City, Disney Strike a Deal

The city and Walt Disney Co. apparently have reached an agreement that would clear the way for the entertainment giant to buy the California Angels and fund most of a renovation of Anaheim Stadium.

The accord, reached after months of roller-coaster negotiations, is expected to be endorsed by the City Council today. A news conference to be attended by Disney, city and team officials is scheduled to take place immediately after a special council meeting.

Both sides were reluctant to share details of the negotiations, but Councilman Bob Zemel characterized the proposal as a lopsided deal that would give Disney control of virtually all stadium revenue, block the NFL from playing at the Big A this fall and force the city to settle for a shorter lease than the 30-year commitment it had been seeking.

Under the deal, Disney will put up $70 million toward a $100-million stadium renovation, and the city will pay the rest. But Zemel said the city would be hard-pressed to recoup its share of renovation costs after essentially ceding Disney the stadium revenue from tickets, parking, concessions, ballpark advertising and the stadium’s name.

The proposal also would exempt Disney Sports Enterprises from any future sports taxes the city might want to impose, Zemel said.

“If there was any way that the taxpayers would be paid back, then I would be for this deal. But clearly there aren’t any revenue streams here,” Zemel said while attending the Angels home opener Tuesday night.

Zemel’s view was in marked contrast to Mayor Tom Daly’s opinion that the deal is good for the team and the community.

“This agreement will be a fair deal for the taxpayers and it will bring new energy to Anaheim Stadium and the surrounding area,” Daly said, declining to elaborate on the proposed agreement. “It will be good for Anaheim and good for the local economy.”

Councilman Lou Lopez also was optimistic, saying “We definitely want Disney to be the eventual owner. I’m hoping that we will have a deal that will meet both the city’s and Disney’s needs.”

If an agreement is announced today, Disney would follow through on plans to buy 25% and operational control of the Angels. It would have the option of taking over full ownership after the death of owner Gene Autry, who is 88.

The deal, which would transform the Big A into a more intimate, baseball-only facility, would further boost Disney’s financial stake in the city. The company operates Disneyland and the Mighty Ducks professional hockey team, whose financial and marketing success is the envy of civic, tourism and baseball leaders hopeful that the company could do the same for the Angels.

Disney’s purchase of the team was approved by major league baseball in January. The company inserted a last-minute condition stating the deal would not be final unless it reached an agreement with the city over stadium issues within 60 days.

On March 13, Disney announced it would not buy the team because the two sides had reached an impasse over other issues--including the city’s goal to build Sportstown Anaheim, a giant entertainment, retail and sports complex on stadium property. Disney saw the proposed project, for which there are no known investors, as incompatible with its plans, sources said.

Disney also was opposed to the idea of sharing Anaheim Stadium with a football team. The city had been courting the Seattle Seahawks, whose owner last month had brought the team to Rams Park in Anaheim for practices as a prelude to relocating to Southern California, possibly in Anaheim.

But Seahawk owner Ken Behring returned the team to Seattle after a short stay under the threat of fines by the National Football League, which is blocking the move. Seattle and Washington courts also are hearing objections.

Angel Executive Vice President Jackie Autry, wife of owner Gene, blamed the city’s interest in football and Sportstown Anaheim for the collapse of the deal and threatened to move the ball club from Anaheim when its lease expires in 2001.

Disney officials declined to comment on specifics of the proposed deal, but spokesman Bill Robertson said the company has “cautious optimism” that a deal will be struck. Angels officials could not be reached.

Although the proposal appears to have the blessing of a majority of the council, it appears unlikely the vote will be unanimous.

Zemel, who has clashed with his colleagues in the past over the baseball issue, accused negotiators on both sides on Tuesday of “trying to slam the deal shut before the public knows about it.”

Zemel said that while he thinks Disney would be a good owner of the Angels, he is highly critical of the style of negotiations, charging that details had been kept from some members of the council until late Tuesday afternoon.

“It reeks of a back-room deal,” Zemel said. “It appears to be a done deal, so much so that they have scheduled a press conference. I don’t think the taxpayers of Anaheim are fooled by this.”

Less than three weeks ago, Disney had declared the baseball deal dead. But it is now apparent that the two parties never really stopped talking and took great pains to ensure that those discussions were kept under wraps. It was not until last Friday that either side would confirm that they had indeed renewed official negotiations.

Part of the new deal may include a scaling back of Sportstown Anaheim.

When its blueprint was unveiled in January, Sportstown was seen as a sprawling project that would include a renovated Big A and new football stadium linked to the Pond nearby. The plan called for new hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, sports retailers and other features.

But city officials acknowledged this week that their original vision for the property will now be altered if a deal is struck today.

Daly would not say specifically what would be different from what consultants hired by the city took almost a year to plan, but said that “under the proposed baseball agreement, the major features of Sportstown will remain.

“Sportstown is a plan that is designed to be flexible,” Daly added.

Since it appears that Disney will retain the 12,500 ground-level parking spaces that the Angels are guaranteed during each home game, there will be only 40 acres left to develop Sportstown. The project had originally called for about 80 acres of new development, sources said.

Councilman Lopez said that while Sportstown would be smaller, the project would still be exciting.

“It’s a compromise,” he said. “It may have to be smaller but we have always stated publicly that there are several different ways Sportstown can be developed.”

Jackie Autry said last month that she would not allow any development on the Angels’ portion of the parking lot until after the team’s lease expires in 2001. Ruth said this is one of the reasons the city is now willing to compromise.

Ruth could not be reached for comment Tuesday but said earlier this week that he did not anticipate a unanimous vote on today’s proposal. Three of five council members must approve the deal for it to move forward. The city manager said the council’s deep division on the matter has made the negotiations extremely difficult to bring to a successful conclusion.

Fans at the Angels’ season opener against the Milwaukee Brewers had mixed reactions to the prospect of Disney owning the team.

Said Betsy Slauson, 50, of Buena Park, an Angel fan for 20 years: “I think it would be a good idea if Disney owned the Angels. The city of Anaheim needs to get their act together. If it weren’t for Disney, Anaheim would be zip.”

But Rick Noonan, 40, of La Habra, wasn’t as enthusiastic.

“I’m happy, but I like [Gene] Autry,” Noonan said. “I like what he stands for--he stands for freedom. I’m afraid Disney is going to turn this into Disneyland. My opinion is keep it the way it is.”

Times staff writers Chris Foster and Lorenza Munoz contributed to this story.