Angels team owner tells Anaheim politicians to approve the deal or else.
It is not often that a billionaire owner of a Major League Baseball team is told no but Arte Moreno, the owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has been told that the proposed sale of Anaheim’s stadium and the land surrounding the facility has been put on hold while a corruption investigation of Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu takes place. In 2019, Moreno reached a deal to purchase the stadium and the 150-acre plot where the stadium sits for $320 million, with $124 million credited to Moreno. Moreno would build affordable housing near the stadium and possibly put up a new stadium. But a California state housing agency said Anaheim had violated California affordable housing law by not offering the property to housing developers first. Eventually there was a settlement. Moreno could develop the land after the Anaheim city council signed off on the deal. An Orange County Superior Court judge placed a hold on a proposed settlement. An attorney for Moreno wrote a letter to Anaheim saying that Moreno’s company “SRB has met all its obligations and has every expectation that this transaction should move forward, and looks forward to the Council’s final action no later than June 14th, 2022.” Additionally, the letter stated “SRB Management and Angels Baseball have acted in good faith, participated in a lengthy and thorough public review and hearing process, and believe that the benefits of the transaction and the merits of completing it are manifest.
SRB Management has told Anaheim politicians they better sign off on the deal or else. The or else could mean that Moreno would start looking at other Orange County, California sites to build a stadium. Because of high attendance and a massive local cable-TV deal, Moreno would be a fool if he left Orange County for another area.
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