Angels tell Anaheim they're opting out of their lease on Angel Stadium

[Lilofan]

If I had to come up with a list of cities off the top of my head who have organizations who will, or already are, talking with Mr. Moreno about buying the Angels and moving them from Anaheim, the top five would be...

San Antonio
Nashville
Jacksonville
Austin
Raleigh

I think Charlotte is physically too close to Atlanta to make sense. But Raleigh could encompass the 10 million in North Carolina, as well as loop in the 4 Million residents of Richmond/Tidewater, as well as the two million or so in Lowcountry South Carolina who could be pried out of the Braves orbit to root for a "Carolina" team.

But that's where the money and the people are now, and where they are moving to. Salt Lake City could be a contender. Portland could have been until it fell apart up there in 2020-21. Oklahoma City is out there as a wild card too, that town has such a chip on their shoulder about competing with Texas that they'd do it just to say they could. My gut tells me if the Angels get bought, they are headed east out I-10 with the rest of the U-Haul trucks.

FL plays to near empty stadiums in Tampa and Miami. Jacksonville would not even be considered .

 

[Jiggsawpuzzle35]

If I had to come up with a list of cities off the top of my head who have organizations who will, or already are, talking with Mr. Moreno about buying the Angels and moving them from Anaheim, the top five would be...

San Antonio
Nashville
Jacksonville
Austin
Raleigh

I think Charlotte is physically too close to Atlanta to make sense. But Raleigh could encompass the 10 million in North Carolina, as well as loop in the 4 Million residents of Richmond/Tidewater, as well as the two million or so in Lowcountry South Carolina who could be pried out of the Braves orbit to root for a "Carolina" team.

But that's where the money and the people are now, and where they are moving to. Salt Lake City could be a contender. Portland could have been until it fell apart up there in 2020-21. Oklahoma City is out there as a wild card too, that town has such a chip on their shoulder about competing with Texas that they'd do it just to say they could. My gut tells me if the Angels get bought, they are headed east out I-10 with the rest of the U-Haul trucks.

The Halos are not moving to any of those cities. They have a huge fanbase here and generally been top 5 in attendance for the past 20 seasons except for the past few seasons. They are staying put in the LA/OC market. You saw the value of the Chargers rise when they moved from San Diego to LA. The market you are in determines the value of your franchise. This team when sold could cost as much as 3 billion dollars. My guess though is between 2.5 and 3 billion. It’s going to be from a group of owners just like the sale of the Dodgers. If you find a owner/owners that are willing not to screw over a city like Arte Moreno, you can get your project done to build a stadium/entertainment complex. Look at what the Samuelis have done with OCVibe. I even saw idiot councilman Moreno at a Ducks game rooting on the Ducks. Never seen him once at an Angels game.

 

[TP2000]

The Halos are not moving to any of those cities. They have a huge fanbase here and generally been top 5 in attendance for the past 20 seasons except for the past few seasons. They are staying put in the LA/OC market.

I completely understand your point about the Angels being in one of the top tier markets in the USA, and thus it's unlikely they would leave SoCal. Maybe go to Long Beach or Irvine or something.

But never say never. Just ask all those Sonics fans up in Seattle who lost their decades-old team to... Oklahoma City?!?

Seattle Metro = 4.1 Million people, $97,000 Median Household Income
Oklahoma City Metro = 1.5 Million people, $56,000 Median Household Income

Angel Stadium is one of the oldest in the league. Despite good maintenance and thoughtful updates in the last 25 years, it's decrepit. It weakens the ability for the team's new owner to stay in Anaheim. Thus, you open yourself up to some hungry and well funded groups in other Sunbelt cities who could steal the team from SoCal.

I would just caution all of us to think that the Angels will always be in SoCal, let alone always be in Anaheim. This is going to get interesting, that's for sure!

 

[TP2000]

Feeling a little guilty about that last post, because I have lived in Seattle while spending some time in Oklahoma City for work. Don't want to disparage the good people of the Sooner State.

It's true that Seattle is a far prettier setting, is wealthier, and much bigger than OKC. But the OKC folks were nicer, more outgoing, and just generally easier to be around than modern Seattleites. And downtown Oklahoma City is kept clean as a whistle and feels very safe. Yet downtown Seattle is very dirty and downright apocalyptic now.

But you can darn well bet that when a scrappy yet well funded buyer group from Oklahoma stole the beloved Super Sonics out from under from the bigger, wealthier, hipper Seattle, everyone in Seattle said "What the hell just happened???...."

So anything is possible in pro sports. There's no guarantee that the Angels will still be playing in SoCal in a few years time.

 

[GimpYancIent]

With the Angels vacating the premises and stagnant situation with the property would there be an opening for Disney to acquire the property and redevelop it into another entertainment / resort venue?

 

[Jiggsawpuzzle35]

I completely understand your point about the Angels being in one of the top tier markets in the USA, and thus it's unlikely they would leave SoCal. Maybe go to Long Beach or Irvine or something.

But never say never. Just ask all those Sonics fans up in Seattle who lost their decades-old team to... Oklahoma City?!?

Seattle Metro = 4.1 Million people, $97,000 Median Household Income
Oklahoma City Metro = 1.5 Million people, $56,000 Median Household Income

Angel Stadium is one of the oldest in the league. Despite good maintenance and thoughtful updates in the last 25 years, it's decrepit. It weakens the ability for the team's new owner to stay in Anaheim. Thus, you open yourself up to some hungry and well funded groups in other Sunbelt cities who could steal the team from SoCal.

I would just caution all of us to think that the Angels will always be in SoCal, let alone always be in Anaheim. This is going to get interesting, that's for sure!

This isn’t a Seattle SuperSonics scenario. The furthest this team will ever move to is back to LA County. The last time a team bolted Anaheim was the Rams moving to St. Louis. We all know that murderous witch Georgia Frontiere had her husband murdered and swooped the team from underneath her son in law. When Steve Balmer bought the Clippers, everyone was worried he’d move the team to Seattle. Guess what, he’s now moving them to Inglewood. You’d have to be an idiot to buy the team and move it out of the second largest media market in the country. The value of the franchise will drop and you will be losing hundreds of millions of dollars and quite possibly a billion dollars.

 

[TP2000]

With the Angels vacating the premises and stagnant situation with the property would there be an opening for Disney to acquire the property and redevelop it into another entertainment / resort venue?

For what purpose?

To be three miles east of Disneyland in a charmless corridor of Soviet-style apartment blocks and a McDonald's?

There's no reason why Disney would want that property three miles east of their Resort complex. Remember, Bob Chapek already passed on buying GardenWalk in its entirety at a rock bottom price.

It's either going to be a bulldozed and rebuilt baseball stadium, or it's going to be 3,000 more charmless apartments.

Anaheim's Platinum Triangle! Urban Environment! Three Different Shades of Beige! Trash Chutes On Every Floor!

 

[TP2000]

This isn’t a Seattle SuperSonics scenario. The furthest this team will ever move to is back to LA County. The last time a team bolted Anaheim was the Rams moving to St. Louis. We all know that murderous witch Georgia Frontiere had her husband murdered and swooped the team from underneath her son in law.

A wife murdering her husband to steal a team? That seems to prove my point that anything is possible in pro sports.

Don't forget, even though the mayor resigned suddenly in shame, the FBI is still currently investigating Anaheim City Hall and likely Mr. Moreno. There's another shoe, or three, to drop yet in this Anaheim Angels criminal saga.

I just caution us to think that SoCal is Too Big To Fail when it comes to losing sports teams. How many decades did LA go without the NFL again?

 

[Californian Elitist]

We all know that murderous witch Georgia Frontiere had her husband murdered and swooped the team from underneath her son in law.

 

[TP2000]

View attachment 662705

Right?!? I did the exact same thing.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Right?!? I did the exact same thing.

I naturally read it in one of those 1920s mob voices in my head. It sounds like a line from a noir script.

 

[Robbiem]

It will never happen but it would be ideal if the convention Center moved to the stadium site and Disney was able to develop the existing site and toy story lot into a third park resort expansion

 

[Consumer]

Former Angels and Dodgers player Albert Pujols just hit his 700th career home run at Dodgers Stadium tonight. Thought about flying out to LA for the weekend to go and now I deeply regret not doing so.

 

[Jiggsawpuzzle35]

Former Angels and Dodgers player Albert Pujols just hit his 700th career home run at Dodgers Stadium tonight. Thought about flying out to LA for the weekend to go and now I deeply regret not doing so.

That guy made bank playing mediocre baseball for most of his career with the Angels. Good for him and his agent to make a fool of Arte Moreno.