Stadium Deal Needs Revision

Anaheim Stadium is an asset worth hundreds of millions of dollars which belongs to the city of Anaheim. It is the City Council’s duty to maximize the city’s return on investment from this asset. This deal does not make sense from this point of view. The real issue is what the city is leaving on the table to be scooped up by Disney Sports Enterprises.

The city has minimal participation in specific types of revenue. However, it is questionable whether the city will realize any significant gain from this because annual targets are very high and possibly not achievable. Additionally, Disney will dream up ways to make money on this property that we will never think of. The city owns the stadium, and it is justified in asking for material and realistic participation in all forms of present and future revenues.

Disney’s proposal for remodeling the stadium is exciting, and I’m sure they will do a fine job of running both the stadium and the Angels ball club. I would like to see a deal put together which is good for both the city and Disney so we can keep the Angels and have a beautiful, state-of-the-art stadium.

Unfortunately, the proposed lease has been put on a fast track, not allowing for complete analysis and critical public review. Basically, we are being railroaded into this deal. The City Council needs to put a stop to this, realizing there is plenty of room for Disney to be more generous in this deal. Disney wants to own professional sports franchises, and they want to own them in Anaheim.

I implore Mayor Tom Daly and Councilmen Lou Lopez and Frank Feldhaus to join Councilmen Bob Zemel and Tom Tait in restructuring this lease to make it a better deal for Anaheim. If they don’t, we’ll get a devil of a deal.

RON KRING

Anaheim