Anaheim in NFL’s Sights?

John Moores, owner of baseball’s San Diego Padres, has approached the NFL about returning a team to Anaheim, a league official said Friday.

Irvine Mayor Christina Shea has promoted a portion of the El Toro Marine Base as an ideal site but Moores apparently has not discussed the Irvine location with the league.

“We have had conversations with Mr. Moores,” NFL spokeswoman Leslie Hammond said. “The conversations were about Anaheim, not Irvine.”

It was not clear whether Moores inquired about operating an expansion team in Anaheim, luring an existing team to relocate there or simply developing a stadium site. Moores was on vacation Friday and unavailable for comment.

In 1995, the Rams abandoned Anaheim and moved to St. Louis. The Walt Disney Co. subsequently bought the Angels and renovated Anaheim Stadium to a size too small to accommodate an NFL team.

When the NFL conditionally awarded an expansion franchise to Los Angeles, the league demanded an acceptable plan for the design and financing of a stadium by Sept. 15. With the NFL at impasse with city and state officials over public funding, the league said two weeks ago that it would no longer negotiate exclusively to put a team in the Coliseum.

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said then that the league would focus on other potential stadium sites in the Los Angeles area.

In the absence of a deal by then, the league could extend the deadline or award a franchise to Houston, where the NFL can accept a stadium agreement with substantial public funding.