Panel OKs plan to find tenant
Bowl backers seek to court NFL team
By Gabe Lacques
Staff Writer

PASADENA -- The Rose Bowl Operating Company on Thursday approved a three-year business plan that aims to lure a new tenant to its aging facility, possibly a relocated National Football League franchise.

The plan will be reviewed by the city's Economic Development and Technology Committee on Feb. 6. It will go before a joint meeting of the City Council and the RBOC on Feb. 11. If the council approves the business plan, the Rose Bowl would be in position to court a relocated NFL team or other major tenant.

Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn has stopped short of saying he must lure an NFL team to ensure the stadium's viability. But the departure of the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team after the upcoming season will cost the stadium at least $500,000 per year at a time when the stadium is paying off bond debt to fund capital improvements made last decade.

The business plan states that if the Rose Bowl could be renovated without taxpayer money and without significant risk to the city's general fund, "this (NFL) scenario should be very aggressively pursued."

"It's not about chasing the NFL; the bottom line is, we need a tenant," Dunn said Thursday. "We have a responsibility to look at the future of the Rose Bowl. The reality is, we have some economically challenging times in front of us. We need to stabilize revenue long-term for the stadium and identify a long-term tenant. It needs to be pursued."

Dunn outlined a future for the facility that indicated it would be in financial trouble if a new stadium emerged and successfully courted an NFL team. That stadium could potentially lure the UCLA football from the Rose Bowl, leaving it with only the Rose Bowl Game as its major tenant at a time when it was still in debt.

"It looks clear to us that if the NFL comes to Los Angeles and doesn't come to the Rose Bowl, we could have the deterioration or destruction of the Rose Bowl," RBOC member Ross Selvidge said. "The politicians elected will measure the impact on the city. The prospect of the NFL coming to Los Angeles is great enough that we need to prepare."

The RBOC reiterated that any major stadium renovations would have to be paid for by the team, not the RBOC or the city.

The RBOC has had success the past two fiscal years in luring concerts and international soccer matches to the Rose Bowl. Its budget counts on $400,000 in revenue from such events annually; this fiscal year, thanks to the Wango Tango concert bill this spring and the ongoing Gold Cup soccer tournament, such events will provide close to $900,000 in revenue.

But because booking such events is unpredictable, revenue from them is seen as gravy and not the backbone of the facility. Long-term tenants are.

Through 2017, the stadium must pay off debt from bond measures approved in 1991, '92 and '96. Currently, the RBOC receives about $2 million from greens fees at Brookside Golf Course to pay off the bond debt. But the two golf courses' greens -- the same ones installed when the course was built in 1928 -- will need renovations in coming years, which could cost $2 million to $4 million and would adversely affect revenue streams while repair work is done.

Meanwhile, the annual payment on debt service will increase from approximately $2.5 million to nearly $3 million by 2012 before declining.

The downturn in the economy has also affected advertising revenue, which will only decrease -- by an estimated 12 percent to 25 percent -- because of the Galaxy's departure to a new stadium in Carson.

Consequently, the RBOC report projects a deficit of about $500,000 by 2004, this after turning profits of slightly better than $1 million in 2000 and '01.

To secure the stadium's financial future, the report identified the following as highest priority items:

• Stabilizing sponsorship and advertisement revenue;
• Securing UCLA football as a long-term tenant. The school's lease with the Rose Bowl expires after 2003;
• Recruiting a new long-term major tenant;
• Securing additional special events;
• Determining how future capital improvements will be funded;
• Strengthening the relationship with local businesses, neighborhood associations and the city.

The relationship with neighborhood associations could be jeopardized if the city courts an NFL team. Lee Zanteson, the Arroyo chairman of the Linda Vista-Annandale Association, told the RBOC Thursday that residents in the shadow of the Rose Bowl "put up with a lot already" and that the NFL brings a "pretty rough crowd."

But Zanteson, who has vowed to fight further activity in the Arroyo Seco, said he can't envision the city actually landing a team.

"The probability of it happening is small," he said. "To tear it down and make it acceptable for the NFL is difficult. You'd have a major, major environmental impact report to prepare. You'd have to separate residents from the stadium, and to do that, you'd have to destroy the Arroyo."

If the City Council approves the business plan, Dunn would be free to talk to NFL teams possibly interested in relocating. They may include the San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings. Dunn maintained he's had no contact with prospective teams; he has been told by the NFL that any franchise moves would not involve the league directly, but rather individual teams.

The Los Angeles area has been without an NFL franchise since the 1994 season, when both the Rams and Raiders relocated. The Rams moved to St. Louis; the Raiders returned to Oakland.

-- Gabe Lacques can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2239, or at gabe.lacques@sgvn.com.