Value of ‘Anaheim’ Is Tough to Figure

If the city of Anaheim wins its lawsuit against the Angels this fall, the city council could issue this ultimatum to owner Arte Moreno: Pay up or back down.

“If you get $300 million in damages, you just might trade that for the name. In other words: Arte, send us a check or give us our name back,” co-counsel Andy Guilford said Tuesday.

The comment reveals a potential strategy toward reclaiming the Anaheim Angels name. If an Orange County Superior Court jury finds the new Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim name violates the stadium lease, as the city alleges, the jury could award financial damages but would not be empowered to restore the old team name.

Angel spokesman Tim Mead declined to respond to Guilford’s comment.

Guilford said both sides have retained experts to determine how to put a dollar amount on the exposure the city loses whenever “Los Angeles” or “LAA” appears in place of “Anaheim” or “ANA” in the media.

That process is ongoing, he said, but a Times survey of industry analysts in January generated a wide range of damage estimates -- from $12.5 million to $375 million over the 25 years left on the lease.

City co-counsel Mike Rubin said he expects the Angels to argue in court that such damages are impossible to calculate and thus should not be awarded.

The City Council met Tuesday for the first time since an appellate court refused the city’s request to overturn the name change pending trial. In an hourlong briefing behind closed doors, city lawyers explained they were encouraged by the opinion issued by Presiding Justice David Sills.

The Angels contend a lease clause requiring the team name to “include the name Anaheim therein” needs no interpretation. Sills, without considering any interpretive evidence, wrote that “the contract does not permit the Angels to add another city to their name.”

The city argues the court must consider supporting evidence that both parties to the lease -- the city and Disney, then the team owner--never intended for the contract to permit the Angels to add another city to their name.

By suggesting the issue that the contract might not be so clear on its face, Sills has sent a clear -- although nonbinding -- signal to Superior Court Judge Peter Polos to allow the jury to hear that evidence, said Santa Monica attorney Sheldon Eisenberg.

“That’s the real-world upshot of what Judge Sills has done,” Eisenberg said.