Heisley to Visit Anaheim

Vancouver Grizzlies’ owner Michael Heisley is scheduled to visit Anaheim on Tuesday, the most significant step in five years toward securing an NBA team for the Arrowhead Pond.

Heisley is expected to meet with Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, City Manager James Ruth and Pond General Manager Tim Ryan. Heisley, searching for a new home for his money-losing team, visited St. Louis and New Orleans this week and Louisville last week.

Andy Dolich, the Grizzlies’ president of business operations, met with officials in New Orleans on Friday, one day after concluding a visit to Anaheim.

If Heisley wishes to move his team next season, he must apply for NBA permission by Thursday, though a deal need not be completed by then.

The Pond opened in 1993, but the NBA has not expanded within the U.S. since then, and no NBA team seriously has considered moving to the Pond since Clipper owner Donald Sterling rejected a lucrative proposal in 1996.

Chapman University President James Doti, who helped broker the 1996 deal between the city and Disney that anchored the Angels in Anaheim for 20 years, said the Grizzlies would generate at least $100 million in annual economic impact within Orange County. Given the city’s reliance on tourism and its investment in the Anaheim Resort area, as evidenced in substantial public works spending surrounding Disney’s $1.4-billion Anaheim expansion, Doti said city leaders should consider modest financial support to help attract the Grizzlies.

“It would be a strategic and visionary investment, not necessarily a subsidy,” Doti said.

The city provided land to Disney for the construction of Disney ICE in downtown Anaheim, which doubles as a training facility for the Mighty Ducks and a rink for youth leagues and community skating.

Daly said it would be premature to discuss what the city might do for Heisley before meeting with him, but the mayor said the city conceivably could provide land near the Pond for the Grizzlies to build a training facility.