Anaheim Officials Not Likely to Appeal Decision

An Orange County jury has spoken in the Angels’ favor, and it appears Anaheim officials are taking the hint. After being turned down in four attempts to force the Angels to remove “Los Angeles” from the team’s name, a majority of Anaheim council members have said they will not appeal Thursday’s jury decision.

As of December, the city reported its legal fees as close to $3 million. But Superior Court Judge Peter J. Polos could also force the city to pay the Angels’ legal fees, which owner Arte Moreno said could go as high as $7 million.

“Going forward would be a waste of time and money,” Councilman Harry Sidhu said. “It’s time to mend the relationship with the team. I think we have better things to do, and we need to make Anaheim more business-friendly.”

Councilman Bob Hernandez agreed, saying it might be time for the city to be “graceful” in its attitude toward Angel management: “I think it would be best if we just move forward from this point.”

Another council member agreed with the councilmen but wanted to wait until Tuesday night’s council meeting to state a position.

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle said he would listen to city attorneys before deciding whether the city should appeal the verdict.

Sidhu appeared to question his judgment to join his four colleagues in a unanimous vote to move forward with a jury trial.

“I was not 100% convinced this was the thing to do, but I wanted to be consistent with the rest of the City Council,” he said.

By a 9-3 vote, jurors said the Angels did not violate five words in the stadium lease that required that the team “include the name Anaheim therein.”

“As a businessman, I have read many leases in my lifetime,” Sidhu said. “This was a pretty tough thing to prove, especially intent.”

The Angels prevailed in court this week, but some might say they still lost because they are saddled with a geographically awkward name that faced national ridicule. But team President Dennis Kuhl said the Angels plan to stick with Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, even though the lease allows for a name change as long as Anaheim is included.

“For right now, yes,” he said. “That’s our name.”

It is unclear whether the name will remain Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim until the lease expires in 2029 or until 2016, when the Angels have an out clause.

But with the legal proceedings behind them, Paul Swangard of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at University of Oregon said, maybe now the two parties can begin talking about a compromise.

“Clearly there’s some fence-mending that needs to happen and it serves neither party any to be declared the winner,” he said. “A lot more can be accomplished when lawyers aren’t involved.

“I don’t think it was ever an attack on Anaheim as a community, but positioning the franchise to maximize its revenues. Maybe the challenge to the city is to think more entrepreneurial. No matter what happened in court, they are still a major league city.”

Team spokesman Tim Mead said the court victory would not affect anything the Angels do this year.

“We’re moving forward with business as usual,” he said. “If you come to the ballpark, you won’t see anything different.

“We won’t change the logo, the merchandise or the marketing plan.”

On March 2, Polos must still consider Anaheim’s request to permanently block the Angels from using “Los Angeles” in the team’s name. Polos refused two such requests last year.