Leiweke Talks NFL ‘Events Center’

Anschutz Entertainment Group is fleshing out plans to lure the NFL back to Los Angeles, in the form of a downtown “events center” that it hopes to have on the table by the end of the year, AEG President/CEO Tim Leiweke told a local business conference Oct. 25.

The plan includes a $1 billion stadium complex, as previously reported, and a $300 million investment in renovation of the Los Angeles Convention Center that Leiweke told the conference audience would make L.A. the “event capital of the world,” according to the Daily News.

Leiweke told the Valley Industry and Commerce Association’s annual Business Forecast Conference on Oct. 28 that AEG is in talks on aspects of a plan that could be finalized in 30 to 60 days.

Though Leiweke reportedly insisted the project would be an “events center” and not a football stadium, it would be capable of hosting NFL games as well as the Super Bowl, World Cup soccer and college basketball’s Final Four tournament.

While the NFL hasn’t indicated it has any plans to expand, there are indications one or two teams might consider a move.

“I think it’s probably closer than you might think,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the Daily News. “There’s a lot of very qualified people and energy being expended to get that team in the L.A. area.”

But some NFL-watchers have suggested the league might be playing footsie with Los Angeles, using the city’s interest in returning pro football in order to bait other cities to help fund construction of new stadiums.

Leiweke scoffed at the notion, saying “The good thing about AEG is we don’t get used,” he told the paper. “We won’t let L.A. get used.”

He also told the gathering that business at L.A. Live is 30 percent ahead of the same time last year.