AEG's assets are sprawling. They include the Staples Center arena as well as one of its tenants, the NHL L.A. Kings, and a 30% stake in another -- the NBA L.A. Lakers. AEG also owns the MLS L.A. Galaxy, various minor-league hockey teams as well as arenas -- including ones in Berlin and London -- and theaters -- including ones in New York and L.A. -- as well as business units for ticket sales, event promotion and sponsorship sales.
And billionaire Philip Anchutz, 72, who runs AEG, has spearheaded the idea for building a new stadium in Los Angeles. AEG already sold naming rights to insurance company Farmers -- for Farmers Field -- in a proposed package that would also include $315 million for renovation of the convention center adjacent to the stadium.
On Sept. 28, the L.A. City Council is expected to vote on financial terms for the new stadium and, despite some local concerns about traffic issues, is expected to approve the plans.
The idea had been for AEG to get the go-ahead, and shoulder various responsibilties for building the stadium, such as guaranteeing city bonds and covering potential cost overruns.
But with AEG up for sale, now what for L.A.'s NFL prospects?
Anchutz himself, whom Forbes says is worth about $7.6 billion, is famously secretive. Says David Carter, a sports business consultant who oversees sports business studies at USC: "This has caught a lot of people off guard, but they must know what they're doing."
Carter adds: "I know these guys really well and have followed this closely. There's no surprise in the timing of this announcement. They'd already briefed the NFL, Farmers, the city council and the mayor."
Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in a statement, said he has been aware "for some time" that AEG would be going up for sale but has a commitment from Anchutz: "This won't affect plans for an NFL team to return to Los Angeles in the near future."
But how's that possible, given AEG was spearheading the NFL effort and now the company is up for sale? The Los Angeles Times reports potential buyers might include Patrick Soon-Shiong, a Los Angeles philanthropist whom Forbes values at $7.2 billion, as well as the Madison Square Garden Co.
Cannon Harvey, president of AEG parent Anchutz Co., toldThe Wall Street Journal that Anchutz hopes to sell AEG as a whole. But it's also theoretically possible its diverse assets could be sold off piecemeal. AEG's teams would likely need their leagues to approve any buyers.
Even if AEG is sold in pieces, says consultant Carter, it would be surprising if Anchutz just kept plans for the stadium and tried to land a team. "Would they be willing to jettison core assets and just control a stadium and own a team? That would be counter to AEG's strategy around the world," Carter says. "AEG is all about vertical integration. It uses sports teams almost as loss leaders and makes money off of owning the venues, the surrounding real estate, selling the tickets. If that's your strategy, why would you just have a football team?"
Chicago-based sports business consultant Marc Ganis, who has worked with more than a dozen NFL teams on stadium deals and other issues, notes it's possible that two teams -- most likely San Diego and Oakland -- would come to Los Angeles and, like New York's Jets and Giants, share a stadium to reduce costs. But Ganis suggests that the league, which would need to approve moves, was never thrilled by the idea of Farmers Field: It would create the first NFL stadium controlled by a for-profit third party rather than by a team owner or a non-profit government body. That, Ganis says, "would put a third party trying to feed at the same trough. It splits the (stadium revenue) pie more."
So, Ganis says, "This might be counter-intuitive, but AEG's sale might enhance the chances of L.A. getting an NFL team -- but not through the Farmers Field deal."
