Will L.A. Turn to Davises?

Thirty-nine days until the NFL’s L.A.-or-Houston deadline, and like a third-down Billy Joe Hobert pass, there’s no telling where it’s going to fall.

But unless the NFL plays Eli Broad, a.k.a. Eli Billionaire, for the fool, and he appears to be warming to the role, there are going to be all kinds of twists and turns, beginning today with billionaire investor Marvin Davis’ first comments on his potential bid to own a team in Los Angeles.

“We’re waiting on the league,” Davis said through spokesman Mike Sitrick, chairman of the public relations firm Sitrick and Co. “They know we’re here and we’re anxious to work with them. It’s their move.”

An NFL spokesman said the league was still considering its alternatives a day after announcing it was no longer exclusively focusing on the Coliseum, but there had been no contact with Davis.

Davis, who has more money than Broad, signed an option on 98 acres of land at Hollywood Park in May with the intent of building a football stadium if the NFL could not do a deal at the Coliseum.

What he does next will not only affect L.A.’s bid for football, but could also zap any plans Raider owner Al Davis might have of returning to L.A.

Marvin Davis paid $100,000 for the first option, which expires in late September, and can pay another $250,000 to extend his control of the land to March 1. A third option would allow him to hold the land for another year for $5 million.

If the NFL awards an expansion team to anyone but Marvin Davis, including the city of Houston, his option at Hollywood Park will expire 10 days later.

More important, if Marvin Davis fails to make headway with the NFL and chooses not to extend his option on Hollywood Park beyond September, a deal has already been struck to sell that land to another developer, who has no interest in using the property for a sports project.

Say good night, Al.

That would leave Al Davis and his football team losing in Oakland, although they have a lawsuit pending against the city of Oakland in an effort to free themselves from a disastrous stadium deal. Free, they would presumably be allowed to move to Sioux City or Des Moines.

Meanwhile, in hindsight, Hollywood Park might have been the location of choice for the NFL five years ago.

“The NFL has basically ignored the piece of property that fit all their requirements,” said R.D. Hubbard, chairman of Hollywood Park. “It had all the permits and the public contribution.

“We were asked by Los Angeles Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas to back off and we did. But the whole Coliseum deal was a longshot from Day 1. I think the leadership of the NFL never really wanted to go to the Coliseum but wouldn’t step up and say that. That has kept everything in confusion.”

Unlike the NFL, Hubbard had the situation handicapped correctly early on. The NFL did not want to return to the Coliseum, but did so and then learned it could not build the fancy stadium it required to satisfy its owners because of historical landmark restrictions. Too late, though, to return to Hollywood Park.

Churchill Downs recently bought the horse track and casino at Hollywood Park, leaving a little more than 140 acres for development. Hollywood Park sold 42 acres of that land to Home Depot recently.

“When we signed the option with Marvin Davis, we basically washed our hands of the football situation,” Hubbard said. “It’s strictly a real estate transaction now that will benefit our shareholders.”

If there is to be a football stadium at Hollywood Park, what about a Davis-Davis get-together?

It doesn’t make sense. Al Davis has a reputation of not sinking his own money into anything other than football players rejected by other teams. If he moved into a Marvin Davis-built stadium, like any other NFL owner, he would be looking to pay no rent while grabbing all the revenue from parking and concessions.

That would leave Marvin Davis, a noted tire kicker in sports who doesn’t pull the trigger on a deal, with no income after spending $400 million to build a stadium. As long as we’re writing about things that will never happen, Marvin Davis might build a stadium in exchange for buying Al Davis’ ownership interest in the Raiders while still allowing Al Davis to run the team day-to-day, but that would be a very expensive proposition.

Al Davis is desperate for a fresh start, and there are some people who contend that he might be willing to surrender his ownership role for the chance to reestablish his football credentials in a winning environment. These people should be identified and checked for good sense; who wants to enter negotiations with Al Davis on anything?

There has been talk behind the scenes that Al Davis, or one of his followers, has had conversations with L.A. billionaire Gary Winnick, who heads up Global Crossings, the Beverly Hills-based international network company.

He can talk all he wants. There are bombers on call with orders to fire on any Raider caravan headed this way.

Looking beyond the hapless plight of the Raiders, the longest of longshots ever to run at Hollywood Park and the abused Coliseum, there is the city of Carson. Or, is there?

Michael Ovitz, who had put together a stadium-shopping mall deal on a landfill in Carson, including $180 million in public money, surrendered his option on land near the 110 and 405 freeways at the NFL’s request.

The land remains for sale.

Ovitz, and his billionaire partner Ron Burkle, are on vacation and not expected back for another week.

The NFL continued working Friday on potential solutions to the L.A. problem, including proposals involving the Coliseum, although L.A.’s best hope now might be interest from other owners with their own stadium problems who would like to take advantage of Houston’s offer. Minnesota and New Orleans might be on the prowl to move to Houston.

After a nasty exchange of letters between Gov. Gray Davis and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on Thursday, the NFL let it be known that the chances of expanding to Los Angeles were nonexistent at this time.

The NFL doesn’t think much of Mayor Richard Riordan, who hasn’t done much other than wave pompons for Broad, and believes the lack of leadership and conflicting political positions in L.A. make it impossible to do a deal within city limits. Back to the landfill in Carson?

Broad, however, keeps pitching. When he began his quest for pro football, he was the tough negotiator who infuriated the NFL. He continues to annoy the league because of his insistence on dictating financial terms, but he’s sounding more and more like the soft touch the NFL is accustomed to dealing with.

“My net worth has increased,” he said recently.

He wants the NFL to let him complete a deal for a stadium in exchange for making him the owner. The league, however, does not want a package deal. It wants a stadium deal, and then the opportunity to pick the owner of its expansion franchise. Currently, that would be Ovitz, propped up by Burkle’s money.

It’s all so confusing, like listening to Al Davis talk, when you would think any one of these guys--Marvin Davis, Burkle, Winnick or Broad--could just whip out his Gold Card and charge the whole thing or pay it out of petty cash.