EBERSOL: NFL IN L.A. `VERY, VERY IMPORTANT'.

Byline: Billy Witz

When the latest NFL television deals were struck last year for more billions than ever without a passing remark about putting a team in Los Angeles, it seemed the second-largest market wasn't any more important to the networks than it's been to the league.

Not so, says NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, whose network returns to the NFL this season with coverage of the Sunday night package.

The value of having a team in Los Angeles goes beyond the 5.4 million TV households located in the market - more than twice the combined numbers of Philadelphia and Boston, the fourth- and fifth-largest in the country.

"It's very, very important to ultimately have a team (in Los Angeles)," Ebersol said last week at the NFL's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. "It's the entertainment capital of the world. Some of the greatest - and more importantly - best-known faces in the world live in that market. The ones who light up screens, both in TV and film, and now digital screens all over the world, are there. The ruboff both ways would be good. That alone makes it a great benefit."

Just how much of a benefit having a team in Los Angeles is for a network beyond that is a function of how it's run.

The Raiders never really embraced Los Angeles and the roots the Rams laid down in Anaheim were never as deep as they ones they tore up when they left the Coliseum.

In the Rams' and Raiders' later years in Los Angeles, sellouts were rare, meaning many games were blacked out. And as the teams' records sank, there was less interest in watching them even when they were the only ones on TV.

"We worked very hard with (NFL commissioner) Paul (Tagliabue) and Al Davis to help market the teams during the final years in L.A., trying to find ways to help them draw more people," said Ebersol, whose network covered the AFC from the inception of the AFL in 1960 until it lost the rights to CBS in 1998.

What is important, Ebersol said, is that whoever owns the next NFL team realize he'll get out of the franchise what he puts into it.

"The owner ultimately has to be somebody who understands and is really committed to modern marketing techniques because it won't be a laydown," Ebersol said. "At the beginning it will be a success, but you have to have a complete commitment to your team, not just the football aspect, on every single aspect - be a part of the community and everything."

Ebersol cited Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Patriots owner Bob Kraft as role models for the league when it begins to consider potential owners.

"Twice a year we would have a Dallas game," he said. "I would watch just how totally committed Jerry was, how he lived every Sunday or Monday he had a game, from the beginning of the day until the end of the day, making sure that all of his sponsors, all of his customers, all felt a real special attachment, either to the team, to the coaches, whatever.

"Whoever gets that franchise in L.A. is going to have to make that same complete commitment."

If you're sick of Terrell Owens, you might want to stay away from the TV next fall. The NFL announced its 2006 schedule on Thursday, and the Cowboys and their latest star will be on a nationally televised broadcast nine times. And, with the new flexible schedule for the seven of the last eight weeks, there could be more.

Other must-see TV:

Sept. 25, Atlanta at New Orleans: The Saints make their post-Katrina return to the Superdome on a Monday night, provided it's ready. If not, the NFL plans to move the game to the Meadowlands.

Oct. 29, Dallas at Carolina: Keyshawn Johnson and Terrell Owens will determine if one sandbox, er, soapbox, is big enough for both of them.

Nov. 5, Indianapolis at New England: The Colts make their annual pilgrimage to Foxboro, but this time they'll bring Adam Vinatieri. If that doesn't work, next year they'll promise to bring Tom Brady.

You think the networks are counting on Brett Favre returning? Green Bay, coming off a 4-12 season, is featured in three prime-time games - versus Philadelphia, Seattle and Minnesota - which is probably not a barometer of the excitement over the start of the Aaron Rodgers era.

Surprisingly, the Texans - and presumably Reggie Bush - are on not on once.

How do you know the NFL is really serious about Los Angeles? Just read the papers around the league.

Voters in Jackson County, Missouri on Tuesday approved a sales tax increase to help fund improvements for the Royals' and Chiefs' stadiums, but not before some scare-mongering stories in the Kansas City Star that their teams could be headed out of town without the initiative. The L.A. Chiefs, anyone?

In Buffalo, the Bills' 87-year-old owner Ralph Wilson, who has long maintained that the team will be sold after his death, has expressed concern over the team's long-term future under the new revenue-sharing agreement, which he opposed. This week, Wilson met with Gov. George Pataki on the matter. The L.A. Bills, anyone?

In Jacksonville, Wayne Weaver said at last week's owners meetings that despite lackluster attendance, the new revenue-sharing agreement - and any regrets the NFL might have about putting a team in Jacksonville - his team is not moving to LosAngeles. The L.A. Jags, anyone?

Expect the same from the Twin Cities if Vikings owner Ziggy Wilf's proposal for a new stadium doesn't make it through the legislature.

And the drumbeat will continue in New Orleans and San Diego.

"Not that they're always in play, but the speculation causes the local media and the local leaders to get concerned, and more often than not they will step up to the plate to address those concerns," said Marc Ganis, a sports business consultant from Chicago.

"If there's a commitment to Los Angeles after the May (22-23) meeting, as seems the case - and it's highly unlikely there will be a commitment to expansion - then you'll have all those cities, all those teams that have problems, their issues will start getting on the front burner locally."

The Pasadena City Council, which last June chose not to continue its discussions with the NFL for a renovation to the Rose Bowl, will ask voters whether they want the talks to continue after enough signatures were gathered to qualify the question for a ballot. The council will discuss when at their meeting on Monday night.

But will it matter?

Even forgetting the Rose Bowl's myriad other issues, time appears to have run out. The NFL plans to choose between the Coliseum and Anaheim at its meeting in Denver on May 22-23. The earliest a special election can be called for is mid-July, according to Pasadena city clerk Jane Rodriguez.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

2006 NFL TEAM-BY-TEAM SCHEDULES