NFL Takes Wait-and-See Stance on L.A. Location

Another May meeting, another reminder that Los Angeles is not the topic on the NFL’s front burner.

Team owners, who for years have grappled with the issue of returning to the nation’s second-largest market, received a 20-minute briefing Tuesday on the three competing stadium concepts. They neither narrowed the field -- it’s still the Coliseum, Rose Bowl and Anaheim -- nor did they discuss a pecking order.

Instead, they decided the process cannot go too far until there’s resolution on more pressing issues, specifically revenue sharing, the future of the stadium loan program, and extending the collective-bargaining agreement with the players’ union.

Before they make any major decisions about L.A., the owners want to ensure the league’s economic structure is intact, and that means finding solutions to some sticky issues and settling ownership disagreements between the haves and have nots.

“There’s definitely a feeling that the commissioner has that a site won’t be voted on by ownership until the financial issues are worked out,” said Steve Tisch, whose family is co-owner of the New York Giants.

Meanwhile, New Orleans Saint owner Tom Benson confirmed he has received more than one offer to buy the franchise -- one from an L.A. group -- but said he has no plans to sell the team. The Saints and Louisiana have broken off negotiations over the size of subsidies to keep the team in New Orleans.

“Our situation isn’t good, everyone knows it, and it has to get better,” Benson said.

League officials and owners said they are encouraged that progress is being made on the L.A. front. Owners were told in the briefing that it was “more realistic” that an L.A. team could begin playing in 2009 rather than 2008, the estimate given last year. Neil Glat, who conducted the briefing, did not rule out the possibility that a team could be in place sooner, however, and play at a temporary site.

“Anything’s possible,” said Glat, the league executive in charge of analyzing the sites. “We’re not far enough down the road on expansion versus relocation, or if there’s a relocation, which team would be relocating. We’ve really been focused on the stadium.”

Depending on the guidance it gets from the five-owner commission overseeing the L.A. process, the league might call a special meeting in late summer or early fall to continue the discussion.

“We can move pretty quickly if strategically it’s the right time for the league to move,” Glat said.

Carson, which almost certainly would have been eliminated by owners this week, dropped out Sunday when its city council voted to pursue a “mega-mall” rather than a football stadium. The Pasadena City Council is expected to vote in two weeks on whether the city should continue courting the league, and whether the benefits of a rebuilt Rose Bowl outweigh the disadvantages.

In his briefing, Glat did not rank the sites according to preference but identified the pros and cons of each. The concepts were judged on access, stadium design, parking, ancillary development opportunities, risk, timing and other criteria.

The apparent front-runner in the stadium derby is the Coliseum. The focus of the negotiations with the Coliseum Commission is how much rent the league should pay. The league has said it will pay the $500 million-$600 million required to completely rebuild the stadium.

“Our argument would be that whatever rent would be set would be commensurate with the fact that we’re putting in such a sizable investment and taking on so much risk,” Glat said. “To be successful, we have to watch every last dollar that we’re spending out there.”

The issues surrounding the Rose Bowl involve access, parking, stadium design, and the potential for long-term litigation from angry neighbors and historic preservationists.

“They have a great facility and a great site, and they have to weigh what they’re looking for for the future of their community,” Glat said. “But we’d like them to approve a stadium design that gives us an opportunity to be successful.”

As for Anaheim, the major concern is it’s not L.A. The other is the cost of the land, now part of the Angel Stadium parking lot, where a football stadium would sit. The original discussions had the league leasing the land at $1 per year. But, when it became clear the league wanted to lease more than the eight acres required for a stadium, the focus shifted to buying the land at closer to fair-market value.

“We don’t care if it’s lease or buy if the economics are the same,” Glat said. “The lease option that we were originally discussing was less expensive than the purchase.”

The Saints and San Diego Chargers are the most likely relocation candidates, and the NFL has not ruled out the possibility of putting two teams in the L.A. area.

Benson said he plans to eventually transfer ownership of the team to his granddaughter, Rita Benson LeBlanc, and said the franchise can get out of its Superdome lease after this season provided it repays the $81 million in subsidies it has received so far.

As for potential buyers?

“I don’t care if they offer me $6 billion,” he said. “And I’m not going to do anything, to talk to anyone, until February, after we win the Super Bowl. I think we’re going to have a heck of a team and a heck of a season.

“So I’ll just sit back and wait.”