Could the planned AEG sale impact the NFL’s return to Los Angeles and its other teams?

Could the planned AEG sale impact the NFL’s return to Los Angeles and its other teams?

By Andrew Dalton
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES– A for-sale sign for the owner of the Staples Center arena, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy and a stake in the LA Lakers would be a major shock to the city’s sports, entertainment and business establishment at any time.

But when Denver-based Anschutz Co. said Tuesday that it was ”commencing a process” to sell subsidiary Anschutz Entertainment Group, the announcement left especially big questions about AEG’s central role in courting the NFL’s return to Los Angeles with Farmers Field, a planned downtown stadium going through late-round approvals with the city.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was not so shocked, saying he had long known about the possible sale even as he publicly pushed for the building of the stadium. He insisted it would not derail the city as it pulls closer to the return of the NFL since the 1994 departure of the Rams and Raiders.

Villaraigosa said both Denver billionaire Phillip Anschutz and AEG President Tim Leiweke have assured him the city’s football future will remain the same.

”I have worked with both Phil Anschutz and Tim Leiweke for years to bring a football team to Los Angeles. I speak to both of them on a regular basis, and I have known about this potential sale for some time,” the mayor said in a statement Tuesday. ”I have the commitment from both of them that this won’t affect plans for an NFL team to return to Los Angeles in the near future and so will not affect my support for moving ahead with Farmers Field.”

The stadium overcame a major hurdle last week when the city’s planning commission unanimously recommended that the city council approve its environmental impact report. The council will take up the issue on Sept. 28.

If an agreement is reached, AEG and the city have said they would work on the puzzle’s most important piece – persuading an NFL team to move – early next year.

Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes the proposed stadium site next to the Staples Center, said she did not know about a pending sale but agreed that it wouldn’t have adverse effects on courting a team.

”The city has done a good job of protecting the taxpayer’s interest in negotiating an agreement,” Perry told The Associated Press, ”so whoever steps into the shoes of Mr. Anschutz will have the same obligations.”

Perry said the move ”arguably is very positive” because she suspected it could lead to an enthusiastic new partner anxious to get in on the city’s NFL prospects.

It wasn’t immediately clear how far along the company is in the sale process, or whether it has entertained any offers. The price for AEG could be well into the billions.

Anschutz Co. said in the statement that it has hired as financial advisers the Blackstone Group, which recently managed the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to a group that includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson.

”Given the success of the management team and employees in establishing AEG as one of the premier real estate development, live sports and entertainment platforms in the world,” Anschutz president Cannon Y. Harvey said in a statement, ”this is an appropriate time to transition AEG to a new qualified owner. This process represents a unique opportunity to maximize value for all concerned.”

AEG’s holdings also include the professional soccer team Los Angeles Galaxy, part-ownership of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, and major entertainment and real estate holdings in downtown Los Angeles. Outside of LA, AEG owns Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo and arenas in Sweden, China and Australia.

The potential sale was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

AEG transformed the city’s landscape with the building of Staples Center and the addition of the LA Live entertainment complex, helping to revitalize a long-neglected downtown and bring energy and several championships to its sports teams.

Opened in 1999, the Staples Center is among the world’s busiest arenas. It hosted six playoff games in four days for its main tenants – the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers, and the NHL’s Kings, who won their first Stanley Cup in June.

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Video: Will AEG being up for sale affect the Los Angeles Lakers?

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Video: ESPN-Anschutz Entertainment Group up for sale

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Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG)

Philip F. Anschutz

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns, controls or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 100 of the world’s preeminent facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), Citizen’s Business Bank Arena (Ontario, CA), The Rose Garden (Portland, OR), O.co Coliseum (Oakland, CA), American Airlines Arena (Miami), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, NY), Verizon Theatre (Grand Prairie, TX), Colosseum at Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, NV), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX), Allphones Arena (Sydney, AU), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), Ahoy Arena (Rotterdam), Ericsson Globe Arenas (Stockholm), Qatar National Convention Centre (Doha), O2 World Hamburg (Hamburg), O2 World (Berlin) and The O2, a 28-acre development located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River which includes a 20,000-seat arena and over 650,000 sf of leisure and entertainment use which are all part of the portfolio of AEG Facilities; AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company; and AEG Global Partnerships, responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships naming rights and other strategic partnerships.

In addition, AEG developed and operates The Home Depot Center, a $150 million national training center located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, CA which is an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site and features elite facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, track cycling, boxing, lacrosse, rugby, football and other sports, as well as concerts and family shows, and is home to MLS Champion Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA MLS franchises. The company is also spearheading the development of Farmers Field, a 72,000-seat stadium and Event Center in downtown Los Angeles designed to host an NFL franchise, conventions and special events.

Franchises including the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Manchester Monarchs (AHL), Ontario Reign (ECHL), Houston Dynamo & Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS), three hockey franchises in Europe as well as the Hammarby (Sweden) Futbol Club, management of privately held shares of the Los Angeles Lakers, events such as the Amgen Tour of California cycling road race, the Zazzle Bay to Breakers foot race and an ongoing schedule of soccer exhibitions in the United States featuring the most popular international teams are part of the portfolio of AEG Sports.

AEG Live, the live-entertainment division of Los Angeles-based AEG, is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance. AEG Live is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions, fifteen regional offices and owns, operates or exclusively books thirty five state-of-the-art venues. The current and recent concert tour roster includes artists such as Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Justin Bieber, Leonard Cohen, Wisin & Yandel, Kenny Chesney, P!nk and Paul McCartney. The company is also currently producing productions including Cher at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The division’s exhibition portfolio boasts the most successful exhibition of all time, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, which has attracted more than seven million visitors since 2005. AEG Live is also the largest producer of music festivals in North America from the critically acclaimed Coachella Music & Arts Festival to Stagecoach and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

AEG directed the overall creation and development of L.A. LIVE, the 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring venues such as Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, Club Nokia and The Conga Room; the GRAMMY Museum, saluting the history of music and the genre’s best known awards show; a 54-story, 1001-room convention “headquarters” destination (featuring The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels and 224 luxury condominiums — The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton — all in a single tower), Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14 movie theatre, “broadcast” facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant and office space making it the region’s most active ‘live content and event campus.’

 Source: AEG

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Los Angeles

Population (2011 est.)
Los Angeles (city limits): 3,819,702 rank 2nd in the U.S.
Metropolitan Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside: 18,081,569 rank 2nd in the U.S.