Reports from California auditors revealed that the city of Anaheim cannot guarantee that Angel Stadium, one of the oldest stadiums in the majors, is maintained properly.
Aging stadiums can require hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance and repairs.
“The lease agreement with Anaheim’s Angels ownership requires ownership to maintain the stadium in good condition and repairs, and has at least the same standard of maintenance as a first-class professional baseball stadium,” the report states. “The city and angel ownership renovated the Angel Stadium over 25 years ago. However, until 2023, Anaheim had not officially inspected the stadium to assess its condition since completing their renovations.”
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The audit, released Thursday morning, was requested by Sen. Tom Amberg and Congress member Aveno Valencia.
The lawmakers asked the California State Auditor’s Office to find out whether the team meets revenue sharing and maintenance spending obligations to maintain city-owned stadiums.
The report did not find that Angels’ ownership was in violation of the agreement, but future contracts with Angels’ ownership recommended that stadium maintenance liability and inspection requirements be better specified.
The auditor specifically recommended that future lease agreements require rent throughout the entire lease and extension, requiring regular stadium inspections by independent third parties.
The report also found that from 1996 to March 2025, Anaheim received a total of $30.6 million in revenue from the Angels’ ownership. The majority of this revenue ($24 million) comes from baseball ticket sales, but revenue fell from $2.2 million in 2005 to $444,000 in 2024-2025.
However, including the city’s annual contributions and certain debt costs, Anaheim has received $415,000 in net revenue over the past 29 years from an agreement with the Angels’ ownership.
“This amount does not include the basic rent that Angels’ ownership prepaid in 1997, not around $76 million. The city then reverts to Angels’ ownership to pay for the Stadium renovations, and the additional $20 million the city contributed to those renovations,” the report said.
Anaheim also made minimal effort to ensure that the angel’s own revenue sharing payments were accurate and compliant with the terms of the lease.
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Angels ownership provides the city with a letter each year indicating its city income, but the letter does not include support documents.
In response, the city welcomed the recommendations and repeatedly stated that an agreement was negotiated in 1996, when Walt Disney owned the team.
The Thursday release of the report coincided with MLB’s first day. The Angels are in Chicago and will face the White Sox for the 3-Game Series.
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