Support for L.A. Group

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Monday league officials met recently with representatives of the Philip Anschutz-backed group interested in building a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles and expressed confidence things are moving in the right direction.

“It is [encouraging],” Tagliabue said, briefing reporters on the first day of the NFL owners’ meetings. “One of the issues [in Los Angeles] has been the ability to get a new stadium, and one that would be extremely well received by the fans. So that’s a positive development.”

Anschutz, the Denver billionaire who built Staples Center, is working with a high-powered coalition that includes Ron Burkle, Ed Roski and Casey Wasserman. The group has yet to disclose the exact site of the proposed stadium, but such a project would require roughly 55 acres. Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group and Staples Center, stopped by NFL headquarters last week while on business at an unrelated convention.

Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones, a friend of Wasserman’s, said he has confidence the coalition has the wherewithal to build a privately financed stadium, which could cost as much as $500 million.

“That team is very qualified,” he said. “I’m very impressed. I’ve had a chance to work firsthand with Casey. So that combination of energy right there, plus the skill that’s involved, has a good chance of getting it done. Seriously. I just like the whole idea of it.”

Anschutz owns four Major League Soccer franchises and last month broke ground on a $120-million sports complex on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills, where it’s likely the San Diego Chargers will move their training camp, beginning next summer.

“I don’t know L.A. politics,” said New England Patriot owner Robert Kraft, who also owns an MLS franchise. “All I know is Phil Anschutz is top drawer in any category. If he’s involved, I bet good things will happen.”

But Ralph Wilson, who owns the Buffalo Bills, thinks the lack of a suitable stadium is only one of the things L.A. needs to change.

“There was so much apathy the last time,” he said, referring to the city’s failed bid to land the expansion franchise awarded to Houston in 1999. “ ... There’s got to be a show of enthusiasm. They’ve got to want a team.”

Tagliabue said important late-season games this season might be switched from Sunday afternoon to Monday night to attract more viewers. The schedule, he said, probably will allow one Sunday game in each of the last four weeks to be switched to the Monday night game.

The switch has been sought by ABC’s “Monday Night Football” for years because of the unpredictability free agency and the salary cap have brought to the NFL. Late-season games that looked attractive before the season, when the schedule was set, turned out to be duds because one or both teams involved were not as good as they had been the previous season.

The new plan must be signed off on by CBS and Fox, and in the past, Fox has indicated strong opposition to such a proposal. Said Said Tagliabue: “We will ensure that there will be attractive games in all the time slots on Sunday and on Monday nights.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.