City Moves Toward Suit Against Angels

The city of Anaheim has formally notified the Angels it believes the team has violated its stadium lease by “completely and systematically” removing the city name from use, City Atty. Jack White said Thursday.

The City Council next meets Jan. 11 and could authorize a lawsuit against the Angels at that time.

“We don’t want to litigate,” White said. “That’s always a last resort.”

The city has rebuffed Angel owner Arte Moreno’s interest in renaming his team the Los Angeles Angels, citing the lease provision that requires the team to include Anaheim in its name.

In its letter to the Angels, the city contends the team has committed a de facto violation by removing the city name from merchandise, tickets and publicity materials in the 18 months under Moreno’s ownership.

Although the lease does not contain language about how the team should be marketed, city officials believe such a clause is not necessary because the industry standard in baseball is that teams sell themselves with geographical names, not just nicknames.

Angel spokesman Tim Mead said the Anaheim name remains in use in team publications, including media guides distributed across the country.

“It’s a misrepresentation to say we have completely eliminated the Anaheim name,” he said.

City Manager Dave Morgan said he intended to hand-deliver the letter to Angel President Dennis Kuhl in a meeting scheduled last Friday. The Angels canceled the meeting late Thursday, Morgan said, so the letter was sent to the team office Friday.