NFL Checks Out Irvine’s Proposed Stadium Site

Irvine’s longshot bid to attract an NFL franchise gained a degree of credibility Monday when league officials visited the city for the first time, touring the area and the proposed stadium site at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Base.

“I was very pleased they even considered coming,” Irvine Mayor Christina L. Shea said.

Shea headed a delegation of city officials and business leaders that welcomed NFL President Neil Austrian, executive vice president for league and football development Roger Goodell and Carolina Panther owner Jerry Richardson, chairman of the NFL stadium committee.

“We were very impressed with not only the site but with the leadership in Irvine and their efforts to bring the National Football League to that area,” Goodell said.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, in town partly to assess potential stadium sites in the Los Angeles area, did not join in the visit to Irvine.

With the revival of the Cleveland Browns this fall, the NFL will include 31 teams. Once the Browns are up and running, Goodell said, the league will decide whether to award an expansion franchise. Southern California, Houston and possibly Toronto rank as the leading candidates for a team that probably will not play before 2001.

“There is that window of opportunity for the return of a team to Los Angeles,” Goodell said.

That comment did not reflect an official NFL preference for Los Angeles over Orange County, Goodell said. The NFL delegation is scheduled to explore Los Angeles County sites this week, including the Coliseum, Hollywood Park, the South Park area near the site where the Staples Center is under construction and a possible stadium and mall complex in Carson.

“We haven’t ranked the sites,” Goodell said. “We want to evaluate every one of the sites on its merits.”

Shea suggested Irvine must act now or hold its peace until well into the next century. She also said she believed the league is sincere in its discussions with Irvine, not simply using the city’s interest for leverage in dealings with potential Los Angeles sites.

“I didn’t sense that at all,” she said. “I did get the sense that, if Southern California can’t pull this off now, it’s not going to happen. I think you’re looking at 32 teams and that’s it for the long term.”

League officials stressed to Shea that the NFL would not consider Irvine--or any other site--without a firm stadium financing plan. The city has yet to produce one, though Shea is confident Irvine can raise enough money from naming rights, corporate sponsorships and personal seat licenses to construct a $250 million stadium without tapping tax revenues.

Goodell would not discuss whether the Irvine delegation alerted the NFL to a possible battle between the city and county over the proposed stadium site. The 440-acre parcel that would include the stadium falls within the city limits, but county officials dispute Shea’s contention that the city can develop the parcel without the approval of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, charged with overseeing El Toro land use after the base closes.

The stadium could work with or without the proposed international airport at El Toro, Shea said.

Shea cited less crime, wealthier county demographics, and convenient access from freeways and toll roads as reasons the NFL should consider Irvine over Los Angeles. The NFL should ask itself where it prefers to locate not just for now, Shea said, but for the next two or three decades.

“I think we can basically say it’s going to be a strong and safe community here,” she said. “What’s it going to be like in L.A.?”

Shea said she hopes to meet with Austrian and Goodell next month at the NFL offices in New York.