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All of a sudden, the intrigue swirling around AEG's wishes to build a football and soccer stadium in place of part of the Los Angeles Convention Center has gotten more interesting. A Toronto radio station (Fan 590) reported that AEG owner Phil Anschutz has a deal to buy 35% of the San Diego Chargers. But then Mark Fabiani, the former deputy here to Mayor Tom Bradley, and now a special counsel to the Chargers, sent out an email saying "there is no truth to the rumor out of Toronto that the Chargers have agreed to sell a portion of the team to Mr. Anschutz." A share of the team is up for sale, Fabiani has previously acknowledged, but OK, according to him there is no deal with Anschutz. But then Magic Johnson goes on Jimmy Kimmel last night and says: "Today, and nobody knows this... I teamed up with [AEG CEO] Tim Leiweke and AEG ... and we're going to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles." Leiweke is leading the campaign to build the NFL stadium next to Staples Center. Latest twists at The Informer and Neon Tommy. Stay tuned.
Also on the stadium front: There's talk of a soccer stadium being built on the site of the Sports Arena, possibly to host Chivas USA.
* Noted: Greg Nelson, who was top aide to Councilman Joel Wachs when AEG's Staples Center project was controversial, warns in a piece at CityWatch that stadium proponents "use bogus, build-to-suit economic analyses to tout the economic impact of their projects."