NFL EXECS SEE PROGRESS AT FOUR SITES.

Byline: - Billy Witz

Though none of the four Los Angeles-area sites are expected to meet next week's NFL deadline for agreeing on a term sheet, a top NFL executive said Wednesday that progress was being made toward a stadium deal.

``We've got four sites that are all working hard, all making progress and all have different issues,'' said NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman, who was one of three league executives who spent the past two days in Los Angeles meeting with officials involved at the sites. ``People are focused.''

Grubman, who declined to discuss details of the sites, spoke outside the Coliseum, where he and two other NFL executives involved in Los Angeles - Neil Glat and Chris Hardart - had spent a few moments being introduced to several members of the Coliseum Commission.

The NFL executives met Tuesday morning with the Coliseum officials and then traveled to Carson to meet with city leaders and developer Steve Hopkins, who last week said the league's plans for the site were unworkable.

On Wednesday morning, they met with Anaheim officials to discuss the groundwork on terms, continuing talks that began last week. They then met with USC officials on Coliseum issues. In the afternoon, they huddled with Rose Bowl leaders in Pasadena to discuss term proposals the league sent to city officials on Friday.

Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), whose bill that aids redevelopment around Exposition Park was signed into law last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, also met the NFL executives outside the Coliseum.

Later, he praised the lobbying efforts of developer Ed Roski and commission member David Israel, recently appointed by Schwarzenegger, in getting the bill signed.

Ridley-Thomas, who as a councilman spearheaded the Coliseum's drive for an expansion team in 1999, said the bill - which could be worth $10 million to $30 million in improvements - was crucial because it's the first time the Coliseum has put public funds on the table.

``This was a test,'' he said.