Shaikin: The Ducks are OC’s model sports franchise. Could their owner save the Angels?

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Shaikin: The Ducks are OC's model sports franchise. Could their owner save the Angels?

For the Angels, Sunday is the last day of the worst season in franchise history. There is a dreary emptiness around the stadium.

On the field, the Angels now have the longest streak of futility of any major league team: 10 years without a playoff appearance. Their roster is filled with men described by their manager as “not big league baseball players.” Their minor league system is dismal.

They reluctantly recognized the desperate need to rebuild without fully committing to doing so. This team is not one player or one year away from being competitive.

Off the field, the 130 acres surrounding Angel Stadium are barren and soulless. Fans still do what they did sixty years ago: drive in, watch the game, drive home.

Across Katella Avenue, Orange County’s other major league team is on a roll. The standings haven’t favored either the Ducks or the Angels in recent years, but the Ducks have been on a rebuild, and Hockey News says they have the NHL’s brightest collection of young talent. Off the ice, the Ducks surround the Honda Center with the kind of rough village the Angels once hoped to build around Angel Stadium.

“Where do you go when you want to have fun?” said Ducks owner Henry Samueli at a launch event Wednesday. “That’s what we’re trying to build here.”

The plan of the Angels was derailed when the city of Anaheim killed their deal with the stadiumin the middle of a federal corruption investigation at the mayor’s house. However, even if the deal had gone through, nothing would have had to be built around the stadium for 15 years.

Off the ice, the Ducks surround the Honda Center with the kind of rough village the Angels once hoped to build around Angel Stadium.

(OC Ambiance)

Samueli’s $4 billion development, called OC atmosphereis already under construction. Bill Foltz, general manager of OC Vibe, said inspirations for the project included the Battery, the village surrounding the Atlanta Braves ballpark, and Texas Live, the entertainment center adjacent to the Texas Rangers ballpark .

For the first time, fans will be able to come to the Honda Center early, dine at a restaurant or have a drink at a bar and walk to the game.

“We always thought we were a double-stop place, meaning a lot of people would go somewhere else to dine and then come back to the show or the game,” Foltz said.

“It’s really about creating, for the first time, a place where you stop once.”

The OC Vibe is scheduled to open in 2026. Foltz said he expects Angels fans to make the short trip from Angel Stadium to eat, drink, shop and play games. ‘OC Vibe before or after the match. The Ducks will thank baseball fans for spending money that can be used to improve the fan experience – for hockey fans, of course.

This is all unapologetically and enthusiastically in Orange County. The Ducks now wear orange uniforms, representing the return of the beloved angry duck, and marking their territory as “Orange Country”.

“We’re obviously in love with Orange County,” Samueli said, speaking for himself and his wife, Susan. “This is our permanent home. We will never move.

The 28 restaurants around the Honda Center will include a branch of A restauranta Newport Beach restaurant opened in 1926. The four concert spaces will include a revival of the Golden Beara legendary Huntington Beach club that closed in 1986 after hosting artists such as Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Buffett.

A projection screen in a crowded ballroom

OC Vibe is to include a revival of the Golden Bear, the Huntington Beach club that closed in 1986.

(OC Ambiance)

Samueli’s company also received approval last week from the city of Anaheim to manage the grovethe theater on the edge of the Angel Stadium parking lot. Below the affairthe city gets three-quarters of the operating profits.

The Ducks are therefore in good shape. Angels? The development intended to generate revenue to renovate their aging stadium and anchor the team in Anaheim never materialized. The Angels’ stadium lease expires in five years.

For now, the city is largely at the mercy of the Angels. City walked away from two deals with the Angels in a decade; the team has no obligation to try to negotiate another one.

The team has the option to extend the lease, under which the Angels pay no rent, through 2038. The city can cash out if the Angels end up building something in the stadium parking lot, but the lease allows the team to control development. of the lot.

“The door is always open for negotiations on important deals for Anaheim taxpayers,” said Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken. “I can’t wait to get there one day, I hope.” »

If Angels owner Arte Moreno decided to sell his team, Samueli would be the most logical buyer. He is integrated into the community, an experienced sports owner whose team has won a championshipand is in a unique position to complement its OC Vibe development with something different in the Angel Stadium parking lot. A quarter of a century ago, Samueli and several associates planned to create a indoor surf and snowboard room in the Angels parking lot.

If Moreno were to put the Angels up for sale soon — and several people with knowledge of the situation said there is no indication he would — would Samueli consider buying the team?

“At this point, I’m fully engrossed in the Ducks,” Samueli said. “It’s nothing we think about.”

In August 2022, Moreno hired a sports franchise broker and said he explore a sale Angels. Six months later, Moreno changed course and removed the team from the market.

Samueli said he had not made an offer on the team at that time and would not consider making an offer on the team if Moreno decided to sell now.

“It’s a lot of work running a sports team,” Samueli said. “If you want to participate, it’s hard to do more than one. I am deeply involved.

“I wouldn’t even have time to go to the games, let alone manage the team.”

Such is sports in Orange Country. For the Ducks, the new season is here. For the Angels, once again, the playoffs are not.

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