Stadium Isn’t Just for Angels

After spending close to $80 million to convert Anaheim Stadium into a cozy baseball park, Disney wants to attract football and soccer events to the renovated facility next fall.

The quirky outfield redesign, including asymmetrical dimensions and a 17-foot wall in right field, recalls the classic parks in baseball history. But, by extending the distance from home plate to left-center field from 370 to 396 feet, Disney also intended to eliminate the need to remove any outfield fences to reconfigure the field for football or soccer.

The seating capacity--about 45,000--would not interest the NFL. Kevin Uhlich, the Angels’ director of stadium operations, said he would like to book high school and college football games as well as soccer games, concerts and motor sports into the stadium next year, with the emphasis on special events rather than a team tenant.

Uhlich said the construction schedule allows for rain days and the possibility of adding overtime shifts, easing concerns about warnings of a wet winter. With the project on schedule for completion this spring, Uhlich hopes to fill the stadium next fall and winter.

“We’ve had some talks with Major League Soccer,” Uhlich said. “We’re hoping to get some exhibition games.”

The 1996 Gold Cup soccer tournament drew large crowds to Anaheim Stadium, including 52,345 for a game between the United States and El Salvador. The California Surf, the last professional soccer team to call the stadium home, typically drew 7,000 to 10,000 fans per game during its 1977-81 tenure.

The Southern Section has expressed interest in returning its high school football championships to Anaheim Stadium, Commissioner Dean Crowley said. The 1994 Division I championship between Mater Dei and La Puente Bishop Amat attracted 26,294 to Anaheim Stadium, but the filming of a movie in 1995 and subsequent construction has prevented the section from booking games there.

“We would be more than willing to sign a long-term contract to make that the long-term home of our championships,” Crowley said.

Restrictions imposed by the Rams prevented the section from playing more than one game per weekend at the stadium. With the Rams gone, Crowley said he envisions the possibility of as many as four division championship games at Anaheim Stadium, one Friday night and the rest on Saturday.

“If there’s a better word than excited, I don’t know what it is,” Crowley said. “We’d be excited about being able to play football there again.”

Disney previously sponsored the Pigskin Classic, a preseason college football game played at Anaheim Stadium from 1990-94.

Uhlich said Pace Motorsports has committed to stage a motocross event at the stadium in January, 1999.

Under a 1996 agreement with the city of Anaheim, Disney operates the stadium and retains all revenues from events held there.