Angels, city start lease negotiations

[mancini79]

You stage renovations over a few offseasons but a lot of work can be done in 5 months. The cost of a new stadium @+$500m in this economy and for the foreseeable future is not likely especially with municipal funding. 

 

And it's late May with the 3 suites behind homeplate STILL not finished yet.

[The God of Runs]

What exactly do you guys not like about Angels stadium? I think it's a great place and would rather Arte spent the money on scouting and writing bad contracts to 33+ year old dudes

[Ohtaniland]

@lifetime; have you ever visited any of the modern MLB parks? It would take a complete dismantling of the stadium to get the sitelines that you get with modern stadiums. The basic design of the stadium is archaic. Its one of the oldest ballparks in MLB.

[mancini79]

In any case it would be stupid to get excited either way. If he didn't sit down with the COA to discuss options than he would be a fool. 

 

The lease is up in 2016 so time is actually getting tight. Arte and Kuhl met with the AEG president a year ago. But only they know what was said in that meeting.

[full circle]

Other than the fact my favorite team plays in it, there is nothing remotely appealing or unique about angel stadium. As has been said, it's archaic and not in a quaint, historic, Fenway kind of way. A premier franchise should have a premier stadium. Unfortunately the economic situation would indeed make building a new one very difficult.

[Lifetime]

Yes I have been to new modern stadiums. The design of Angels Stadium isn't archaic. It's the oldest stadiums, so what? The bottom line is, it's still a very good venue, there isn't likely going to be a major municipal participation in a new stadium deal, especially if the current revenue arrangements are maintained, and at a price tag of well over $500M, I doubt Arte wants to foot the bill for a new stadium. 

[Chimi]

Maybe they can start by getting a HD Scoreboard.

[gotbeer]

A problem I see with a renovation is the time it will take. All work will have to be done in 5 short months in the offseason. They could just break it up over a few seasons or move the team to Anteater park for a season. As of now, it looks like that park could hold all the fans have already have been showing up.

 

Could do similar to how St Louis did their new stadium.  Build a section at a time, then go boom.

[Pbonetheman]

I don't have a problem with the stadium right now, but I'm not sure about being locked in until 2029. 

[Ohtaniland]

So Arte gets a new suite and the players will get a new clubhouse with underground batting facilties and a private entrance to avoid the signiture stalkers. Done.

[Lifetime]

So Arte gets a new suite and the players will get a new clubhouse with underground batting facilties and a private entrance to avoid the signiture stalkers. Done.

? ? 

[Jeff M]

I don't have a problem with the stadium how it is. Most of the reasons I hear to build a new sound like keeping up with the Joneses, in my opinion. It's not necessary. The games are comfortable and enjoyable from just about every seat in the house. That's all that matters.

[Angel Oracle]

Why not, CSF's Titan Gym is now referred to as Historic Titan Gym, although LB fans refer to it as Hysterical Titan Gym.

The Great Park idea isn't bad to try to do something with that boondoggle, like taking a year to upgrade one whole mile of Irvine Blvd. Larry Agran must be so proud.

[mancini79]

I wouldn't say there isn't anything wrong with the stadium, but there is no appeal. I've been to SD, SF, Miller Park, and Safeco and those stadiums are fantastic. Going to a game is now more of an experience than just watching a game. It needs to be comfortable, visually appealing, state of the art, great food accommodations, etc, all of which the Big A needs to improve on. It is a part of keeping up with the Joneses. You need to be able to appease both the die hard baseball fan and the casual person looking for entertainment.

[Vladfan]

@lifetime; have you ever visited any of the modern MLB parks? It would take a complete dismantling of the stadium to get the sitelines that you get with modern stadiums. The basic design of the stadium is archaic. Its one of the oldest ballparks in MLB.

I was there during the renovations at Dodger Stadium this last off season and believe me.... It can be done.

[full circle]

Ya, lol @ not wanting to "keep up with the joneses." This is a business, and you're competing with a ton of other things for the entertainment dollars in SoCal.

[Pbonetheman]

I wouldn't say there isn't anything wrong with the stadium, but there is no appeal. I've been to SD, SF, Miller Park, and Safeco and those stadiums are fantastic. Going to a game is now more of an experience than just watching a game. It needs to be comfortable, visually appealing, state of the art, great food accommodations, etc, all of which the Big A needs to improve on. It is a part of keeping up with the Joneses. You need to be able to appease both the die hard baseball fan and the casual person looking for entertainment.

 

I agree with the appeal factor of the stadium needs to be dealt with. The other issue is the appeal of the immediate area surrounding the stadium. Safeco is in the heart of the city. You do not simply go to the game, you get a bite to eat, maybe a drink or two, and then walk over to the stadium. 

[Lifetime]

And all of that can be done via renovations. 

 

As far as appeal, I don't agree. I do think there are nice things about some of the new stadiums that make them "more appealing" but I doubt that translates to more butts in the seats. And wasn't it just 2 years ago when Angels Stadium was voted one of the top fan experience stadiums in baseball? 

[Mudville]

Anaheim stadium is definitly outdated and not astheticly a historic ballpark worth hanging onto. The only signature part of the stadium is in the parking lot and could be moved to any venue and remain just as relevant as a signage for future events and the halo blinking at night after a win, regardless of what patch of land it sits on.

[Lifetime]

Ya, lol @ not wanting to "keep up with the joneses." This is a business, and you're competing with a ton of other things for the entertainment dollars in SoCal.

A new stadium is not going to put more butts in the seats beyond perhaps an initial flush. 

[Pbonetheman]

It worked for the Marlins.

[Lifetime]

I agree with the appeal factor of the stadium needs to be dealt with. The other issue is the appeal of the immediate area surrounding the stadium. Safeco is in the heart of the city. You do not simply go to the game, you get a bite to eat, maybe a drink or two, and then walk over to the stadium. 

The surrounding area argument I agree with somewhat. I do think more could be done to make the surrounding area more attractive for pre and post game activities. There were plans for this that should be revisited. 

[gotbeer]

I was there during the renovations at Dodger Stadium this last off season and believe me.... It can be done.

 

 

I think Angels stadium is suffering from the same handicaps that Dodger Stadium faced.  For instance, the outfield area.  It's a lot of dead space, because when they renovated it, they partially demolished and built on top of the old area.  So the only usable area is pretty much on top.  Nothing underneath, or inside.  If you completely gut to the foundation the outfield, that's a lot of space that suddenly becomes available.  From instance storage space for the groundscrew.  To how about a built in restaurant in the RF wall?  You go out a few hundred feet, and create a better kids zone.  And how about having a bunch of food trucks in that outfield area behing LF and CF.  There won't be much of a change to the looks on top, which is good.  It's everything underneath and beyond that would change.

 

Take the same approach the Doggies did for the field level.  Dig down and expand.

 

Expand the courtyard, so that it's multi level of space on each level as another phase in the rebuild.  Then really, the last phase would be the redoing of the upper levels.  Probably adding another level of box seats in the process.  

 

a multi year plan done in sections.  With the end result a stadium that has the same looks, but way more modernized.

[Chimi]

Buy that warehouse that sits on the corner of Orangewood and State College and tear it down.  Put a new stadium on the corner there while still using the current stadium to play the games.  Once it's built, tear down the old stadium and use the rest of the parking lot and site of the old stadium to put in a parking garage, restaurants, retail stores, etc.  Turn it into a whole entertainment district that can be used year around.

[full circle]

Disagree. A new stadium would mean you're more likely to keep the numbers you're already drawing. Of course the product on the field would remain paramount. Eventually you're going to need a new stadium, whether you draw more or not.