USC CLAIMS NFL COLISEUM TEAM WOULD HURT PROGRAM.

Byline: BILLY WITZ Staff Writer

DENVER -- Efforts to return pro football to the Southland inched forward Tuesday as NFL owners quibbled about the feasibility of a Los Angeles venue and USC raised concerns its football program could suffer if a pro team ends up in the Coliseum.

Meeting in Denver, the NFL did manage to authorize Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to spend up to $10 million to study construction costs at the Memorial Coliseum and Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

It also scheduled meetings next month with business leaders in Los Angeles and Orange County to gauge local support for hosting a sports team.

But the day's talks proved plenty of bumps remain on the NFL's long slog back to the nation's second-leading market.

Coliseum officials reacted bitterly to a letter from USC President Steven Sample who wondered whether the university's interests would be marginalized by the NFL.

In a letter dated Friday but only made public Tuesday, Sample urged the Coliseum Commission not to sign a lease agreement with the NFL until the university worked out its own sublease with the league.

The letter set off a stream of invective from commission members, some of whom accused the University of Southern California of trying to sabotage the deal.

``It was a clumsy and transparent attempt to interfere in our business,'' Coliseum Commission member David Israel said. ``I think USC likes having a monopoly on football and will do whatever it takes to keep this from happening. For years, they've known about this process. Now, why is USC running to daddy in such a public way?''

Sample and Stanley Gold, chairman of USC's board of trustees, discussed a partnership with the NFL over dinner last week in New York with Tagliabue and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, but little was thought to have come of it.

``We'll hear something is in the lease agreement, but it's nothing to worry about until the NFL is coming,'' USC general counsel Todd Dickey said. ``We've been hearing that for two or three years but every time it gets close to a decision, there's an announcement from the league and then it's pushed off.''

In a separate move Tuesday, owners were miffed when Tagliabue bypassed all 32 owners and got approval from the finance committee to spend up to $5 million at each of the Southland sites. Many of the owners in small markets believe the money could be spent better elsewhere.

The move, and the letter from Sample, underscored the sensitive and fragile state of the NFL's negotiations in Los Angeles.

After years as a back-burner issue, NFL owners as well as stakeholders in Los Angeles are grappling with issues that after years of hypothetical talk, suddenly seem real.

Some owners are struggling to justify the estimated price tag of $800 million for a stadium that requires little or no land costs, infrastructure improvements or parking expenses.

Meanwhile, several Exposition Park tenants, including USC, have questioned whether their interests will be protected.

USC's letter came after USC officials saw the latest draft of the lease agreement between the Coliseum and the NFL on Thursday, their first look at it in months, according to Dickey.

Dickey said USC wanted to inform the Coliseum officials of the negotiating points it considered important -- that seating not drop below 80,000, that the renovation not keep USC out of the Coliseum for more than two years, and most importantly, that Coliseum officials not sign a lease with the NFL until the league comes to terms with USC.

The lease agreement said the NFL and USC would ``attempt'' to reach a deal. Sample wanted stronger language.

But L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks called Sample's letter ``mind-boggling,'' saying he spoke with the USC president Thursday and was told everything was going ``well'' with the NFL.

Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, one of nine Coliseum representatives to attend the meetings, said USC had no reason to feel like ``they've been shafted.''

As of now, the main issues center on how much revenue USC would keep from sponsorships and advertising, and what the school would pay in rent.

There was only slightly less tension among owners. Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson echoed concerns by colleagues who see the NFL more interested in Los Angeles than them.

``We throw $10 million around like kids throw pennies against the wall'' Wilson told the Sports Business Journal this week. He did not attend the Denver meeting.

``It is ludicrous if the league is thinking of spending money to build a stadium or renovate a stadium (in Los Angeles),'' Wilson told the journal. ``The league has gotten along pretty well the last 10 years, and the TV contracts are not falling apart.''

A recommendation from the committee of owners studying Los Angeles included the proviso that it is prepared to look at additional sites if significant problems are discovered.