Kings’ Men Get in Fold

Los Angeles city officials, armed only with toy models, snacks and bravado at recent NFL meetings, are about to close a deal with Kings’ owners Edward Roski and Philip Anschutz, providing the “new” Coliseum movement with prospective owners for an NFL team and a jolt of credibility.

Roski and Anschutz, who are being urged by local officials to introduce themselves at the next set of NFL owners meetings in San Diego beginning May 20, have already entered into negotiations with Magic Johnson as a potential investor.

“It’s pretty obvious that we’re interested in the future of the Coliseum,” said John Semcken, a spokesman for the Kings’ owners. “We believe Los Angeles should have an NFL team in the Coliseum, so we are giving serious thought to joining the effort to bring football to Exposition Park in what we would call a new Coliseum, not renovated Coliseum, but a new stadium.”

Insiders say that Roski and Anschutz have already made such a commitment, but are delaying an official announcement until their deal with the city for a downtown sports arena has cleared all hurdles. The final City Council vote on the proposed arena could come as early as May 20.

Other potential investors in the football enterprise, who would join Roski and Anschutz, have already met with the pair’s legal counsel. Officials declined to reveal their identity at this time.

The Kings’ owners have reviewed the $283-million financial plan for the construction of a new Coliseum, and are aware that the price for an expansion franchise will drive their total commitment to more than $500 million if successful in winning the league’s favor. Roski and Anschutz are expected to invest more than $200 million in their downtown arena project.

“Nothing has discouraged them,” said someone familiar with the talks. “They want to do it right, and just as importantly, they want to do it.”

Los Angeles City Councilman, Mark Ridley-Thomas, who promised to pursue an ownership group to make the new Coliseum a viable consideration, has delivered the kind of sports and business heavyweights that catch the attention of the NFL.

The owners, some who are already familiar with Anschutz because of their common roles as Major League Soccer owners, will undoubtedly be impressed with the Kings’ owners ability to enter a partnership with the city of Los Angeles in coming to terms on a new arena. They will still have to be convinced that the fans of Los Angeles care about the return of professional football and a visit again to the Coliseum.

Peter O’Malley, who had been the NFL’s solution of choice, announced in early January he was selling the Dodgers, and in a recent interview, it was apparent he will play no role in the future as an NFL owner or builder of a football stadium.

The Kings’ owners, who no longer have to worry about NFL cross-ownership restrictions because of recent rule changes, are really at no risk in lending their name to the Coliseum effort. They have made a financial investment in studying the plan for a new Coliseum, but they have no intention of putting a shovel in the ground and committing themselves to construction without a commitment from the NFL that a team is on the way.

And if that is to happen, they probably now have a 12- to 17-month window in which to convince 23 of 30 NFL owners that expansion to both Cleveland and Los Angeles is the ideal way for the league to solve its problems.

If the Indianapolis Colts move to Cleveland, as has been rumored recently, the prospects for expansion will all but disappear. Most owners remain steadfast against expansion, but the league has an agreement with Cleveland indicating it will notify the city sometime in 1998 whether it will move a team there or award an expansion franchise.

Roski and Anschutz’s success in dealing with the city of Los Angeles in reaching an agreement on the area, and the development plan that has been formulated n connecting the Convention Center area with Exposition Park via a Figueroa Corridor, have heightened the businessmen’s interest in the Coliseum. In addition, they will be seeking several Super Bowl commitments for the city of Los Angeles from the NFL.

“We’re about to make a huge investment on one end of the Figueroa Corridor,” Semcken said, “and we have looked at the economics of a new stadium and we are convinced that the new Coliseum is the best alternative for the city.”