Disney Sells Owners; Now the Hard Part

On the day that major league baseball owners approved the Walt Disney Co.’s proposal to purchase 25% and controlling interest in the California Angels, Anaheim officials prepared for tough negotiations with the entertainment giant over how to pay for Anaheim Stadium renovations that could cost as much as $110 million.

Disney officials this week set a 60-day deadline to settle the issue of stadium renovations--a last-minute condition that Disney unilaterally imposed on the deal. If the deadline is not met, Disney could simply walk away from the Angels purchase, which was first announced last May.

“We’ll just have to get up in the morning and take our vitamins and go at it,” said City Manager James D. Ruth, who has gone toe-to-toe with Disney’s corporate negotiators on various projects over the past several years.

“It’s going to be a great challenge. Everybody is going to have to step up to the plate,” Ruth said. “There’s going to be give and take by everybody.”

The renovation of Anaheim Stadium would include demolition of the outfield seats to transform the facility from a 67,000-seat multipurpose stadium suitable for both football and baseball into a more intimate, 47,000-seat baseball-only stadium.

A renovated Big A is already a component of Sportstown Anaheim, the proposed sports, entertainment, retail and office complex that was unveiled earlier this month and is slated to be built on 159 acres of stadium property.

City officials have not yet revealed how the project would be paid for, but have said they are counting on heavy involvement from private investors.

At a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday to announce that the sale had been approved by major league owners, Angel Executive Vice President Jackie Autry and Disney officials said they were confident a deal could be struck within the 60-day timetable.

Disney CEO Michael Eisner made it clear he wasn’t asking for a new stadium.

“We think we can live with a drastically renovated stadium for baseball in Anaheim,” said Eisner, who wore an Angel warmup jacket and “Angels in the Outfield” cap. “We think we can turn Anaheim Stadium into what appears to be a new baseball stadium.”

Ruth declined to say how the city might pay its share of the renovation, stating that “no option has been ruled out.” He added, however, that any city contribution would not affect the general fund or unnecessarily burden Anaheim taxpayers.

Sources close to the situation said the city is looking at ways of maximizing the revenue possibilities of a renovated stadium, including revenue for premium seating.

Ruth said that 60 days is not an unreasonable amount of time for the negotiations.

“We’re used to deadlines,” Ruth said. He cautioned, however, that the project costs are not “going to fall totally on the city’s shoulders. . . . There must be some sort of economic benefit for the city.”

City officials said if the deal doesn’t work out with Disney, there are other potential buyers for the team, including former Baseball Commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth.

“Although I’d like to see the whole situation work out, I don’t know how important it is to the taxpayers of Anaheim that Disney be the owners of the Angels,” City Councilman Bob Zemel said. “I think it’s a nice-fitting glove--Disney, the Angels and Anaheim--but not on the backs of the taxpayers.”

City officials have proved in the past that they would not jeopardize the city’s economic future just to advance a project for Disney or any other corporation.

For example, the city refused to cave in to pressure from the Los Angeles Rams to build a new stadium; the Rams then moved to St. Louis. The city also declined to pay for more of the infrastructure improvements for the $3-billion Disneyland expansion project announced in 1991, and then shelved last January when the entertainment giant decided the price for additional land it needed was prohibitive.

Nonetheless, Disney officials are known as shrewd negotiators who win enviable concessions to maximize their sizable profits.

“We want to stay in Anaheim,” Eisner said. “We want to play in that stadium. We don’t want to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, however. There are no figures on the table [for the cost of the renovations], but we’re not going to put further financial burden on the citizens of Orange County or Anaheim.”

Eisner said he wants to get the project moving. “When you’re dealing with a municipality, 60 days can be 600 days,” he said. “You need a deadline.”

Disney Sports Enterprises President Tony Tavares said, “These negotiations will be conducted professionally, behind closed doors. If we can’t get a deal, we’re going to shake the Angels’ hand and move on.”

In addition to the stadium renovation, the city also is working to extend the Angels’ lease, which expires in 2001.

Autry said the Angels’ current stadium lease, for all intents and purposes, is the same as it was when first signed in 1964--and is among the worst in major league baseball.

“It was a good lease back in ‘64,” she said. “There is a lot more work to be done, and I hope the city recognizes that.”

Mayor Tom Daly said Thursday that city officials “will do our best to accommodate the Angels. Our goal is to continue in a partnership that works well for both the team and the city.

“I think each of the parties understands the needs of the other parties,” he added. “I want to watch [pitcher] Jim Abbott and [outfielder] Garret Anderson for a long time into the future in Anaheim.”

Tavares said the past relationship of Disney and Anaheim makes him optimistic that an agreement can be reached.

“We can stand 10 paces apart and see who blinks first, but the risk is that we won’t close the deal,” Tavares said. “We believe we have more of a vested interest in Anaheim than other [potential owners] do. They’ve proven we can work together. They’ve always figured a way. That’s why I’m so optimistic.”

City officials also are optimistic, despite the grueling negotiations that lie ahead.

“We’re happy to have challenges like this,” said Assistant City Manager Dave Morgan, noting that most cities in Southern California are struggling just to make ends meet and are not planning capital projects.

Times staff writers Mike DiGiovanna and Elliott Teaford contributed to this report.