Michael Eisner likes a good game. He was chief executive at The Walt Disney Co. when it owned the Los Angeles Angels and founded the NHL’s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
But ask him about the NFL playing in a stadium in downtown Los Angeles and it’s clear he sees the possibility in much broader terms. A downtown stadium, he says, is about the city itself. Its identity. Its heart.
Eisner, an unofficial adviser to Mayor Eric Garcetti, has been working behind the scenes to bring pro football back to LA.
The Hollywood deal maker says he is on the phone with the NFL to keep the talks going.
So, will Los Angeles finally close a deal after two decades without a football team? Garcetti says it’s highly likely next year.
The city’s aspirations are hitched to Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the downtown Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers.
Under its deal with City Hall, the company, led by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, has until April to sign a football team. If that happens, construction of a downtown stadium could begin.
However, any stadium plan would require approval from two-thirds of the NFL’s 32 owners, and a franchise move to Los Angeles would need the approval of three-fourths of those owners.
Several teams that can exit their lease deals are considered possible transplants — the San Diego Chargers, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders.
The city is facing potential competition from its own suburbs.
A company tied to Rams owner Stan Kroenke has purchased a 60-acre site about 10 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, although no development plans have been announced. (Kroenke also owns the Denver Nuggets, the Avalanche and the Pepsi Center.) Another proposed stadium project has been floated for years in the city of Industry.
Meanwhile, in San Diego, the Chargers hope to have a measure for a new stadium on the 2016 ballot, but the team still could declare its intention to relocate to Los Angeles. Raiders owner Mark Davis has said he wants a new stadium, preferably in Oakland. Still, he has met with officials in San Antonio and expressed interest in returning to Los Angeles.
For years Los Angeles has tried to restore the luster to its once-vibrant downtown that withered decades ago after trolley lines were dismantled and freeways begat sprawl. It’s come a long way, buoyed by the success of the LA Live entertainment complex that has grown up around Staples Center and the opening of restaurants, condos and hotels.
If AEG can land a team, the agreement with the city requires the company to build a downtown stadium called Farmers Field adjacent to Staples arena, along with a new $287 million wing for the city’s frayed and undersized convention center.
