The two groups in L.A. led by Eli Broad and Michael
Ovitz vying to bring an NFL expansion team to the city are
profiled in a sports cover story by USA TODAY's Jarrett
Bell, who writes that their "fiddling could burn [L.A.'s]
NFL hopes." Although the league has "tentatively awarded"
the city a team to begin play in 2002 in a new $400M
stadium, Bell writes that "nothing has ever been clear-cut
about league's return" to L.A. Bell: "Time is ticking.
While Houston waits in the wings with an approved, heavily
taxpayer-financed plan for a $310 million stadium ... there
is growing skepticism surrounding [L.A.'s] bid." Ravens
Owner Art Modell: "Putting a team in a remodeled Coliseum
would be a blockbuster. But they've got to get their
political and business act together." Bell notes that the
group led by Broad "seems to have an edge in garnering local
political support," but that Ovitz's group is "more high-
profile," with celebrities such as Magic Johnson, Tom Cruise
and Kevin Costner. While L.A. City Council member Mark
Ridley-Thomas has suggested that the two groups "merge their
efforts to increase the odds of sealing the deal," Ovitz
said that the two groups have "totally different visions."
Ovitz: "Ed [Roski] and Eli are fantastic. (But) they don't
agree with my vision, and I don't agree with theirs." Agent
Leigh Steinberg said that a team would be "supported" in
L.A., but if the league did not choose the city, "life will
go on without missing a beat" (USA TODAY, 6/28).
