O’Malley: Will Try to Help Raiders, Trojans

Although football has never been staged at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers would consider the Raiders and USC as short-term tenants under certain conditions, team President Peter O’Malley said Wednesday night.

“If the Coliseum is being remodeled and the two teams that play there need a place to go, we’d consider it if it didn’t disrupt the baseball season,” O’Malley said from Pittsburgh, where he is attending the baseball owners’ meetings. “Scheduling would be the key to this.”

O’Malley delivered a statement Wednesday, saying if Mayor Bradley asks the Dodgers to accommodate either football team, the Dodgers would try to help. That could come in the fall of 1992, depending on the reconstruction of the Coliseum.

Sources said the Dodgers’ assurance was given before Tuesday’s announcement the Raiders would stay in Los Angeles, provided the Coliseum undergoes substantial renovation and the stadium’s private managers live up to the terms of an undisclosed agreement.

O’Malley, a member of the board of directors of the L.A.-based Amateur Athletic Foundation, has been a long-standing supporter of the Southland athletic community. He has close associations with those involved in the agreement that will keep the Raiders here.

The Raiders and USC welcomed O’Malley’s statement but said it is premature to discuss where they might play in 1992. Also being considered are the Rose Bowl and Anaheim Stadium.

O’Malley said neither the Raiders nor USC has contacted the Dodgers.

Mike McGee, USC athletic director, said the school wants to investigate all situations before discussing any proposals.

“Peter has always been a community-minded person,” said Al LaCosale, the Raiders’ administrative executive. “I think everyone appreciates the statement he made. But where we might play in 1992 is something for down the road.”

Although football has never been held in Dodger Stadium, Bob Smith, director of stadium operations, said the facility could accommodate the game.

In the 1960s Dodger officials laid out a football field, “just to see if it would fit,” Smith said.

“It wouldn’t be easy, but it could be done,” he said. “It would probably entail moving the outfield fences back.” The football field would stretch from home plate to straightaway center field. “I think it would look good for the viewer,” Smith said. “The left and right sidelines would be good seats.”

He said the football stadium would hold about 50,000, which could present a problem for USC. The Trojans will play Notre Dame at home in 1992. That game has drawn more than 90,000 at the Coliseum in past seasons.