ARENA PUSH COULD PUT NBA OVERSEAS STERN WELCOMES EXPANSION, AWARDS ALL-STAR GAME TO L.A.

Byline: Michael A. Anastasi Staff Writer

At least the NBA is more cooperative than the Coliseum Commission.

While Anschutz Entertainment Group executives fumed over the commission's decision to resuscitate its bid to bring an NFL team to Los Angeles, complicating their own plans to build a new stadium near Staples Center, David Stern welcomed AEG's announcement Friday that it is building U.S.-style, modern arenas in Berlin and London with the vision of bringing the NBA overseas as early as 2006.

``It opens up every possibility, from exhibitions to regular-season games to permanent home status for some franchise or another,'' Stern said during a news conference in which he also formerly announced Staples Center will play host to the 2004 NBA All-Star Game.

Stern, who first raised the possibility of taking the NBA international in Philadelphia at this year's All-Star game, said the league is a bit skeptical of AEG's optimistic timeline and that he would more seriously consider European expansion once construction of the arenas was well under way. However, he made it clear NBA owners welcomed the Denver-based group's action.

``(What AEG is doing) gives us a very strong base of information and perception of the marketplace, somebody we like to work with, somebody we have to work with,'' Stern said. ``(In AEG), we have somebody who will now be planning pricing, both suites and club seats, and doing a serious evaluation ... of what will work in those buildings.''

AEG President Tim Leiweke said that, next to soccer, the NBA is Europe's most popular sport, helped considerably by the influx of European players in recent years.

``We see a huge upside and interest in the NBA in Europe,'' Leiweke said. ``Clearly, we have a vision and a hope that the NBA, the players of the NBA, will be able to participate in these buildings and we will be part of their plan and their vision for Europe.

``We see a huge opportunity.''

As is the All-Star Game.

Three years in the making, AEG's successful effort to host the 2004 game, first reported by the Daily News in April, is expected to bring at least $50 million to the Los Angeles economy.

``We expect that is a very, very conservative estimate,'' said George Kirkland, CEO of the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Kirkland said the Feb. 13-15 weekend extravaganza, which in addition to the game will feature a number of ancillary events such as the league's annual 3-point shootout and includes community outreach efforts as well, will result in the use of 20,000 hotel-room nights and advertise Los Angeles to more than 750 million households worldwide that will watch the game on television.

It is the the latest jewel in the chest of major sports events at Staples Center, which this year alone has hosted the NHL All-Star Game, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the Pac-10 postseason basketball tournament and, of course, the NBA Finals.

``We've had a lot of great events in this building,'' Leiweke said. ``The one event that meant the most to us from day 1 was the hardest to get. ... Our ability to showcase the best of the best has been a dream for the staff.''

Neither the Lakers nor Clippers are official co-hosts of the All-Star Game, though both Stern and Leiweke went to great lengths to ``support'' the two organizations. Philadelphia 76ers Chairman Ed Snider was furious this year because he believed the NBA essentially shut out his season ticket-holders in favor of its own sponsors.

``We don't want to create any unrealistic expectations (for Lakers and Clippers season ticket-holders),'' Leiweke said. ``(But) we are going to work with both of them to make sure this is a weekend of celebration of basketball in Los Angeles.''