Heisley Figuring Anaheim Equation

While officials from the Arrowhead Pond and the city of Anaheim expressed optimism over the chances of luring the Vancouver Grizzlies, the owner of the team left town after a whirlwind visit Tuesday still uncertain whether the Grizzlies could be financially successful should he move his team into the Pond.

Grizzlies’ owner Michael Heisley raved about the arena, the wealthy and booming population in Orange County and Southern California, and about tremendous opportunities for radio and television coverage in the second-largest media market in the country. But he expressed concern about whether the Mighty Ducks’ lease with the Pond would divert too much of the Grizzlies’ revenue into Disney’s pocket.

“There are a lot of positives here, but that’s definitely a negative,” Heisley said.

Still, as Pond officials and Grizzlies’ executives agreed to continue negotiations, Anaheim appears an increasingly viable option for the Grizzlies. Heisley is expected to receive formal NBA permission today to extend the Grizzlies’ hunt for a new home through March 26.

“I think this is an advantage for the Anaheim situation,” Heisley said. “The Anaheim situation requires us to crunch the numbers and do more negotiation than going into a location like Louisville, where we would be the only tenant.”

Of the five cities Heisley said he is considering--Louisville, Ky.; New Orleans; Memphis, Tenn., and Las Vegas are the others--Anaheim is the only one where the Grizzlies would have to share an arena with an NHL team, dividing revenues and complicating negotiations.

Heisley, who already has visited Louisville and New Orleans, said he plans to visit Las Vegas today. He said he is evaluating Memphis “to a limited extent” and has no plans to visit there. He also said he is unlikely to consider additional cities.

Although the NBA is unlikely to approve putting a team in Las Vegas so long as casinos handle bets on that team, Heisley said the league would make no decision until--and unless--he applied to move there. Heisley also dismissed speculation that NBA Commissioner David Stern would lobby against Heisley moving a third NBA team into Southern California.

“I don’t think Mr. Stern has any negative position with regard to us moving a team to Anaheim,” Heisley said. “I’m not going to be spending a day someplace where I don’t think I’ve got a serious opportunity.”

Heisley hurried to the airport Tuesday afternoon, leaving behind Andy Dolich, the Grizzlies’ president of business operations, to complete the day’s negotiations. Afterward, local officials expressed confidence that Heisley would consider Anaheim a financially viable option after hearing from Dolich.

“We think we have a fantastic building in a fantastic market,” said Tom Etter, senior vice president of Ogden Corp., operator of the Pond. “We think we’ve given them a hell of an option to consider.”

Pond General Manager Tim Ryan said the Disney deal need not prevent Heisley from moving his team to Anaheim. Ryan said Tony Tavares, president of Disney’s Anaheim Sports division, has approved significant concessions from a lease that allows the Mighty Ducks to control Pond revenue from luxury suites, club seats, advertising and naming rights.

“The Walt Disney Co. and especially Tony Tavares has stepped up beyond our expectations,” Ryan said. “Many times, Tony and the Walt Disney Co. have been portrayed as a major hurdle. They’ve turned out to be a major asset.”

Ryan said Aramark, the concessionaire at the Pond, has offered to share revenue with the Grizzlies. The city is believed to be willing to provide free land for the Grizzlies to build a training facility and perhaps contribute to its construction, and Ogden is expected to consider picking up the Grizzlies’ cost to buy out the remaining four years of their lease at GM Place in Vancouver.

And, in making their pitch to Heisley, Pond officials stressed opportunities to create new revenue streams that would flow directly to the Grizzlies, untouched by Disney. The Pond could add new luxury suites, a new scoreboard with more ad space, an additional ring of ads above the club seats and advertising on the exterior of the arena, among other ideas.

“He wants to understand every penny of potential revenue at the Pond for his team,” Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly said.

Heisley caught an early-morning flight from his Chicago home to Orange County, then spent the morning and early afternoon in a series of meetings with Ryan, Etter, Daly, Anaheim City Manager James Ruth and Pond assistant general manager Mike O’Donnell.

Later in the afternoon, he set foot inside the Pond for the first time. The arena was set up for basketball, just for Heisley.

“Wow,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”

Heisley said the challenge of finding radio and television homes for the Grizzlies would not deter him. The Southern California media market is crowded, with the Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Ducks, UCLA and USC all fighting for air time during the winter. Still, Heisley said, he believes the Grizzlies would make more money in broadcast rights as a third NBA team here than as the only NBA--or NHL--team in Louisville, New Orleans, Las Vegas or Memphis. He also suggested the Grizzlies could stretch the media market beyond Los Angeles, perhaps adding media outlets in Orange County and San Diego.

“That’s one of the big assets that Anaheim has over all of the other locations we’re talking about. It’s a huge market,” he said. “It’s very difficult to get the numbers up if you don’t have the people. It may be difficult to get the numbers up if you’ve got competition, but at least you’ve got the base to work with.”

The Clippers drew an average of 14,830 fans as part-time tenants at the Pond from 1994-99. Ryan said the Grizzlies were “extremely impressed with the historical support for the NBA in the Pond.”

Heisley said he had not broached the subject of buying the Ducks from Disney, which would eliminate the dilemma of how to split NBA revenue between Disney and the Grizzlies.

“That’s a discussion that would be Disney’s,” Heisley said. “We have not discussed that with Disney.”

He was intrigued, however, with the concept of moving into an arena down the street from where Disney operates the Angels, Disneyland and the new California Adventure theme park and Downtown Disney entertainment promenade, including an ESPN Zone restaurant.

“One of the assets of considering Anaheim is the fact that it is a destination point for millions of people each year,” Heisley said. “I think the theme parks and so on, if properly marketed, could be an asset to us, and we could be an asset to Disney. . . . Anything you can do to market Anaheim and this area has to help Disney and the theme parks. It’s like two plus two equals five, in my opinion.”