Is it ninth inning for L.A. sports? Arena dispute could discourage pro teams.

In less than a decade, Los Angeles has gone from the self-proclaimed "sports capital of the world" to one in which the future of professional sports is very much an issue.

City Councilman Joel Wachs was at the center of the firestorm last week after introducing a ballot initiative that, if passed by the voters, would require all current and future sports stadium developments that rely on public funds to be submitted to voters.

As of late last week, Wachs had agreed to consider what would amount to an exemption for the planned new downtown arena for the Lakers and Kings - after arena developers threatened to pull out of the deal.

But even with that concession, city leaders said the threat of the initiative would severely hamper efforts to attract new teams - including an NFL franchise - and to keep existing clubs looking to upgrade their facilities, including Dodger Stadium.

"You will make it virtually impossible," said Steve Soboroff, senior advisor to Mayor Richard Riordan and vice chairman of Football L.A., a group working to bring professional football to the city. "They'll simply go somewhere else."

Soboroff and others say that mandating voter approval of all future sports developments will hamstring the city's ability to negotiate the kinds of public-private deals that characterize virtually all stadium and arena deals around the country.

But Wachs says that's precisely the idea behind the initiative.

"Los Angeles is going to set a standard that says if you want to build a professional sports facility, you either use your own money or you get approval for (public) funds," the councilman said. "It should make (developers and owners) stop and think about what they're asking the public to do and whether they have a good enough deal to sell.

"I don't see why that would kill professional sports," Wachs said.

Others disagree, saying that competition for the limited number of professional sports franchises requires cities to offer incentives in the way of land, financing, infrastructure improvements and other subsidies - incentives that can be tough to defend in an era of 30-second television attack ads.

"It has a chilling effect on the ability to attract professional sports teams," said James Hankla, city manager of Long Beach, which has used public-private partnerships to attract minor league sports franchises to the city.

"I don't want to sound anti-democratic, but it is very difficult to get the complicated details (of a deal) before the public in a way that they can understand it," Hankla said.

Moreover, the ramifications of the initiative extend beyond sports to the city's reputation as a place to do business, said Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Central City Association.

"There's a much bigger principle at stake here than just the arena itself." she said. "This sends a critical message all around the country: Are we able to do business on a really good deal or not?"

In sports, at least, L.A. is getting a reputation as a city that cannot make a deal - and not just because of the controversy over the downtown arena.

Two NFL teams have departed the Memorial Coliseum in recent years, and the city has been unable to land a replacement. Offers to build new football stadiums in other locations, including the Dodger Stadium parking lot and South Park, were rejected almost immediately by Mayor Richard Riordan and City Council members.

Like Schatz, organized labor leaders fear that the city's reputation as a naysayer in sports could translate to a broader perception that L.A. doesn't know how to keep and attract business - which could cripple efforts to rebuild downtown.

"It's detrimental," said Miguel Contreras, executive secretary-treasurer of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. "It doesn't help to foster the kind of relations that are needed to lure new businesses downtown."

Even City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg - who is often at odds with business interests said a get-tough stance could cost the city a valuable development.

"Even though these are some of the richest people in the world," Goldberg said, referring to the considerable personal wealth of developers Philip Anschutz and Ed Roski Jr., "an incentive may be needed to get them to build in an area that is recovering."

Wachs and his supporters counter that the benefits of sports arenas as a revitalization mechanism are often overrated, and at the very least should be subjected to a vigorous public debate.

"Submitting it to a public vote makes it a better deal," said Richard H. Close, president of the powerful Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, who added that he supports both the Wachs initiative and the proposed arena. "Wachs has already proven that the public is able to get a better deal than the city."

The planned downtown sports arena would be built on a site next to the Convention Center with the help of $70.5 million in municipal securities issued by the city but which will be repaid by the developers.

Other places have agreed to do far more to attract a team.

Maryland taxpayers, for example, are contributing $14 million a year to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Nashville's city government has offered to build a $300 million football stadium for the Houston Oilers, as well as a $200 million hockey arena to attract an NHL expansion team. Cleveland is spending about $1 billion over the next 25 years for three professional sports franchises.

None of those deals came without a heated public battle.

In San Francisco, backers of a new downtown baseball stadium for the Giants were rebuffed by voters twice before finally winning approval last year. More recently, a $150 million proposal to refurbish 3Com Park for the San Francisco 49ers barely squeaked by the voters in June.

But in virtually all cases, the deals eventually won voter approval - which suggests that rumors of the death of professional sports in L.A. may be premature, according to Mark S. Rosentraub, a professor of urban policy at Indiana University and author of "Major League Losers."

"More of them pass than fail," Rosentraub said. "More often than not, voters opt to support the arena."

But with other cities offering such lucrative incentives, Soboroff and others say the city runs a great risk of losing teams to more friendly climes.

Arena developers Roski and Anschutz, for example, also are seeking to bring professional football back to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - a plan that would require a commitment of city financing.

And whoever ends up buying the L.A. Dodgers - Rupert Murdoch remains the odds-on favorite - may ask for city assistance in refurbishing 36-year-old Dodger Stadium.

Rosentraub predicted that even the specter of a public initiative process will not keep sports teams out of L.A.

"You can't afford to stay out of the second largest market," he said. "The only questions are when and where, not if."

But others fear that Wachs' proposal effectively removes the city of L.A. from the list of possible answers to the question of where to build a stadium or arena.

"You can go to the Rose Bowl or the (Anaheim) Pond or Long Beach," said David Simon, president of the Los Angeles Sports Council. "Southern California will remain desirable, but you have the option of going to other places in the immediate vicinity."