Rivals for L.A. Team to Offer Joint Stadium Plan to NFL

Leaders of the rival groups seeking a Los Angeles professional football franchise have agreed to present the National Football League’s owners with a single stadium design and site plan for Exposition Park, and they expect the NFL to contribute roughly $150 million toward the effort, sources said Tuesday.

Those are significant developments in the city’s hunt for an expansion team, which at times has been hampered by the competing groups, one led by billionaire businessman Eli Broad, the other by former Hollywood super-agent Michael Ovitz.

In addition to signaling an end to the competition over how the stadium and park should be renovated, the latest developments are expected to pave the way for the NFL to invest in the project. Technically, that infusion of funds probably would be called a loan--though NFL guidelines do not require repayment.

“We’re encouraged by what we are seeing in Los Angeles. There seems to be a unified plan developing on how to bring the NFL back to this market on a successful basis,” said Roger Goodell, the NFL’s vice president of football operations. “The economic challenge we have here remains the most significant hurdle that we will have to address with the membership [league owners], and that might include a league contribution to the project.”

The league guidelines governing America’s six largest cities allow the league to match the private investment as long as there is public taxpayer money invested in the project as well. That guideline, which now applies to existing teams, could be extended by vote of the owners to an expansion franchise.

The NFL expects the Los Angeles stadium to cost $400 million, with an additional $150 million spent on increased parking. As a result, the league’s willingness to chip in could, in turn, help football proponents make what remains their toughest case--the argument that either the state or local government should contribute taxpayer money to the project. In theory, the NFL would help build the stadium, while the state contribution would go toward building parking at Exposition Park, which is owned by the state.

Gov. Gray Davis’ official representative to the negotiations, lawyer Bill Chadwick, has drafted a set of proposed terms sketching out the details of an agreement between Sacramento and the NFL. Chadwick has been cautious about revealing details of that plan--in the process irritating some local officials. Observers who have been shown portions of the proposed agreement say that, while it represents a fair starting point for talks, some of the conditions are unlikely to win the league’s approval.

One item that sources say is typical of those the league would reject: Chadwick has proposed that the NFL be responsible for tearing down the Sports Arena, which occupies a corner of Exposition Park.

“That’s ridiculous,” said one local official. “That’s what we [Los Angeles] should be doing. We have a part to play here.”

Other significant obstacles still need to be overcome.

The plan that the Broad and Ovitz groups have agreed to present contemplates construction of more than 15,000 parking spaces at the park in South-Central Los Angeles--creating a total of 21,900 spots on that site. That is a huge undertaking for which the prospective owners and league officials hope the state will help pay. The museums in Exposition Park have expressed concerns about a more heavily used Coliseum and the impact that might have on keeping crowds away from their facilities.

In addition, the stadium design is an only slightly modified version of the one that Ovitz presented to the league during its meetings last month in Atlanta. Although this version is slightly smaller, it retains all of the key features that impressed other owners but that some local leaders, most notably historic preservation advocates, did not like.

Among other things, the design envisions a ring of three- to five-story parking structures that could interrupt views of the Coliseum from the park and street. It introduces a ring of frosted glass around the top of the stadium, significantly altering its appearance, and it blends Roman architectural details with pieces of the Coliseum design, an approach that some critics find offensive.

Asked whether there are objections from historic preservationists, Chadwick responded: “Yeah, I guess there are. We’re going to have to reach agreement on something that will work for everybody.”

Despite the large number of remaining sticking points, participants in the talks said Tuesday that they remain optimistic about the chances of a deal being struck.

“I feel good about the progress we have made,” Ovitz said. “Everybody is pitching in. We have been working very well with [Broad partner] Ed Roski and his associates. We’re about as well organized as a group as we have ever been.”

Chadwick said he too was encouraged by conversations last week in New York and this week in Los Angeles.

In particular, Chadwick said the league’s willingness to pay a hefty share of the bill for the stadium parking project at Exposition Park was a welcome development.

“I look at this as the state,” he said. “If they’re willing to contribute in excess of $100 million for the preservation and renovation of this state facility, that is a great, great thing. . . . This is money that goes into our property and our neighborhood.”

Despite progress toward securing money from the NFL, elected leaders remain wary of any plan that would tap into existing pools of government money. Davis has opposed using state general fund money for the project, and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has said he will not back any plan that reduces existing services.

Less clear, however, is whether some level of government might be willing to consider a less direct form of financing, such as underwriting bonds for the construction of the parking lots or skimming off a portion of the sales taxes that a new team helped generate.