Under the terms of its lease with the City of Anaheim, which required Anaheim to be part of the team name, the team was officially renamed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. At the same time they announced the name change, the Angels aggressively promoted themselves to Los Angeles, buying space on nearly 500 billboards in the area that simply read City of ANGELS in the team's brand. Similarly, many fans denounced the change, as many Orange County residents consider Orange County to have its own separate identity from Los Angeles. Now, the “Angels Angels of Anaheim” have existed two years longer than the “Angels of Anaheim”.
If you are wondering "Why Los Angeles?" then you're not alone. Walt Disney served on the team's board from 1960 until 1966. And, the city's baseball market is so strong, it is easy to understand how a team could be a good fit for the city.
Walt Disney served on the team's board from 1960 until 1966
Throughout his lifetime, Walt Disney served on the board of directors for the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He was an avid skier and helped finance the Sugar Bowl ski resort in the Sierras. He also helped construct the man-made Matterhorn Mountain at Disneyland in 1964. In 1960, Disney recruited members of his own organization to serve on the team. Among those selected was his son-in-law, Ron Miller, who was appointed as pageantry coordinator, and Terrell Drinkwater, the president of Western Air Lines, who served as the Vice-Chairman in Charge of Budget.
After Walt's death, his son Roy Disney took over the Disney Company and continued to produce successful animated movies. Among the company's top films in 1969 were The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, and The Love Bug. He also started work on educational films, which led to the formation of a separate company, Disney Educational Studios.
The Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio was founded in 1923. Walt and Roy Disney owned equal shares of the company and had worked together on projects. They started by producing cartoons together for M.J. Winkler and soon expanded their business by hiring a staff. After a few months, the studio moved to a larger space. This time, Ub Iwerks joined the company.
Walt Disney was a team owner
Disney's involvement in baseball started in 1996, when it bought a 25 percent stake in the Angels. In 1998, it took over management of the team, investing $140 million. The company's executives began a major overhaul of the ballpark. Though they were discouraged from building theme parks in ballparks, they built a giant water fountain behind centerfield's wall and set up a kids-only concession stand.
The Angels are currently in the hunt for the American League's top division, but a potential players strike threatens to end their season. The team's pennant drive has only resulted in a modest 11% increase in attendance over last year.
While Disney's influence on the Angels was not overly obvious at the time, he had a profound impact on their success. The club's attendance increased to more than 2.5 million during the 1998 season, but the team lost a lot of fans after signing expensive free agents. In the early 2000s, the Angels began developing their own talent and their attendance improved. However, the club has lost a combined $100 million since Disney acquired the club, and he has indicated his willingness to sell the team.
Anaheim is a baseball hotbed
When you hear Anaheim, the first thing that comes to mind is Disneyland. But baseball fans know Anaheim is also home to the Angels, who have been a fixture in the Orange County landscape since 2005. Anaheim's Angels stadium is about thirty miles outside of downtown Los Angeles, which makes getting to a game at least 45 minutes, and likely more with traffic.
The baseball-centric city also has many spring training camps, and there are plenty of opportunities to watch major league games at its two major league affiliates. Fans can watch games at Dodger Stadium, AT&T Park, or the Oakland Colosseum. There are also several exhibition games played throughout the spring.
The Angels are also home to a number of exciting players. Six-foot-6 righthander Noah Syndergaard signed a one-year, $21 million deal with the club. He previously pitched for the New York Mets before undergoing Tommy John surgery. In his major league debut, he won three of his four decisions.
Anaheim is a baseball market
Having a baseball team in Anaheim is a big deal for the city, which has a population of around 150,000. Its baseball team was originally named the Los Angeles Angels and was founded in 1961 by Gene Autry. It played its home games in Los Angeles until 1966 and was known as the California Angels from 1965 to 1996. From 1997 to 2004, the team was renamed the Anaheim Angels. Its current name, Angel Stadium, was introduced in 2005.
The Angels have managed to keep their reputation as an iconic team in California's premier sports market even if they haven't won since 2015. They still have two marquee players in Mike Trout and pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani, but both players are free agents after the 2023 season. In addition, the team is not exactly flush with cash. While a $320 million stadium deal had been announced by Moreno, it fell through because of allegations of corruption by former mayor Harry Sidhu.
The city of Anaheim has contributed $30 million to the stadium's $118 million renovation. After a renegotiated lease, the team became a subsidiary of Disney Sports, Inc. The Angels won their first pennant in 2001 and won the World Series championship in 2002.
Disney and the City of Los Angeles filed amicus curiae documents with the Orange County Superior Court in support of Anaheim's position in its lawsuit against the team. The name change upset some Orange County fans who didn't want to associate with Los Angeles. Although he promised to keep the team in Anaheim, starting in the 2004 season, all references to Anaheim began to disappear from Angels players' uniforms, officially licensed merchandise, website, ticketing media, and promotional materials, and were replaced by Angels, Angels Baseball or the Angels word mark or halo badge. Los Angeles Angels, an American professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, that plays in the American League (AL).
Prior to the 1972 season, the Angels traded six-time All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi for future Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, who went on to throw four of his record seven career no-hitters in an Angels uniform and contributed to the team's first playoff spot in 1979 (on a team led by Fregosi). ). The following year, the team changed its name to Anaheim Angels, the result of an agreement between the city and the team to renew and reduce the size of the Anaheim stadium after the 1995 departure of the Los Angeles Rams from the NFL to St. Before settling in Orange County, the Angels first considered moving to Long Beach, but it happened when that city insisted that the team call themselves the Long Beach Angels.
Bill Shaikin, winner of the California Sports Writer of the Year award, covers the baseball and sports business for the Los Angeles Times. Had it been enacted into law, the Truth in Sports Advertising Act would have required Los Angeles to disclose on all tickets and promotional materials that the team's home is Anaheim, not Los Angeles, unless Anaheim or Orange County exempted the franchise from the requirement.
