The Angels are "apparently dissatisfied with stadium lease talks," as they "have no immediate plans to resume negotiations with Anaheim and show no signs of urgency in landing a new venue" in Tustin, Calif., or elsewhere, according to a front-page piece by Martin Wisckol of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Angels Owner Arte Moreno has until '19 to "opt out of the current Angel Stadium lease and must disclose his intention to opt out" by October '18. If a new Anaheim lease -- or a new venue elsewhere -- "is not secured and the opt-out clause is not exercised, the team is contractually bound to remain" until '29. Anaheim and the team in '10 "began talking about revising the lease," with an eye on $130-150M in needed renovations and repairs -- fixes the team "appears to be on the hook for under the current lease." A "'framework' proposal used as a starting point -- approved by the City Council in September 2013 -- would have given the team a $1-per-year, 66-year lease to develop retail, commercial and residential buildings on the stadium parking lots." The high-density provision was "intended to create revenue for Moreno to finance maintenance renovations." It is "unclear exactly what the sticking points were, but the city’s financial return on the deal appears to be the general point of contention." The Angels "terminated talks with Anaheim in September, while continuing discussions with Tustin about building a stadium," but now the those negotiations "also appear stalled." A "major hurdle" to a Tustin ballpark is $500M-$1B in construction costs. The city "has an annual capital improvement budget" of $41M and "has said it would not spend tax dollars on a stadium." Angels consultant Marie Garvey confirmed that there was "no immediate urgency to settle the issue" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 6/4).
THIS IS A CALL: In L.A., Bill Shaikin notes the Angels "could fail to sell 3 million tickets" for the first time since '02, the year before Moreno bought the team. The team's attendance through Tuesday had "dropped 4,352 per game from the same number of games last year -- the third-largest decline" in MLB. They are "on pace to sell 2.76 million tickets, down almost 20% from the record 3.41 million" in '06. The slide in season-ticket sales "has been steeper." Angels VP/Marketing & Ticket Sales Robert Alvarado said that the team has "sold about 17,000 season tickets this season," which is "about the same as last year but down close to 30% from 2012 and almost 50% from the record 31,000" in '06. He added that the "advent of the resale market ... means fans do not have to buy or share season tickets to get a good seat." The Angels "have focused on selling good seats at strong prices rather than using deep discounts to try to sell every seat in the house." Alvarado said that the fans that "might buy a $5 ticket ... are less likely to spend much on food, drinks or merchandise." He added that the Angels "are about even with last year in revenue from tickets and concessions." Group sales "are up, and so are rentals of luxury suites." Alvarado: "I don’t know if we’ll ever see our season-seat sales where they were eight or nine years ago. It may take another world championship or two to create that frenzy again" (L.A. TIMES, 6/4). In California, Pedro Moura notes the Angels are "eschewing the cheap
seats in favor of luxury sections" and "thinking less about fans who pay
for $10 tickets than fans who make advance dinner reservations for the
Diamond Club Restaurant." Alvarado said, "We’re not panicked. We’re taking a different strategy this year. We’re getting a higher yield per ticket, selling less tickets, making a little bit more money than we did last year" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 6/4).
