Cost Estimates Jump on L.A. Plans

NFL owners Monday got their latest glimpse of the league’s stadium options for returning to the Los Angeles area. Amid the unknowns, one thing is certain:

The venue won’t come cheap.

In a 30-minute presentation to the owners, league staff gave timelines for two concepts, at the Coliseum and Anaheim, each of which would cost about $800 million. Those are double the original estimates reported when the league began investigating stadium options in L.A. three years ago. In the last year, the reported stadium estimates were revised upward to $600 million.

Neil Glat, the NFL executive overseeing the day-to-day negotiations with the sites, would not confirm the $800-million estimates but did acknowledge, “The costs keep going up.”

If the league intends to have a team playing in the L.A. market by 2010, owners were told, they need to make significant progress on the stadium front in the next few months. The options include choosing one, both or none of the stadiums, or one stadium that could accommodate two teams.

The league probably will hear presentations from Coliseum and Anaheim groups in late April or early May. The plan is to have those meetings in another city, rather than L.A., in part to avoid the possibility of political grandstanding. An expanded group of owners would hear those presentations, rather than just the six members of the L.A. stadium working group.

“My guess is that we will be going forward with those presentations on behalf of the Coliseum and Anaheim so that we can make some decisions in Denver,” said Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, referring to the league’s spring meetings May 21 to 24.

Asked what those decisions would entail, Tagliabue said, “To select one of the stadium projects and to go forward with the process of identifying a team and building a stadium.”

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The full 2006 schedule won’t be released until next month, but the league tipped its hand a bit, announcing a few key games, including the opener: Miami at defending NFL champion Pittsburgh, which will be played Thursday, Sept. 7.

Dallas will play host to Jacksonville on opening weekend, and the first Sunday night game will feature Indianapolis at the New Giants -- the “Manning Bowl” between sibling quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning.

“Monday Night Football,” which has moved from ABC to ESPN, opens with a doubleheader. The early game is Minnesota at Washington, kicking off at 4 p.m. PDT. The late game, which begins at 7:15, is San Diego at Oakland.

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Tagliabue, who plans to retire in July, has not appointed a search committee to find his successor and says there is no guarantee he will at these meetings.

“I’ll be managing the process,” he said. “We’ll have an owner or owners chairing the committee and we’ll just have to see how that evolves.”

It has been suggested by at least one owner that the job could be split, with one co-commissioner handling the football side and the other the business side. Tagliabue does not favor that concept.

“My own feeling is that any CEO position is a one-person position,” he said. “It’s just a question of having the right governance structure and having the right management team, but I think one person ultimately has to be in charge.”

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What’s ahead

Key NFL dates leading to training camps, which open in July:

April 21: Signing period ends for restricted free agents.

* April 28: Deadline for old clubs to exercise right of first refusal to restricted free agents.

* April 29-30: NFL draft in New York.

* May 10-12: Coaches’ career development symposium in Orlando.

* May 21-24: NFL spring meeting in Denver.

* June 1: Deadline for old clubs to send tender to unsigned unrestricted free agents to receive exclusive negotiating rights for rest of season if player is not signed by another club by July 22; also deadline for old clubs to send tender to unsigned restricted free agents or to extend qualifying offer to retain exclusive negotiating rights.

* June 15: Deadline for old clubs to withdraw original qualifying offer to unsigned restricted free agents and still retain exclusive negotiating rights by substituting tender of 110% of previous year’s salary.

* June 25-28: NFL rookie symposium in Carlsbad.

* July 22: Signing period ends at 1 p.m. PDT for unrestricted free agents who received June 1 tender.