California State Legislature to Probe Angels' Stadium Lease

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 16, 2024

Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The saga of the Los Angeles Angels is like riding Space Mountain at Disneyland. It's a deep, dark abyss with twists and turns that are unpredictable with every jerk.

The next move was announced by two California legislators on Thursday, as the state auditor is set to launch an investigation into the failed Angel Stadium sale and whether the Angels have complied with the current stadium lease.

“Our audit request will ensure we examine any actions in the past and how they can inform and bind future decision making,” Sen. Tom Umberg said in a statement. “It’s the least we can do to reassure the residents of Anaheim that we are on their team.”

Per the audit request, Umberg and Valencia cited “deep concern” that the team has withheld revenue owed to the city and failed to comply with stadium maintenance requirements stipulated in the lease.

Umberg said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he had no firm evidence the Angels had not lived up to the lease but believed an independent assessment was necessary.

“On behalf of the taxpayers, that’s an important thing to know,” he said.

Said Angels spokeswoman Marie Garvey: “Angels Baseball is in full compliance with the stadium lease, and under current ownership, we have spent approximately seven times more than what the lease requires in capital improvements and maintenance.”

Mike Lyster, the spokesman for the city, told the Times that Anaheim regularly audits the lease.

“Our last full audit found general compliance with the terms of the lease,” Lyster said. “This lease has been one of the most thoroughly reviewed and talked about in our city. But we welcome any additional review and look forward to working with our state partners.”

The whole situation with the Angels and the city of Anaheim has been sticky since 2019 when the Anaheim City Council agreed to extend the Angels’ opt-out clause in the stadium lease by one year. If the deal didn't happen, the Angels would have been homeless.

Another curveball came in 2022 after the FBI disclosed allegations of corruption scheme centered around then-Mayor Harry Sidhu.

Umberg said the audit is expected to take several months. The city and the team told the L.A. Times that there are no active discussions about a new stadium deal.

Sidhu signed a plea deal in 2023 acknowledging he “provided confidential negotiating information belonging to the city … so that the Angels could buy Angel Stadium on terms beneficial to the Angels.”

Neither the FBI affidavit nor the plea deal alleges the Angels did anything wrong.