Twenty-seven-year-old Mike Trout has made the Big Leagues.
No, we’re not talking Major League Baseball, where the two-time MVP has proved himself beyond a doubt.
We’re talking Orange County business. He’s the first star athlete that the Business Journal has ever put on its list of the 50 most influential leaders in Orange County (see OC 50, starts page 5).
It might seem odd at first to put a baseball player on the same list as powerhouse executives and entrepreneurs like Donald Bren and Henry Samueli.
Newport Coast resident Kobe Bryant hasn’t yet made the list, although he’s won five NBA titles compared to Trout’s zero World Series victories and word is Bryant is investing well in his business ventures—he’s been on prior editions of our OC’s Wealthiest list with an estimated fortune approaching $400 million, a figure Forbes believes is $100 million too low. Magic Johnson didn’t make the cut here either because even though he’s had business dealings in OC and is reported to own a home in Dana Point, he’s better known for his work in L.A.
Trout hasn’t proved himself in business except for the one statistic that matters the most—he negotiated the largest contract in the history of North American sports.
In March, the Los Angeles Angels agreed to pay him $426.5 million over 12 years.
“Mike Trout, an athlete whose accomplishments have placed him among the greatest baseball players in the history of the game, has agreed to wear an Angels uniform for his entire career,” Angels owner Arte Moreno, who is also a member of the OC 50, said after the deal was announced.
To put the deal in context, that’s $35.5 million a year, which is something that any entrepreneur or executive on our annual listing would recognize as impressive.
The $426.5 million figure dwarfs the reported $184 million that Moreno paid for the Angels in 2003, and the estimated $75 million that Henry and Susan Samueli—also OC 50 members—paid for the Anaheim Ducks in 2005.
Star Power
Outside of the late May opening of Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge—overseen by another OC 50 entry, Disneyland Resort President Josh D’Amaro—Trout might be the biggest attraction in town for the next few years.
As such, it’s not only Trout who will benefit from the mega-extension of his contract.
Assuming a deal is struck to keep the team in the city for the long term, he will attract fans for the next dozen years to Angel Stadium, which sits in the middle of the Platinum Triangle, an 820-acre development that Anaheim is promoting as the next LA Live-type environment, complete with thousands of new homes alongside offices, retail and entertainment options.
The Samuelis are poised to take advantage of development opportunities in the area, and Moreno could follow suit.
“Angel Stadium of Anaheim is the only home field Mike Trout has ever known, and we are seeking to keep it that way as we look at a potential new long-term lease for the team and development opportunity around the stadium,” Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster said.
“We also benefit from the exposure he brings to Anaheim. His record contract signing and thrilling performance game in and game out brings national media attention to our city.”
Trout’s one of 15 new entries to this year’s OC 50 listing; that’s the most turnover in our annual listing of business leaders in the 26 editions that it has run.
He’s one of two 27-year-olds added to the latest edition, along with virtual reality wunderkind Palmer Luckey of Anduril Industries (see entry, page 24).
New Jersey Boy
Trout grew up in Millville, N.J., where he earned the nickname “The Millville Meteor”: he hit 18 home runs his senior year, a New Jersey high school record. He was a first round pick in the 2009 MLB draft, and in 2011, Trout became the youngest Angel to hit two home runs in one game.
He is reported to earn an estimated $2.5 million from endorsements annually, according to Forbes, a relatively small figure when compared to the deals basketball and football athletes rake in, sometimes in the hundred million dollar range.
Still, Trout has several endorsement deals and is likely to nab more.
He is an investor in BodyArmor sports drink, a Gatorade rival with about $400 million in annual sales.
“A lot of athletes are switching to BodyArmor,” Trout told TheStreet website last year, which said his stake is “small.”
That stake most likely got a lot more valuable when a few months later Coca-Cola made an investment that valued BodyArmor at $2 billion.
Kobe Bryant also made a reported $6 million early-stage investment in BodyArmor. His stake in the company rose to an estimated $200 million with the Coke deal.
Trout’s done television spots with Subway, is sponsored by SuperPretzel, and has signature shoes with Nike.
Some, including Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, have criticized Trout for not marketing himself enough. The Angels, however, have applauded Trout for being “a perfect role model” that prioritizes “his personal values over commercial self-promotion.”
Great Headliner
The baseball player frequently makes headlines for his charitable tendencies, ranging from bringing presents and supplies to a family whose house burned down just weeks before Christmas, to his work with organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. He’s known for regularly visiting hospitals and schools, and for spending generous time with fans.
“Obviously not a lot of people see it, but I take time every day,” Trout previously said in a statement on the topic. “I make sure I do that. As a kid growing up, I could see myself being in the same shoes as that kid wanting an autograph or wanting to meet their favorite player. I think it’s cool to put a smile on people’s faces.”
Trout met his now-wife, Jessica Cox, in high school. They wed two years ago, and the two are reported to have homes in Laguna Beach and their hometown of New Jersey, where she teaches middle school.
“Obviously the number $426.5 is always going to be on my back, but for me I just go out and play baseball,” Trout told ESPN in an interview following the latest contract. “There’s a little bit more pressure from the outside, but once I go out on that field I don’t worry about pressure. I just try to perform my best.”
