Venerable stadiums still discussed as pro team locales.

In a region long known for its great young fighters, the most interesting brawl during the next few years could be between an octogenarian from Pasadena and a 79-year-old geezer from South Central.

While investors like Philip Anschutz, Ed Roski and Peter O'Malley have placed stadium plans on and off the table, and city and county governments debate the best locations, supporters of the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum continue to push their respective stadiums as the best choice for the National Football League.

Last month, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced he would consider holding the Super Bowl at the Rose Bowl in either 2007 or 2008, provided the venue is updated. Never has there been a Super Bowl in region that did not have an NFL team, and some see the announcement as tipping the league's hand about when it expects to have a team in the area.

The announcement came two months after the city of Pasadena, which owns the Rose Bowl, hired Baltimore-based sports investment bank Moag & Co. to create a financing and promotion plan to lure a football team to Arroyo Seco. Moag was a key figure in bringing the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996.

"We're concentrating on delivering a stadium that meets NFL guidelines for NFL venues' said John Moag, who declined to give a timeline or financial figures for the development.

The city also hired international architects HOK, designer of San Francisco's Pacific Bell Park, to redesign the stadium, which was built in 1922. While Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn declined to disclose design specifics or a total financing figure, it's expected that luxury boxes, suites, access roads, concession stand improvements and a reduced seating capacity to between 60,000 and 70,000 from 92,000 will be part of the plan.

"We have a very positive history with the NFL," said Dunn, referring to the five Super Bowls played at the stadium between 1977 and 1993. "The NFL is hoping to have a franchise (in L.A.), and an existing facility is the most viable option for that. If the Rose Bowl is renovated, we think it can be done."

Meanwhile, at 39th and Vermont, the Coliseum Commission is sticking to variations of a three-year-old, $400 million plan involving 150 luxury suites, 15,000 club seats and a reduction in total capacity to 67,000 from 92,000. The 1999 proposal was part of the $500 million offer by Anschutz, Roski and Eli Broad that was outbid by Bob McNair for his Houston Texans franchise.

"The NFL will make a decision based on the merits of the locations, whether the team can make money and the political will of the city," said Lisa Specht, partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP and member of the Coliseum Commission. "If all of those things line up, the NFL will consider the Coliseum."

But apparently, the NFL, whose officials did not return calls seeking comment, believes that only the Rose Bowl has a chance.

At a league meeting in New York, Tagliabue said the Rose Bowl would be considered for a Super Bowl contingent on renovations. The announcement could be viewed as either an acknowledgement of both Los Angeles' and Pasadena's efforts to come up with a plan for a viable stadium or an incentive for the two cities to continue to do so, according to David Carter, principal at L.A.-based Sports Business Group.

Either way, it represents an about face from recent dismissals of the Coliseum's chances of hosting a team by both Tagliabue and team owners.

"The Rose Bowl has put together a preliminary package for the NFL that says 'We're ready, willing and able to find a way to put an NFL team in a state-of-the-art stadium in the second largest market in the country," said Dean Bonham, chief executive of Denver-based consultants Bonham Group, which has done work for the Rose Bowl but is not working with Moag. "The Coliseum has never been able to demonstrate that they can do that."