Big A, Angels and Disney: What Love Has to Do With It

If all holy matrimony were based on love, there would be no such things as prenuptial agreements. If every marriage lasted, we wouldn’t have divorce lawyers and broken hearts strewn about the landscape.

Whether we like it or not, this thing called reality often enters the picture to remind us that not every marriage is made in heaven. Some blow up. You can’t just stumble blindly into these things, folks.

Which brings us to the city of Anaheim’s negotiations with the Walt Disney Co. on improvements to Anaheim Stadium. Disney, the 800-pound prospective suitor of the Angels, is insisting on the improvements as a likely condition before it pursues its partial ownership of the team. The question before the house is who pays for what in the proposed $100-million stadium renovation.

The city isn’t being coy about its affection for the team, nor should it. Everyone knows it wants the Angels to remain in Anaheim. The city wears its heart on its sleeve for the team, because to do anything else wouldn’t be credible. And, sure, it would love to have Disney as a partial owner and likely future majority owner.

But when it comes to their local sports franchises, these are times of loss and betrayal for cities. Love them unconditionally at your own peril. They can break your heart. As a result, no city should give away the store under the assumption the team will be around forever.

Ask the football fans of Cleveland. Or Seattle.

In recent times, cities would give just about anything to get or keep their sports franchises. Even if raw revenues weren’t spectacular, every city thought it needed a team for its self-esteem--whatever that means to a municipality. If the price of self-esteem was sweetheart deals for teams, so be it.

No more, says Bob Zemel, who owns a mortgage company across the street from Anaheim Stadium. He also happens to be in his rookie season as an Anaheim councilman and, therefore, has been rushed quickly to the major leagues of negotiations. “I love what I’m doing,” he says, “but it’s the most draining thing I’ve ever been through in my life.”

Asked whether the negotiations are occupying his every waking moment, he laughs and says, “Every waking moment of life, and some of the sleeping moments too.”

Zemel is a sports fan, but he says he’s approaching the negotiations with Disney from this angle: “I look at it that we can’t throw money at private enterprise, even for baseball. What we can do are investments that make sense. We can help and be supportive of a private enterprise that gives back to the community.”

That return to the community can take various forms, but one of them must be a revenue stream to the city, Zemel says. In other words, just generating local pride by having a major league baseball team won’t cut it.

Zemel is aware of the fractured state of professional sports loyalties these days. Simply put, why should Anaheim or any city take that long walk down the aisle with owners who may bail in a few years?

“How do you write loyalty into a contract?” Zemel asks. The answer, he says, is that you don’t. What you do is forget about mindless passion and get serious about the relationship.

“I think it’s something that can be done,” he says of the city’s deal-making with Disney. “I know the city wants to make it happen. I know I do. We’ve got to get this out of the way so we can go out and get a football team and then go on to building Sportstown.”

In response to my question, Zemel says Disney doesn’t have the city over a barrel. “The Angels have five more years on their lease with us. If the deal [with Disney] doesn’t go down, I’m sure other people would be interested in buying the Angels. The public perception is one thing, that this is great for Anaheim to have Disney. But the reality is that when it comes to the taxpayers of Anaheim, is it in their best interest for us to go beyond our limits to keep Disney as the owner, and I don’t think that’s necessary and prudent.”

You get the feeling that unless Disney insists on an unreasonable “prenup,” this impending marriage will go forward. Having gone through the divorce with the Rams, Anaheim has lost its sports innocence, but it loves the Angels and wants to make them happy. “Do I want Disney to love me?” Zemel asks, in repeating my question. “Yeah. And I think Disney does love Anaheim.”

Gosh, everybody loves everybody. Nothing left, it seems to me, but for both sides to say “I do.”

Dana Parsons’ columns appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.