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The City of Anaheim has reached a settlement with the Los Angeles Angels Major League Baseball team over its cancellation of a proposed sale of the Angel Stadium site.
The claim by the team’s ownership sought $5m (£3.9m/€4.6m) plus legal fees and is being settled for a credit of $2.75m, with no cash to be paid by the city. The settlement will also see Anaheim build a fire station on the stadium site with the support of the Angels ownership.
Angel Stadium is owned by the City of Anaheim and operated by the Angels. In 2020, Anaheim approved a $320m sale of the 151-acre site to SRB Management, the company of Angels owner Arte Moreno.
The deal was put on hold in May 2022 amid a public corruption investigation, and later that month Harry Sidhu resigned from his role as Mayor of Anaheim. Court documents at the time accused Sidhu of soliciting a donation of approximately $1m to his re-election campaign as the City of Anaheim discussed the sale of the stadium and surrounding land to SRB Management.
It transpired that the original $320m comprised only $150m in cash, while plans for affordable housing were cut considerably. The Angels later agreed to a request from Anaheim City Council to cancel the deal to sell Angel Stadium.
The sale would have ended 50-plus years of city stadium ownership and put any future maintenance, renovation or stadium construction costs solely in the hands of SRB Management. In August last year, Sidhu pleaded guilty to federal felony charges connected to the sale of the stadium.
The initial sale agreement included a provision for SRB to seek $5m in transaction costs plus legal fees if the city did not go through with the sale. SRB’s claim ended with the settlement announced yesterday (Monday).
The city took no action on the claim, leaving SRB until May 2024 to pursue any litigation, with both sides agreeing to an extension in an effort to reach a settlement. No new talks regarding an extended lease, stadium site sale or other long-term issues were part of the settlement. The Angels’ lease to play at Angel Stadium expires in 2029.
The settlement includes a $2.75m credit against a portion of future stadium revenue shared with the city. The fire station will be built on 1.4 acres of city land that is covered by the Angels’ lease for the stadium site.
Mayor of Anaheim, Ashleigh Aitken, said: “This is a fair settlement for our city. It allows both sides to move forward without needless expense and distraction. Clearing the path for a fire station is a priority for Anaheim.
“A new station will serve the growing number of people who visit and call the Platinum Triangle home and will allow us to bring expanded emergency services to the area without added delay or cost.”
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