Tag: Anaheim Angels

Arena Ballpark Stadium

Team owners continue to get out of paying for venue upgrades when they are responsible for keeping it at a “First-Class Condition”

The new owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, Tom Dundon, told Portland city leaders that he won't negotiate with them until language is changed in the lease agreement between the city and the team. Dundon is demanding the removal of language that requires the team to keep the Moda Center in first-class condition. When an agreement includes a “First-Class Condition” or “State-of-the-Art” clause, it requires the facility owner (either the city/county or the team itself)…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

San Antonio editorial wants taxpayers to follow the “spirit of the agreement”, yet teams never seem to care about it

The Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) owe the city of San Antonio and Bexar County $5 million because of a failed 2015 MLS bid. The city, county, and SS&E were all involved in the bidding for a team and signed an agreement stating that SS&E would pay $5M if the bid didn't produce an MLS team. Yet, to this day, SS&E has not paid for it, nor has the city tried to push the team…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

Buffalo is struggling to limit city leaders access to the luxury suites at the Bills new stadium

Last year, the Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC playoff game. The Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, billed taxpayers for almost $600 worth of wine and a total bill that day of $1923 and change. As the Buffalo News reported, it would eventually come out that taxpayers had paid “more than $6300” for the governor to attend four different games. According to the state and county, this luxury suite is “meant…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Anaheim Angels must keep their ballpark in “first class” condition. Why can’t cities & counties use the Angels definition of first-class?

The Anaheim Angels need to be held to the same standard as sports teams holding their cities when the government handles the facility. However, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to see some local leaders appearing to give the team ways out of their lease agreement. Others suggest the ballpark is, in fact, a first-class ballpark right now. One City Councilman told a local media outlet that the lease agreement to him seemed…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

Yet another “historic” community benefits agreement…this time in Chattanooga

In July, the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor league baseball team, reached an agreement with the city to build a new ballpark. Although the price was originally going to be $79.5 million, the final price tag was actually $120 million. Not to worry, though, as the public contribution amount is capped at…$112 million? Ever since 2022, local groups in Chattanooga have been pressuring local officials to make sure that the community was represented whenever a community…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

Anaheim Angels continue to violate their lease. Oh well, maybe next year

The facts, however, show otherwise. Since 2002, the Anaheim Angels have spent $54 million on capital repairs/improvements with $12 million coming from the city. Additionally, a number of the so-called improvement projects were just upgrades that the team wanted, such as replacing their scoreboard to a newer model. Building permits show that the Angels were spending money from their pockets so that they could buy the cool, new gadget and not the contractually obligated maintenance.

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

Worcester was promised that Polar Park would pay for itself, it has not and will not

In 2018, Worcester, Massachusetts, agreed to finance a substantial portion of taxpayer money to build a brand-new ballpark. Although the city would be borrowing around $100.8 million for this project (making it the 4th most expensive minor league ballpark to be built), city leaders justified this expense by stating how the ballpark would fund itself, if not make the city money in the long term. At the press conference announcing the deal, the city manager…

William Neilson Jr.