Michael Ovitz said Wednesday that he and his partners
"will drop their bid" to win an NFL team for Carson and
"shift their attention to the New Coliseum project,"
according to Simers & Newton of the L.A. TIMES. The
decision "may result in his group competing" with Ed Roski
and Eli Broad for a franchise in the Coliseum. The NFL
"welcomed Ovitz's decision, while sounding a warning about"
Roski's agreement with the Coliseum Commission giving him
the exclusive rights to bid for a pro team there. Panthers
Owner and NFL Expansion Committee Chair Jerry Richardson
called the agreement a potential "deal-breaker" and said
that the league "wants Roski's arrangement terminated by the
time the owners arrive for their visit" to "confirm" their
choice of the Coliseum as site for a potential team.
Richardson: "We've been told it's something that can be
resolved. It has not been so far, and it needs to be by
next Tuesday when we arrive" (L.A. TIMES, 4/15).
THE OVITZ OF THEIR EYE: Roski's deal calls for him to
receive up to $5M in expenses if the Coliseum Commission
enters into a deal which does not include him. Roski said
he would discuss the agreement with bid partner Eli Broad:
"The agreement still stands, but things could change in the
next four or five days." While Roski's deal would require
him being part of any group of owners, the NFL "has made no
secret of its desire to tap Ovitz's leadership skills by
giving him a role in a Los Angeles franchise." Richardson:
"I think he would be a huge asset. People like his vision,
his imagination and his understanding of how to present the
NFL product. ... He has a number of owners truly behind
him." Ovitz, on the Exposition Park project, which could
include a new Dodger Stadium: "This Dodger thing has [the
NFL] all excited and I'm not going to stand in the way of
that. The NFL clearly wants more than just a stand-alone
stadium" (L.A. TIMES, 4/15). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Carl
DiOrio reports that a source said the NFL "holds sufficient
clout" to force Roski to give up his hold on the site,
including his connection to a Las Vegas casino. But Roski
said, "That's absolutely a non-issue." Broad "has offered
to turn the reins" of the team over to Ovitz in "about three
years" if Ovitz joins with the Roski/Broad group. Sources
say that another idea would see Broad and Roski "execute a
Coliseum rehab and run the stadium," with Ovitz operating
the team (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 4/15). Ovitz told Carson
officials that while the league's Expansion Committee would
likely select the New Coliseum as the site, the league "may
ask the city to keep its proposal on the table for 60 to 90
days should something go amiss with the Coliseum project."
But Carson City Council member Daryl Sweeney said, "There is
no way Carson is going to hang around while the NFL and the
Coliseum work on their issues" (L.B. PRESS-TELEGRAM, 4/15).
