Featured image credit: Angel Stadium
The Los Angeles Angels will continue playing at Angel Stadium until at least 2032 after exercising a three-year extension to its lease deal with the City of Anaheim.
The stadium is owned by the city, which was informed of the team’s decision yesterday (Wednesday). The Angels have played at Angel Stadium since 1966 and the current lease deal was signed in 1996.
The city noted that the extension was not the result of any long-term discussions with the team, and there are no such talks underway.
The extension is one of three three-year extensions available to the Angels. The deal had been due to expire in 2029, but could run until 2038 if all extensions are exercised. The Angels have the option of exercising extensions and notifying the city 12 months before December 31, 2029 or earlier. The next extension would have to be exercised prior to December 2032, or by December 31, 2031.
Mayor of Anaheim, Ashleigh Aitken, said: “As a lifelong Angels fan, I join those in our city and across our region in welcoming baseball in Anaheim into the next decade. This lease extension brings added certainty and ensures the strong tradition of baseball in Anaheim. As mayor, I look forward to working with the Angels on future community partnerships, and, as a fan, look forward to a great season ahead.”
Angels owner Arte Moreno has been interested in buying Angel Stadium over the years, with a view to potentially building a new venue.
In 2020, the City of Anaheim approved a $320m (£258m/€309m) sale of the 151-acre stadium site to Moreno’s SRB Management. The deal was cancelled two years later amid allegations of corruption involving former Mayor of Anaheim, Harry Sidhu.
In August last year, California’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved an emergency audit of the City of Anaheim and its leases and/or sales negotiations with the Angels regarding the stadium. As a result, the collapsed sale of the stadium will come under fresh scrutiny, although no timeline has been given for the completion of the review.
Under the current lease deal, the Angels share revenue with the city for tickets ($2 for each ticket after 2.6 million sold), parking (25% of baseball season parking revenue beyond $8.2m) and other events such as Supercross and Monster Jam (25% of revenue beyond $4.1m).
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