Live discussion: What AEG news means for NFL team in L.A.

Times editors Mike James and John Cherwa will discuss the decision by billionaire Philip Anschutz to withdraw the sale of AEG, the entertainment giant that controls the Staples Center, LA Live and the Los Angeles Kings.

Anschutz said he plans to resume a more active role in the company. He announced in September that he was seeking bidders in a sale that some insiders said could fetch $7 billion.

He’ll be doing this without his top executive, Tim Leiweke, who is leaving AEG by “mutual agreement.”

Anschutz told The Times in a rare, wide-ranging interview that while AEG, the city and state have all done what was needed to build a new stadium on the LA Live campus downtown, the NFL now needs to be an active fourth party.

“We’re not going to make the NFL happen by ourselves,” the 72-year-old AEG chairman said. “The NFL is a player here. They have to decide what they want to do.

“We’re open for business to do a deal. It’s not rocket science ... We’ll do a reasonable deal, but we won’t be pushed into a deal.”

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