Image: Anaheim Stadium, Amin Eshaiker, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Major League Baseball (MLB) team Los Angeles Angels and the City of Anaheim agreed recently to settle a two-year-old dispute providing the team with $2.75 million in financial relief while granting the City the right to build a fire station on the Angels abode – the Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, US – property.
‘Los Angeles Times’ stated that the above resolution announced has no impact on the Angels’ long-term future at the Angel Stadium where the team’s lease expires in 2029. In a statement, the City said that issue was not raised during the talks to settle the dispute and there are “no long-term talks underway now”.
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team has played its home games at the Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, US.
The 45,517-capacity Angel Stadium is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California, United States. Since its opening 58 years ago in 1966, it has been the home field of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Los Angeles Angels. It was also the home stadium of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) from 1980 to 1994.
‘Los Angeles Times’ further stated that in 2022, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disclosed allegations of corruption against the then Mayor of Anaheim Harry Sidhu, the Anaheim City Council killed the deal in which the Angels owner Arte Moreno and his company would have bought the stadium property, renovated or replaced the ballpark, and surrounded it with a village of homes, shops, restaurants, offices, and hotels.
Under the terms of the deal, the City owed Moreno $5 million if Anaheim called off the transaction. The City had declined to pay. Five months later, when the City wanted to build a fire station on the property, Moreno exercised his right to prevent development on the stadium property. The two sides had put potential litigation on hold while pursuing a settlement.
The settlement provides the Angels with $2.75 million in credit toward what the team would otherwise owe the City in revenue from ticket sales, parking and special events.
Over the past 12 months, the City said it has received $1.4 million in such revenue from the Angels.
Averred Ashleigh Aitken, Mayor of Anaheim in a statement, “This is a fair settlement for our City. It allows both sides to move forward without needless expense and distraction.”
The Angels declined to comment.
In 2023, Sidhu signed a plea deal that acknowledged he “provided confidential negotiating information belonging to the City … so that the Angels could buy the Angel Stadium on terms beneficial to the Angels” and kept that disclosure secret from the rest of the City Council. The FBI affidavit said Sidhu planned to ask the Angels for a $1 million contribution to his re-election campaign.
Sidhu pleaded guilty to obstructing a corruption investigation, committing wire fraud and making false statements. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Neither the FBI affidavit nor the plea deal alleges the Angels did anything wrong.
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