Arte Moreno ended 2004 in a controversy that pitted his marketing ambitions for the Anaheim Angels against the city’s own desire for major league status.
But there is no denying Moreno delivered on his promise to bring a winning, competitive team back to Orange County. Moreno put the baseball team on the regional, even national radar with his efforts to sell the Angels to all of Southern California.
And he brought marketing savvy to Angel Stadium of Anaheim by filling it up with advertisements like only a billboard executive could.
Moreno called his first full year as owner “fun” and considered part of his success last year developing what he called “the baseball experience.”
“We really look at the two pieces,” Moreno said, “the business side and the players on the field.”
For his efforts, Moreno earned the runner-up nod for the Business Journal’s businessperson of the year.
In 2004, the Angels won their first American League West title since 1986 (they were a wild card team in 2002 when they won the World Series). And the team drew 3.4 million fans to Angel Stadium, behind only the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Clearly, Moreno brought a businessman’s acumen to owning a baseball team, which usually is seen as a rich man’s hobby, often a money-losing one at that.
He also brought the savvy of a diehard baseball fan to the team with aggressive moves to bolster the Angels. They include:
n Player signings that boosted the team’s payroll at the start of 2004’s season to about $110 million, up from $76 million in 2003.
n Sinking big bucks into starting pitchers Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar.
n And his piece de resistance: landing 2004 American League Most Valuable Player Vladimir Guerrero. The quiet Dominican slugger hit .337 with 39 home runs and 126 runs batted in last year and was a driving figure in the Angels’ stretch run.
Moreno didn’t fare as well with another free-agent acquisition, outfielder Jose Guillen. While Guillen batted .294 with 27 home runs and 104 RBIs, both second to Guerrero, he clashed with manager Mike Scioscia over playing time in late September.
The team parted company with the temperamental outfielder in November, trading him to the in-limbo Expos, which may be headed to Washington, D.C., if that city’s government straightens out a stadium-financing imbroglio.
Moreno’s goal: another World Series championship for the Angels.
“Even though we’re satisfied with what we accomplished, the end result is we always want to win the World Series,” he said.
And for all Moreno’s gains, he still has work to do on the business side.
His aim is to make the team profitable by 2006, according to Anaheim Angels president Dennis Kuhl, a longtime associate of Moreno’s who worked with him in the billboard industry.
The team expects to lose $12 million to $15 million this year.
“You obviously want economic balance,” Moreno said. “We have a long-term plan, but we’re not there. ”
Moreno spent about $7.5 million on new advertising displays at the stadium, according to Kuhl.
“It will probably take three to four years to get a return on that,” Kuhl said.
For 2005, the Angels are looking to cut their payroll to less than $100 million.
The team has said goodbye to bullpen ace Troy Percival, who signed with the Detroit Tigers, and third baseman Troy Glaus, who went to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It also cut loose David Eckstein, a fan favorite and catalyst during the World Series championship run.
But Moreno isn’t closing his wallet: The team just spent $32 million on Orlando Cabrera, a free-agent shortstop from the Red Sox.
Moreno’s marketing efforts have been equally notable.
After Southern California Edison pulled out of its naming deal for the stadium, Moreno renamed it Angel Stadium of Anaheim, in the tradition of Yankee Stadium.
He used his background in billboards to fuel an aggressive off-season play to widen the team’s fan base beyond OC, even pushing into the heart of Dodger country.
The campaign included TV commercials with two men wearing Angels jerseys and pasting the team’s large red “A” logo on Los Angeles-area signs, including in Malibu and at Los Angeles International Airport and Griffith Park.
Pasadena, Azusa and other surrounding communities also got the A treatment.
Billboards scattered across Los Angeles and bus ads, including ones featuring Guerrero, also were part of the campaign.
Fans who came to Angel Stadium were greeted by new outfield and infield screens showing replays, scores, pitch counts, and, of course, ads.
“We really want the interaction of the music, the game, replays,just a whole entertainment thing,” Moreno said.
Moreno’s push came as the region’s dominant team, the Dodgers, struggled to find their place under new owner Frank McCourt, who made a series of public relations muffs and trade blunders.
Another Moreno move, the prospect of changing the team’s name to the Los Angeles Angels, brought heat from city officials and local fans.
The city of Anaheim, led by politically savvy Mayor Curt Pringle, launched a marketing push of its own to try and change Moreno’s mind. The city has threatened to sue Moreno, citing a 1996 lease pact ensuring Anaheim will be in the team’s name.
Moreno said that he didn’t feel that the naming controversy has overshadowed the Angels’ gains last year.
“For me, I spend a lot of time focusing on the future,” he said.
Moreno said he’s looking at “what’s really going to enhance the economic stability of what we’re trying to accomplish. You still have to do your day-to-day (business).”
Marketing the Angels to a wider Southern California audience could boost television revenue. Last year, the Angels had about $18 million in TV money, a figure dwarfed by the Dodgers and other big-market teams.
And Moreno faces a challenge: He has to find a station to air games in 2006. KCAL-TV, Channel 9, signed an eight-year pact in November to broadcast the Dodgers a year from now.
KCAL, which has aired Angels games for about a decade, didn’t want to pay the team more for a broadcast contract.
The Angels are opening talks with other stations, Moreno said.
When Moreno bought the Angels for $183.5 million in 2003, he made a splash by lowering beer prices, selling cheaper tickets to attract more children to the park and cultivating an affable, easygoing image as a fan’s owner.
Forbes recently valued the team at $240 million.
Moreno’s more recent moves show he’s serious about his investment in the Angels. The Tucson native made his big fortune in 1999 after he and partner Bill Levine (who bought a 10% stake in the Angels from Moreno) sold billboard company Outdoor Systems to Viacom Inc. for $8.7 billion.
