Strike Victims : If the Baseball Players Go on Strike, They Won’t Be the Only Ones Not Getting Paid : Anaheim Cannot Find Way to Offset Walkout Losses

Anaheim Stadium could have a few gaping holes in its events schedule beginning next weekend, but it’s not as if city officials can invite the Rolling Stones for a concert or stage a motocross or a tractor pull to fill voids left by a baseball strike.

“What if you book another event and they settle the strike, then what are you going to do?” asked Anaheim Stadium General Manager Greg Smith, who is employed by the city. “It’s tough--it’s a one-foot-on-the-dock, one-foot-on-the-boat situation, where you can’t make a commitment to anyone else.”

So you take a bath instead.

City-owned Anaheim Stadium, according to Smith, would lose about $61,000 for every home game the Angels miss. Should a prolonged strike begin Friday and wipe out the rest of this season, and 21 Angel home games, the stadium would lose about $1.28 million.

The projected losses are based on per-game averages so far in the 1994 season. The stadium receives 7.5% of net ticket revenue ($17,722 a game), one-third of concession revenue ($17,695), half of parking revenue ($23,861), and an additional $1,833 a game in miscellaneous television and advertising fees.

About 80% of game-day labor expenses--ticket takers, ushers, parking lot attendants, concession workers, etc.--are reimbursed by the Angels, so they would not constitute much of a savings for the stadium during a strike, Smith said.

The only good news for Anaheim is that its general fund would not be significantly affected by a baseball strike. Because the stadium is operated as an independent department of the city, its financial fortunes, for better or worse, do not impact Anaheim’s budget.

“There is some indirect impact because of the spending that occurs in the restaurants and hotels because of baseball games,” said Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, whose city receives a penny of every sales-tax dollar generated in Anaheim. “The strike hurts a little, but we’ll survive.”

But baseball or no baseball, the stadium still has to pay its bills, the largest of which is $5 million a year (in two installments) to the city for stadium debt service. Part of that rent is generated from gate receipts for Ram games and other stadium events, but the lack of Angel games could force stadium officials to put another dent in their reserve account.

The six-year-old account peaked at about $4 million last year, but most of those funds have been used to help pay for $9.7 million in repairs of stadium damages caused by January’s Northridge earthquake. The city has also contributed to the repair effort.

Smith said the city is expecting its first Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) check, for $1.6 million, this week, and he said another $4 million in insurance claims should arrive soon. A portion of those funds will boost stadium reserves.

“Our account is tapped out at the moment, but after the earthquake money is restored, we should be up around $3 million again,” Smith said. “I’m sure we’re going to have to use savings to get us through this. I can’t reduce our costs enough to offset losses from a baseball strike.”

Smith could try to boost revenues by adding events to the stadium calendar, but most rock concerts are booked months in advance, and there isn’t much in the way of college sports in August.

Smith has had previous discussions with USC officials, offering Anaheim Stadium as a site for the Trojans’ football game against Washington if the earthquake-damaged Coliseum isn’t repaired in time for the Sept. 3 season opener. The Angels are scheduled to be in Cleveland that day.

“Certainly, USC coming here would help offset some losses from a strike,” Smith said. “But as (for) other events, you’re very limited in this short period of time.”

If there is a strike, Smith hopes it’s over quickly. The 1981 strike, which lasted 50 days, forced Anaheim Stadium to lay off some full-time employees and reassign others.

But even in a short strike, some 2,000 part-time stadium employees, most of whom earn about $7 an hour, would take an economic hit.

“They’re the students, the retired people, the folks who use this as a second job to make car payments, and they don’t get to work,” Smith said. “That’s the tragedy of this situation. . . . Hopefully there’s still time to get a resolution to this thing.”

Lost Revenue Per Game at Anaheim Stadium

Rent: $17,722

Concessions: $17,695

Parking: $23,861

TV/Advertising: $1,833

Total: $61,111

(Note: Stadium receives 7 1/2% of ticket, one-third of concession and half of parking revenue for baseball games.)