No stadium negotiations are taking place.
There is not much going on in Anaheim in the stadium game. Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim owner Arte Moreno is not talking about getting a new stadium to replace the 59-year-old venue his team uses to play games. The city is not talking to Moreno and there is a good reason for that. The stadium is undergoing a comprehensive review as mandated by the city council in 2023. “I want to be clear that there are no long-term discussions taking place, and none imminent,” Anaheim City Manager Jim Vanderpool said. “We expect a finalized assessment in mid-2026.”
Earlier this year, the mayor of Anaheim, California, Ashleigh Aitken, wanted Moreno to have “an open and honest conversation about the future of baseball in Anaheim” with her. But there could be a major hurdle before that happens. Aitken wants Moreno to restore one of the team’s former names. The Anaheim Angels. In 1966, when owner Gene Autry moved his baseball business from Los Angeles to Anaheim he rebranded the business as the California Angels. In 1997, the new franchise owner, the Walt Disney Company changed the brand name to the Anaheim Angels. In 2005, another new owner Moreno changed the name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Los Angeles is about 33 miles away from Anaheim. Aitken sent Moreno a letter with eight “starting points” for negotiations, including the return of Anaheim to the Angels name, public negotiating updates, community benefits agreements, and workshops to discuss what residents would like to see in development of the 150-acre stadium site. It is unclear what Moreno wants to do. Moreno extended his lease by three years to use the city stadium until 2032. Moreno, who is 78 years old, might allow someone else to deal with the lease. But there won’t be any stadium talks anytime soon.
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