A Strikeout, Not a Shutout for Disney and Anaheim : Disney, Anaheim Can Still Play Ball in Years Ahead

The Walt Disney Co.’s announcement that it will not buy the California Angels baseball team because of inability to agree with the city of Anaheim on leasing Anaheim Stadium and developing the land around it was disappointing. But it was not a total surprise.

The Disney company owes it to its stockholders to get the best terms it can on all its deals. Anaheim has the same obligation to its residents, the taxpayers. The city and the company have dealt with each other for 40 years, since Disneyland opened. Each side has benefited, but each has shown an ability to hang tough in negotiations.

There are conflicting accounts on just where talks stand now, but it was clear when talks began more than two months ago that the going would be rough.

For starters, the first deal was between Disney and Angels owners Jackie and Gene Autry. But it was dependent on Anaheim’s agreement on matters affecting the city-owned stadium. Those kinds of three-party negotiations can be dicey, and the city could not submerge its own interests to those of two businesses, no matter how prominent.

In the end, Disney offered to put up $70 million toward renovating Anaheim Stadium if the city put up the other $30 million. But there were sticking points, including developing the area around the stadium.

A key stumbling block was the proposed Sportstown, Anaheim’s plans for hotels, restaurants, stores, offices and possibly a new football stadium on acreage around the baseball arena. It is a visionary concept, but there is a real question whether the plans can become reality. If not, cutting Disney loose could turn out to be a mistake for the city, and questions are bound to be raised about whether the company and Anaheim tried hard enough to compromise.

Still, there are other options, and the city needs to work with the Angels to explore them quickly.

The Angels have a lease on the stadium that runs through 2001. The Autrys have other potential buyers, among them a group including Peter Ueberroth, the man who ran the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, became commissioner of Major League Baseball, and has a successful history as a businessman.

Renovating the 30-year-old stadium appears a necessity, no matter who winds up owning the ball club. The biggest fan attraction, of course, is a winning team. Jackie Autry’s hints that the Angels will have to get rid of good higher-priced players to save money is especially disturbing. There will not be crowds to watch a woeful team.

Disney is known for its marketing pizazz, constantly updating Disneyland and its other theme parks to keep the customers coming. But there were reasonable concerns that it might try for too much flash and glitter with the baseball team. Baseball is a slower sport than hockey, where Disney has used scoreboard graphics, a mascot, fireworks and other razzle-dazzle to make the company-owned Mighty Ducks such a success.

The Ducks play in the Pond, not far from Anaheim Stadium. When the city built the hockey arena, it had no tenant. Disney’s creation of a hockey team and lease of the Pond has been a benefit to both sides. It has also exemplified the proper professional relationship between the city and the company. When things work out, such as Disneyland and the Pond, fine. When they don’t, as with the company’s planned $3-billion expansion of Disneyland with a new adjacent park, the decision is made on economic grounds, with a minimum of bruised feelings.

The company has said it still plans to expand Disneyland, though in a smaller fashion, with details yet to be announced. There could yet be room for a Disney presence at Anaheim Stadium, even if the company does not own the Angels. Disney clearly would be welcome with a store or attraction at the proposed Sportstown. Its pointed lack of applause for that project was one disquieting sign that the project might not be to everybody’s taste. Corporate sponsors or tenants have been notable by their absence so far.

Despite the setbacks, Anaheim and Disney have enjoyed a good relationship for four decades. Both sides need to keep that in mind and seek to capitalize on it in the years ahead.