Grizzlies Listen to Local Investors

The owner of the Vancouver Grizzlies said Monday he has had introductory discussions with several local investors interested in buying a minority share of an NBA team in Anaheim.

“We would want some local investors,” said Michael Heisley, mulling over Anaheim and several other cities as a new home for the Grizzlies. “We have been approached by several. When you’re an absentee owner, like I was in Vancouver, it helps to have local investors.”

In an interview from his Chicago office, Heisley said he hoped to narrow the list of potential new homes for the Grizzlies “toward the end of this week.”

He would not need to conclude a deal with potential minority owners by March 26, the deadline for him to apply to the NBA should he wish to move the Grizzlies next season.

“We could put the deal together and then bring in local investors,” Heisley said. “If we couldn’t find local investors we’d like to have a relationship with in Anaheim, we could do it there ourselves.”

Heisley would not identify the potential investors. Tim Ryan, general manager of the Arrowhead Pond, also declined to identify the prospects but confirmed that discussions are underway.

Heisley said he spoke with Ryan on Monday and expects to continue negotiations with the Walt Disney Co. this week about one of the potential hitches--how the Grizzlies would share the arena with Disney’s Mighty Ducks.

Heisley is also expected this week to visit Memphis, Tenn., and Louisville, Ky., two other cities courting the Grizzlies.

Leigh Steinberg, the prominent Newport Beach sports agent who led a “Save the Rams” campaign that failed to prevent the NFL team from moving from Anaheim to St. Louis, said Heisley would find no shortage of potential local investors in Orange County.

“The Rams happened to be closed to the concept of selling minority ownership, but we were deluged with folks who wanted to buy in,” he said.

The availability of local investors would not necessarily sway Heisley toward Anaheim. In Louisville, for instance, a developer has offered Heisley five free acres of prime downtown land, suitable for a new arena, in exchange for minority ownership of the Grizzlies.

In Anaheim, Heisley said, his primary concern remains how to structure a relationship with Disney. The Ducks’ lease with Ogden, operators of the Pond, requires an NBA team moving into the arena to split millions of dollars in revenue from advertising and premium seating with Disney.

Heisley met Wednesday in Los Angeles with several Disney executives, including Anaheim Sports President Tony Tavares and his boss, Paul Pressler, president of Disney’s Parks and Resorts division. The negotiations have broadened beyond the lease concessions to such details as how to resolve conflicts for preferred game dates.

“Our discussions have centered, up to this point, on how we would work out sharing the building and what understandings we would have about sharing things like advertising,” Heisley said.

Analysts have suggested that in order to maximize his success in Anaheim, Heisley could purchase the Ducks, eliminating the need to share revenue with Disney.

Anaheim City Manager James Ruth confirmed Monday that Heisley had “expressed some interest” in buying the Ducks. But all parties involved say any potential sale of the Ducks is not part of the current negotiations.

“Right now, it’s him coming here under the existing lease agreement and working a deal with Ogden,” Ruth said. “If Disney opts to consider selling the franchise, that opens other possibilities.”

Tavares, through a spokesman, declined to comment. Pressler was not available.

In addition to Anaheim, Memphis and Louisville, Heisley said he still is considering Las Vegas and New Orleans.