CITY'S CAMPAIGN TO RETURN NFL TO COLISEUM GETS LIFT; HEADS OF TICKETMASTER, MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER JOIN QUEST.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer Boosting efforts to bring football back to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , the heads of Ticketmaster Corp. and Major League Soccer have joined an investor group petitioning the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga for a Coliseum-based team, officials said Thursday. Ticketmaster President Frederic Rosen and Major League Soccer Chairman Alan Rothenberg Alan I. Rothenberg (born April 10, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan) is a graduate of the University of Michigan's law school, and an influential administrative figure in the history of North American soccer who is credited with greatly contributing to the growth of the game in the United will bring their connections in the sports and entertainment world to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum For board track racing circuit, see . Present use The Coliseum is now primarily the home of the USC Trojan football team. During the recent stretch of its success in football, most of USC's regular home games, especially the alternating games with rivals UCLA and Notre renovation proposal. ``I am very pleased that Alan Rothenberg and Fred Rosen are joining us as partners,'' said Ed Roski Jr., president of New Coliseum Partners, the group bidding for a National Football League franchise. Roski also is co-owner of the Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). hockey team with Philip Anschutz, another partner in the group bidding for an NFL franchise. Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who has helped in the group's effort to build a $250 million, state-of-the-art football stadium inside the historic Coliseum, also was enthusiastic that Rosen and Rothenberg were joining. Ridley-Thomas said they are ``substantial additions to the ownership team,'' and other partners will be announced soon, including prominent minority business leaders. The councilman and others declined to comment on reports that those being talked to include former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson. Steven Soboroff, the mayor's senior answer and point man on returning the NFL to Los Angeles, said the addition of prominent business people could help, but the Coliseum still faces major obstacles. ``I think one important segment is the ownership question,'' Soboroff said. ``The most important issue for the NFL is a venue with a firm plan for financing that is workable. So far, they don't have that.'' NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that the league is more interested right now in a financing plan for the new stadium than who might share in ownership of a new franchise. ``We're not looking at owners right now. We're looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a realistic stadium financing plan,'' Aiello said. In addition to the reluctance of some NFL team owners to put a franchise into a venue abandoned in the past by the Rams and Raiders, the Coliseum proposal backers are also facing the difficult task of getting up to $60 million in government subsidies for its project from the state Legislature. Just recently, NFL owners said they would not limit their consideration of Southern California venues to the Coliseum, opening up the competition to possibly include proposals by Los Angeles Dodgers "Dodgers" and "Brooklyn Dodgers" redirect here. For the American football team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (football). For the Eastern Basketball Association team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (basketball). owner Peter O'Malley, the management of the Hollywood Park racetrack Hollywood Park is a thoroughbred racecourse and poker cardroom located in Inglewood, California, USA, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and next door to The Forum. History The track was opened in 1938 by the Hollywood Turf Club. and South Park Sports. Backers of the Coliseum proposal refused to say how much each of the investors plan to put into the project. NFL rules require at least one investor to hold more than a 30 percent stake. Rothenberg, who is president of the United States The head of the Executive Branch, one of the three branches of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. Soccer Federation, chairman of Major League Soccer and a senior litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. partner in the law firm of Latham and Watkins, said he envisions soccer sharing an upgraded Coliseum with pro football. ``As a supporter of the new Coliseum, and as someone who has been involved with this project since its inception, I believe there is no better or more important site in Los Angeles,'' Rothenberg said. Rosen's Ticketmaster Corp. is the world's leading automated ticket sales firm and includes 85 professional sports franchises as clients. Rosen, who headed up Football L.A., a group appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan to return the NFL to Los Angeles, noted that NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said a state-of-the-art stadium was needed in Los Angeles. |
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