ELI BROAD WANTS NFL TEAM BILLIONAIRE READY TO PUT IT ON LINE TO GET THE COLISEUM BACK IN PLAY.

Byline: Billy Witz and Rick Orlov Staff Writers

With the Memorial Coliseum back in consideration as the home of a National Football League team in Los Angeles, billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad said Friday that he would love to own the franchise, possibly in partnership with former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley and others.

``I do feel strongly that we should have a team at the Coliseum, and I'm ready to meet with them if the NFL wants to do business,'' Broad said in an interview. ``I think I would be a logical person to be involved. I have the resources and I have the interest.''

Broad's interest comes several days after NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the league expects to decide by next May whether to pursue building a state-of-the-art stadium at the Coliseum, the Rose Bowl or a site in Carson.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said he was unaware if league officials or owners had spoken with Broad or O'Malley recently and that the league is most concerned now with choosing a site, not an owner.

``We've had an association with both of them for several years,'' Aiello said. ``But that's not where our focus is right now.''

Broad is the latest person in recent months to express interest in getting involved at the Coliseum, which - having passed environmental impact muster and embarked on negotiations with the NFL on a financial term sheet for the $450 million renovation - continues to outpace Carson and the Rose Bowl in assembling a final proposal.

Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz, who has twice been involved in discussions with the league about the Carson site, met with top league officials in March and later with a Coliseum official to gauge the Coliseum's interest in working with him.

An associate of developer Ed Roski, who built Staples Center and was involved with the Coliseum in 1999, said his boss is interested.

Also, Anschutz Entertainment Group President Tim Leiweke - whose plans to build a downtown football stadium were scuttled by the protests of Coliseum advocates in 2002 - has thrown his support behind the Coliseum.

Broad's interest seems tied to recent developments in Carson and Pasadena, too.

As Carson considers whether it will turn to a shopping mall - developer Steve Hopkins made a presentation to city officials Thursday - and the Rose Bowl might not have complete architectural drawings until late this summer, the Coliseum looks increasingly more feasible.

Broad says he is not interested in being drawn into ``another circus,'' alluding to the bidding war the Coliseum was involved in five years ago - first with Carson and then with Houston.

``We went around to five different cities and we had this competition with Carson and Mike Ovitz and I do not intend to do that again,'' Broad said. ``But if the NFL is interested in getting someone with the resources available, I'm interested.''

Sports marketing consultant David Carter, who in the past has done work for the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, said Broad's interest is neither surprising nor insignificant.

``Any time there are rumblings of Eli Broad wanting to become involved, they need to be taken seriously,'' Carter said. ``He has tremendous political clout and his ability to participate in checkbook diplomacy is unprecedented.''

Broad, who has a long history of involvement with downtown issues including the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Disney Concert Hall, has a worth valued at $5.3 billion. If the NFL puts an expansion franchise here, the asking price is expected to go beyond the $700 million that Houston owner Bob McNair's group paid in 1999.

When Frank McCourt's plans to buy the Dodgers were in limbo last winter, Broad stepped forward with O'Malley to say he would be interested in buying the team if McCourt's proposal fell through. That led some city leaders to call for McCourt to step aside.

Yet, Broad was also the subject of criticism for throwing his name in at the last minute. Where was he, some wondered, when potential suitors such as Dave Checketts, Jeff Smulyan, Alan Casden and Malcolm Glazer went through extensive financial background checks by Major League Baseball?

Carter says that if Broad does become involved with an NFL team in Los Angeles, it will be because it makes good business sense.

``He has everything it takes to get a sports deal done,'' Carter said. ``The only thing he may not be is a hard-core sports fan, who can check his emotions at the door. It will be a good business and real estate deal first and foremost.''

O'Malley said he hadn't spoken with Broad recently, but would be eager to be involved with him.

``It would be good if Eli were to be involved for all the right reasons,'' O'Malley said. ``Eli is extremely civic-minded and we both know that having an NFL team in Los Angeles is good for the NFL and good for Los Angeles.''

O'Malley also hailed Tagliabue's statements that Los Angeles would be considered for a Super Bowl, perhaps as early as 2009 - the next one yet to be awarded.

``It's extremely good news. Having a Super Bowl is good for employment, good for business. It's like having the Olympics.''

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) BROAD

(2 -- color) O'MALLEY