Reports Cite Seattle Has Site In L.A. Seahawks Working With Hollywood Group In Effort To Move To El Segundo, Calif.

As the Raiders were officially receiving approval to leave Los Angeles for Oakland on Friday, another team was busy preparing to take their place.

The Seattle Seahawks have been working with Creative Artists Agency in studying the potential location and feasibility of a new stadium in Southern California the Los Angeles Times has learned.

CAA, a Hollywood talent agency led by Michael Ovitz, would oversee the building of a stadium financed by investors, including several from the entertainment industry.

A preliminary site for a venue has been identified in El Segundo, coincidentally the home of the Raiders’ training facility.

David Behring, Seahawk president, did not deny the report.

“We are endeavoring to improve our situation in Seattle with the Kingdome,” Behring said. “But there exists a vacuum in Los Angeles. Certain people are aware of that vacuum and are looking into the situation.”

A spokeswoman from CAA declined comment.

The Seahawks are unhappy with the Kingdome and believe they could escape their lease immediately by proving that their King County landlords failed to provide them with a first-class facility.

They recently demanded more than $150 million in stadium improvements and a new lease. But county officials estimate that even if voters agree to a recently proposed sales tax increase, they will be able to give only $70-100 million to the football team.

Some officials warn that talk of moving the franchise is only a way of gaining leverage in these negotiations.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue acknowledged that the next team to move to Los Angeles would probably be an existing franchise instead of an expansion team.

The relocation process could be quicker than expansion, since a team could move into a temporary facility here as soon as 1996.

Tagliabue, who said there would be a team in Los Angeles by 1998, named the Seahawks as one of three teams with stadium problems. “As long as we have teams with inadequate stadium situations, we need to focus on those teams (for Los Angeles),” Tagliabue said. “Until those problems get resolved, expansion is not an immediate solution.”This does not mean that Walt Disney Co., considered a front-runner after initiating contact with league officials, is out of the picture.

The Seahawks are known to have also spoken to Disney officials. Although Ovitz’s group would be content to simply build a stadium, Disney wants to build a stadium and own at least part of a team.

A spokeswoman from Disney declined comment.

The league, however, is unsure whether it wants Los Angeles to become a two-team market again.