Major League Baseball’s newly minted “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” are facing the threat of a lawsuit from Anaheim city officials.
Angels’ Owner Arturo “Arte” Moreno officially changed the American League’s team name Monday morning, after weeks of controversy and hostility over the possibility. Team officials said that the name switch would strengthen the Angels’ long-term economic health by enhancing its marketability through the metropolitan area and beyond.
The Angels drew nearly 3.4 million fans in 2004, trailing only the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But the Anaheim City Council wasn’t amused by the name-change speculation and already had threatened legal action against the team if Moreno acted on the change. Anaheim will proceed with a lawsuit against the Angels, city spokesman John James Nicoletti said Monday morning.
“It’s the last thing we wanted to do,” Nicoletti said, mentioning that the City Council has already given the city government authority to proceed with litigation.
Anaheim officials plan to go to court this week to seek a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the team, Nicoletti said.
City officials claim that the latest name change violates terms of the team’s stadium lease with Anaheim. But by including “Anaheim” in the official name, the change could prove to be a savvy way by the Angels to satisfy its lease obligations.
The Angels actually have used Los Angeles name before. The team carried the Los Angeles Angels moniker from its 1961 inception until 1966, when it moved to Anaheim and became the California Angels.
When the Walt Disney Co. controlled the team, it became the Anaheim Angels, winning the 2002 World Series under that name. Moreno bought the team from Disney for $184 million in 2003, and began hinting that he wanted to change the name shortly afterward.
In fact, Angels officials pushed to market the team beyond Orange County during the 2004 season, including running television commercials and bus advertisements in some parts of Los Angeles County and in the Inland Empire.
–Reported by Vita Reed of the Orange County Business Journal
