is prepared to lose money in the short term while setting up residence in the Rose Bowl. He said he hopes his team, which finished 8-8 with a 6-2 stretch run under new Coach Dennis Erickson, will excite people here. He said the team has made a huge financial commitment to running back Chris Warren and quarterback Rick Mirer.

“I think we’re going to be more than competitive,” he said. “I don’t want to oversell the team, but I feel we have the possibilities of being very much a winning team. I was very naive when I purchased the team, and I made mistakes. I purchased a very old team and didn’t change it right away. But we’re on the right track now.”

Behring said he is not concerned about Los Angeles’ reputation for not supporting pro football in recent years. “We’re one team that is willing to take a chance,” he said. “My life has been spent in marketing. I’m not afraid to come there.”

Behring said he will build or buy a home in Los Angeles and will hire a marketing and sales team from the Los Angeles area, while bringing most of his front-office employees along with the team.

“We know how we can do the football end of things, but we’re still learning and working on the permanent site for a new stadium and all that is involved with that,” Behring said. “You know, it’s actually kind of fun being the free agent for a change after having dealt with free agents for so long.”

* LEMON OR LIMELIGHT?

Used-car magnate sputtered in Seattle, so he’s trying to drive team to Southland. C9