Angels Close To Ten-Year Deal With FSN West

Angels Owner Arte Moreno confirmed that the team is “close to a 10-year agreement” with FSN West that “could be worth as much as” $500M and would increase the net’s telecasts to about 150 games a season, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. TIMES. The package, which is “expected to surpass” the ten-year, $340M deal the Angels turned down in October and the net’s ten-year $320M deal with the Dodgers, would double the club’s $24M in local TV revenue from FSN and KCAL-Ind in ’05. The new deal, which would go into effect for the upcoming season, would “shelve for at least a decade any talk of the Angels starting” an RSN. After a court victory last week allowing the team’s name to remain the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the deal “would seem to affirm Moreno’s assertions” that the name change “would give the team increased stature in [L.A.] and help increase revenues.” But FSN COO Randy Freer said that there “would be no correlation” between the TV package and the court decision. Freer: “We’ve always looked at the Angels as a Southern California team and distributed them to the widest possible territory, including Las Vegas and Hawaii” (L.A. TIMES, 2/13).

Moreno Looking To Recoup $7M In Attorney Fees From City

COURT COSTS: Moreno said that he would “seek to recoup” the Angels’ estimated $7M in attorney fees from the city of Anaheim, “which is liable for the fees because it sued the Angels and lost the case” (L.A. TIMES, 2/13). The city said that it has spent $2.7M in legal costs, but in L.A., Goffard & McKibben noted the final amount is “expected to be much higher” because that figure does not include trial costs and the Angels’ legal fees. But Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle said he felt the suit “was very necessary.” Claremont McKenna College professor John Pitney Jr. said, “I think a lot of people in Anaheim think it was a fight worth making” (L.A. TIMES, 2/12). Also in L.A., Dave McKibben reported most Anaheim City Council members said that they will not seek to appeal the court’s decision. Council member Harry Sidhu said an appeal would be a “waste of time and money. It’s time to mend the relationship with the team.” Meanwhile, Angels VP/Communications Tim Mead said, “We’re moving forward with business as usual. ... We won’t change the logo, the merchandise or the marketing plan” (L.A. TIMES, 2/11).