It looks like the Anaheim Angels have changed their name.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1958082

WHAT A CROCK.

At least now they'll be sued by the city of Anaheim for breach of contract.

<- No Love for the Halo's unless Christopher Lloyd is somehow involved...

really silly....

You mean the Los Angeles Angels are returning to the franchises original name

Anahiem has no case the way it's written in the lease there's no case, they fucked up big time with the wording of it. The cities lawyer quoted in the LA Times was basically hoping they win based on the fact it was "assumed" they'd never change the name. Legal experts all over say there's no case.

How is it really silly or a crock?

The Dodgers local tv revenue is double what the Angels is ($30 mill to about $15 mill) despite the fact they share the exact same tv market & have virtually the same attendence (Dodgers about 43,000 Angels almost 42,000). Moreno knows he won't ever match the Dodgers in popularity in So Cal but he's only trying to shrink the gap so they have more to spend on free agency. They're in the second largest tv market in the country & yet they can't even compete with the Red Sox in free agency. Moreno is only trying to get a level playing field with the other American League powers all while lowering the price of beer! Moreno cited how much more the Sox spent this last season on payroll & how much of a bigger return they got by winning the series, that's what he wants to do. He just needs the money to do it. But he doesn't want to do by making the fans pay for it he has an 8 year plan to turn the Angels into a large market team, which they aren't right now but they should be. Part of it is to remind advertisers how big of a tv market they play in, hence the name change.

People think LA is just Dodgers, Lakers & USC. Truth is the Kings have broken attendence records 2 years running despite record breaking man games lost to injuries & missing the playoffs. They did it with aggresive marketing & some great plans to get season seats or partial season seats. And now the Angels are 3rd in MLB in attendence all while sharing the same market as team #2 on the list. There's a huge market here all you have to do is go get it props to the Kings, Galaxy & others for proving LA is deeper than thought. There's no reason the Angels should have to be run like a small market team, all they have to do is go get it. Kudos to Moreno for doing something about it.

There was an article in the LA Times a bit back when this first broke about a forklift co right next door to Anaheim stadium, guess what it's called? LA Fork lift. Owner said it was a good business choice to call it that.

The only people up in arms are the North OC pride people who get all insecure when they're reminded LA is right next door anyways. LA is kind of indifferent to the idea, except LA Angel fans who love the idea of better marketing the team & more revenue to spend & South OC people love it since they hate North OC & would rather be associated with an LA team

"...Of Anaheim" is not necessary and probably only there to appease the north OCers. It's like [wank]Invesco Field at Mile High[/wank].

How is it really silly or a crock?



the name, 'The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ' is a silly over-long name.

Nice take Damen; I'd wager they would also be happy to sell everybody a brand new shiny baseball cap (despite the fact that they are keeping the "A" logo I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that there will be new merch involved in this change)

Indeed, they played four seasons as the Los Angeles Angels previously.

It's still kind of odd though:

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim = The The Angels Angels of Anaheim

Hmmm...there are about 29 MLB franchises that don't/can't compete with the Red Sox in free agency. I mean, you're trying to paint the picture of the Angels as being impoverished souls who are unable to afford quality free agents, as if Finley, Colon, and Vlad Guerrero all dropped out of the sky. I mean, isn't having a payroll of over $100 million enough to beat out Oakland? I guess not...



While disputing the popularity of the LA Kings/their identification w/ Los Angeles as a whole, I seriously doubt they're shattering ateendance records in this NHL strike season.



I don't understand how the team can pretend it's not turning it's back on the loyal OC residents who are helping them reach these attendance milestones. I mean, let's face it - No One considers North OC "Los Angeles". Hell, do you think that Disneyland would make a lot more money if they claimed to be in Los Angeles?



I don't know where this "Little Brother" syndrome you're talking about comes from, but to say that OC is divided along the Mason-Dixon line sounds fairly incredible to me. Besides, they were the Anaheim Angels, and the California Angels before that. I don't know how, in 2005, $100 million plus isn't enough money to feel like you can be competitive, when in 2003 it took around 3/4 of that amount to win the World Series.

Face it buddy, the Angels, no matter where they want to try and claim to be from, will never be the Boston Red Sox, or the New York Yankees, or the Los Angeles Dodgers, or the Chicago Cubs, or the Detroit Tigers, or any one of a number of storied franchises with years of tradition. Sorry, but it's the truth...

that's really fucking retarded.

That's like saying the San Francisco A's of Oakland. It makes no fucking sense and it sounds stupid.

Is that the American way of saying it?

And if they're not doing something to at least make that gap smaller they're fucking retarded.



Huh?



Well they can bring back up the beer prices & raise the price of everything else or they can change the name of the team. Which is truely being loyal?



If this is the first time you've heard of the North v South OC rivalry there's a lot you have to learn.



That's the point buddy. No they can't manufacture the past that those other franchises have but at least ownership is doing something to make the team worth rooting for.

I find it appaling that you equate the money spent on a team with it being a team worth rooting for. Don't be the asshole who judges a Christmas present by how much it costs. If there were any loyal followers of a small-market baseball team on this board, I hope they slap the hell out of you for that sentiment. Hell, might as well say that an album isn't going to be as good if it's self-produced/made on a four-track. People don't pledge loyalty to baseball teams because of how much money they spend (Yankees excluded), they pledge loyalty because they somehow, year in and year out, identify with the TEAM...
The Angels will never be the premier "Los Angeles" baseball team, nor the dominant baseball team in the area. Changing the name of the city they play for isn't going to change that. In fact, all day long I've heard from people I consider to be fairly loyal Angels fans get pretty angry over this. In fact, many local (Anaheim) buisnesses promised to pull/cancell their season tickets if this happened. Are newly-invigorated Angelinos going to drive to Anaheim in order to see this team on a nightly basis? Doubtful... The name change is only alienating the existing Angels fans in the area by insinuating that being from Anaheim isn't good enough - you have to be from Los Angeles to truly matter...
And, while you keep emphasising the additional money angle - where, outside of the markups for merchandise they could've gotten by throwing out a new altenate uni, is this money coming from? Unless Artie Moreno pulls off the impossible and is able to accomplish the task of stealing the large Latino fanbase that has been fiercely loyal to the Dodgers since Fernandomania in the 80's, there is no new money in renaming the club. The numbers might be about the same for broadcasts, but the market which the Dodgers play in (and to) are much more highly sought out by advertisers than the ones watching Angels games - therefore, their TV rights (and radio rights, ect.) are worth more. I don't know a single person who didn't laugh at the "Think Red" ad campaign that occured last season throughout Los Angeles proper... It's a power grab that, ultimately, seems like it will fail - insulting a currently-loyal constituency in a haphazard attempt to bring in new fans....Let's all remember what happened with New Coke, OK?

I'm giving Moreno props for looking for alternative forms of income & not settling for for what others would settle for.




Did I not say "Moreno knows he won't ever match the Dodgers in popularity in So Cal but he's only trying to shrink the gap so they have more to spend on free agency." But then again the way the Dodgers are treating this offseason who knows.



Until Anaheim or OC is its own tv market they are as good as in LA & changing the name is Moreno making sure tv & advertisers know that.



Hence the idea to make that gap smaller, am I talking to a wall here?

One more thing & I'm done.

How many sports teams are named after a city they don't technically play in? Giants & Jets don't even play in the same state there city is in. Lakers never played in LA city till a few years ago, same with the Kings. Hell how about the Rams speaking of Anaheim. Anyone outside of Michigan know where WTF Auburn Hills is? Nope but they know Detroit. Tampa Bay isn't even a city! It's the tv market, that's all that matters for a name

Damon is right on in this issue. I’m currently in North OC myself, fuck the South. It sounds like a joke to the rest of the country but when Disney had Anaheim redo the stadium, when the Rams left, Anaheim has to stay in the name.

People of the area are crying but this is a brilliant move by the owner and will pay off big time in the long run. This owner has always looked at things from the fans prospective. Lower beer cost and ticket prices, trying to get corporations to shoulder more of the load with this being the best example. The Dodgers have every single game on TV while the Angels have some on networks I never knew existed.

Here is a interesting fact:


Baseball payroll

Teams 2004 2003 2002 2001

N.Y. Yankees 187,918,394// 169,588,508// 138,423,649// 114,457,768
Boston 130,395,386// 108,403,617// 116,613,337// 114,331,641
Anaheim 115,608,812// 79,987,133// 62,436,618// 49,452,387
N.Y. Mets 103,199,231// 112,828,559// 102,863,303// 93,125,240
Los Angeles 101,682,464// 113,237,001// 103,140,812// 115,478,346
Chicago Cubs 100,653,389// 84,046,880// 74,949,669// 72,896,143
Philadelphia 97,380,476// 71,507,302// 61,478,823// 46,969,933
St. Louis 92,816,050// 93,116,025// 73,807,364// 76,153,956
San Francisco 82,404,615// 89,178,203// 82,556,895// 67,586,969
Houston 81,903,157// 72,833,342// 66,686,813// 66,443,169

[quote="Damen




If this is the first time you've heard of the North v South OC rivalry there's a lot you have to learn.
[/quote]

Yup. It's really weird how it works, but try living there for six years and you'll see how South OC thinks they're superior to everyone else in the OC, esp. North OC (which does suck by the way).

they should change the name to something that keeps people in the stadium after the 6th.

*AHEM*

*clears throat to get exact Comic Book Guy voice*


WORST..............NAME...................EVER!!

Yup. It's really weird how it works, but try living there for six years and you'll see how South OC thinks they're superior to everyone else in the OC, esp. North OC (which does suck by the way).[/quote]

I am aware of the rivalry - I just didn't think it was of the Civil War proportions it's being made out as. I didn't think that a baseball team would inspire half the county to root for them by changing their name to something that completely disregards them....
I'm still falling along the lines that this is an awful idea. I'm still falling along the lines that the plans for a financial windfall through doing this is flawed. I'm still falling along the lines that this is insulting to not only diehard Angels fans, but anyone with a sense of "O.C. Pride". I'm still falling along the lines that this is so corporate/insulting to sports fans that it makes my eyes bleed.
Hell - if 30 miles doesn't make that much of a difference, then we might as well see how changing the identity to that of a larger media market affects the identity of San Francisco A's (11.5 miles) or the Chicago Brewers (93 miles)...

Welcome to the world of sports in the 21st century. Where a Championship will be decided tonite without a real playoff since the system makes so much money the way it does now. And no one even knows what bowl game is which anymore since they all have corp names. And no one knows what stadium it's being played in due to the corp name.

Where a league who's players take the biggest chunk of their respective leagues total gross are locked out & facing the possiblity of no season since they're greedy bastards. Where most sports the average fans tickets don't even pay the players salaries, corp sponsers & luxury boxes do & the players know it (*cough*Ron Artest).

For the record. No color, logo or uniform change will be made by the Angels this season.

I have grown tired of teams changing their names and the names of their stadiums for money.

"Free agency ruins the god-damn game!"

[quote="Damen
For the record. No color, logo or uniform change will be made by the Angels this season.[/quote]

That's too bad - I'm not a big fan of the "A - now more absorbent - with wings!" logo, nor the powder blue unis.

They need to bring back the "Halo's" - it's a shame that there will never be a Hall Of Fame plaque with anyone wearing the most proper Angels hat....

That's too bad - I'm not a big fan of the "A - now more absorbent - with wings!" logo, nor the powder blue unis.

They need to bring back the "Halo's" - it's a shame that there will never be a Hall Of Fame plaque with anyone wearing the most proper Angels hat....[/quote]

I thought maybe Nolan Ryan went in as an Angel?

Which team did he choose then??