Anaheim Sports Plans: Go, Team!

For much of the 1990s, the city of Anaheim has thought in big terms about becoming a destination center for sports and entertainment. While the expansion of Disneyland will bring to fruition much of that vision, the city’s sports facilities and attractions by themselves have constituted an important component in the overall dream.

What that vision really is at times has appeared to be adaptable, played out with different concepts. At the end of 1998, there are notable achievements and some pesky challenges ahead.

On the positive side, the remodeling of Anaheim Stadium into Edison International Field resolved a dilemma for a facility that for a time was trying to serve both professional baseball and football franchises. What used to be there didn’t work very well for either sport in the modern era of the late 1990s. Fast forward, and we have the arrival of Mo Vaughn with the Angels. The dollars committed to signing him signal a seriousness on the part of the franchise in putting a winner on the field.

Elsewhere the picture is less certain. Recently, the city took over the development of the Sportstown Anaheim shopping and entertainment complex after the withdrawal of the project developer. Big plans for a snowboarding park remain, along with hopes of luring shoppers and tourists to the area. Getting the right tenants and making this project work no doubt will be a significant test.

The Arrowhead Pond nearby has benefited mightily from Walt Disney Co.’s decision to suit up a hockey team, the Mighty Ducks. For a time, it had appeared that Anaheim’s considerable public subsidy of the arena project might be a big drain on fiscal coffers. However, now that the Ducks are in the building, a fresh set of challenges await. The prospects of attracting an NBA team, long a crucial hope of the arena planning, seem to have faded.

According to documents filed with the city, the Pond lost $6.2 million in its last fiscal year, and $24.7 million in its first five years of operation. The NBA’s Clippers, who have played some games at the Pond since the 1994-95 season, have no commitment to renewing after they move into the new Staples Center in Los Angeles. The current NBA lockout complicates the question of tenancy.

The construction of additional luxury seats is seen as one revenue generator. One possibility is the importation of a Continental Basketball Assn. team. Other possibilities call for a mix of indoor soccer, arena football and roller hockey.

With all these complex decisions, the development of the sports dimension of Anaheim remains a work in progress. It is worthy of continued strong efforts by the city and others to find a winning formula.