2002 SPORTS: FOURTH AND LONG DRIVE FOR PRO FOOTBALL IN L.A. STALLS.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

All the midyear hoopla over building a new football stadium in Los Angeles disappeared as quickly as it arose, a promising drive stalled at midfield.

Los Angeles is no closer to being ready to house an NFL team than it was six months ago. However, talks are expected to heat up again following the Jan. 26 Super Bowl.

``I don't think anything will happen until after the Super Bowl,'' said Casey Wasserman, owner of the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League and one of the businessmen involved in an aborted attempt to build a downtown stadium this year. ``Then you will see sites maneuver. But the issues haven't changed in six years. Until city officials find an efficient way to determine the site, there will be no football team in Los Angeles.''

Pressing the issue is that the San Diego Chargers, the most likely team to move to Los Angeles, are about to begin a process that could decide if they have a future in San Diego.

The Chargers have until the end of January to trigger a clause to renegotiate their contract with the city. Chargers officials, who want a new stadium in San Diego, have been public in their frustration with the lack of progress in talks with City Hall.

``We believe we have tried everything possible to avoid being in the trigger situation, but the mayor's response has been to defer completely to his task force, which from the beginning was not scheduled to finish its work until after the trigger period,'' Mark Fabiani, special counsel to Chargers President Dean Spanos told the San Diego Union-Tribune early in December.

The Chargers have further separated from the pack of possible candidates to move to Los Angeles since a Daily News story on Aug. 5 detailed the teams facing stadium problems.

The Arizona Cardinals are set to begin construction on a new stadium in Glendale, Ariz., early in 2003.

New Orleans temporarily appeased the Saints with a 10-year, $186.5 million deal in July to compensate the team for its outdated facilities. New Orleans is reviewing proposals to renovate the Superdome or build a new stadium, with a decision likely to come in 2004.

Minnesota and the Vikings also seem to be working toward an agreement. The Minnesota state Legislature set up a football stadium account in July and allocated $500,000 to develop a design for a stadium to house both the Vikings and the University of Minnesota.

Indianapolis and the Colts had their first formal talks in late November to work on boosting the team's revenue, which is in the bottom third of the league. The Colts want either a new stadium or to be subsidized by the city.

``Everyone gives the impression that the groundwork is being laid and it will work out,'' said Mike Chappell, the Colts beat writer for the Indianapolis Star. ``It seems like the mayor (Bart Peterson) does not want to be the mayor to lose the Colts. He's willing to do anything within reason and more.''

Before any team can move to Los Angeles, a site needs to be chosen. Existing sites the Rose Bowl and Coliseum continue to work on renovation plans. Wasserman said that he and the rest of the Anschutz group, led by billionaire businessman Philip Anschutz, could get back into the mix.

``We could absolutely get back involved,'' Wasserman said. ``I still believe the city needs to make a decision on a site. Whether that's downtown L.A., the Coliseum, the Rose Bowl or another site, L.A. needs to put out one unified effort.''

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Photo:

Mayor James Hahn, right, listens as Tim Leiweke speaks on a stadium proposal during a press conference at Staples Center.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer