No major league sports team is going there if Moreno says no.
Should Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim owner Arte Moreno decide to stay put in Anaheim and keep his Major League Baseball team there, what happens to Long Beach, California and the property the city is offering Moreno for a new ballpark? Apparently Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia is not too concerned. Garcia thinks he might be able to induce another sports owner to take a look at the waterfront site and convince that owner to move to Long Beach. Garcia said the 13-acre plot of land is enticing and if Moreno passes on the opportunity, Long Beach has received a “flurry” of other interest from “major organizations and players.” Garcia teased “whether the 13-acre plot of land along the waterfront winds up ‘a home run or a slam dunk’, the city is sure to attract a sports team, entertainment company or other top-level venue. Garcia probably can immediately eliminate getting a National Basketball Association team as the NBA’s Lakers and the National Hockey League’s Kings Los Angeles arena is getting a facelift. Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer wants to build an NBA arena in Inglewood and the NHL’s Ducks are 23 miles away in Anaheim.
The National Football League is not going to Long Beach as Rams owner Stan Kroenke is building an Inglewood venue for his team and that stadium will also house the Spanos family’s Chargers. The Spanos’s struck out in getting a stadium in nearby Carson. Major League Soccer has teams in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Long Beach more than a half century ago was in the running to get the Los Angeles Angels franchise as then owner Gene Autry was looking to move out of Dodger Stadium for a place of his own. In 1964, he found a home in Anaheim.
