At the start of the 2025 season, we ran a column with the headline: “What's the future of the old Angel Stadium? It feels increasingly uncertain.”
With Opening Day 2026 right around the corner, we'd like to update that: “What is the future of the Angels? It feels increasingly uncertain.”
I don't want to be alarmist. Nothing will happen today, or tomorrow, or in the very near future.
However, the Angels' stadium lease expires in six years, so what could happen beyond that date is starting to come into focus. Angels owner Arte Moreno turns 80 this summer. Moreno (or a new owner, if Moreno eventually sells the team) could simply exercise options to extend the lease for another six years.
But that wouldn't solve the broader problem of replacing or renovating Angel Stadium. In the coming months, the city hopes to release an assessment of what it would take to keep the stadium operating for years to come, and that could spark a debate between the city and the Angels over who should pay for what.
The Angels are frustrated by all of this, and particularly by what they see as the curiously timed skirmishes over their 21-year-old Los Angeles name. They're upset that, for the second straight season, the city's troubles have detracted from the hope, faith and joy surrounding opening day. After all, it's the city that walked away from two deals that would have secured the Angels' long-term future in Anaheim.
During negotiations for the latest deal, city officials made clear that keeping the Angels was the top priority, even if Anaheim could make more money by selling the stadium property to a developer who would not need to keep the stadium.
Now, with six years left on the lease and no commitment beyond that date, Anaheim's mayor says it's time to prepare for a future with or without the Angels.
“We need to plan what we see as a vision for that property when the lease has expired,” Mayor Ashleigh Aitken told me. “That will take time. No matter how the deal goes, we are not going to start any projects next year.
“But what we have to do, whether it includes Los Angeles (which I hope it does) or not, is come up with a vision that includes everything the residents want to happen on that land. And only then can we really advocate for a project that makes sense for us.”
On the day of the home opener last season, Aitken issued an open letter inviting Moreno to meet with her for “an open and honest conversation about the future of baseball in Anaheim” and listed eight starting points for negotiations on a new deal, including the Angels' restoration of the Anaheim name.
“They have not contacted us to reopen negotiations for possible development around the property,” Aitken said.
Moreno previously explored other potential stadium sites, including Tustin in 2014 and Long Beach in 2019.
In Tustin, the target land is no longer available. In Long Beach, the proposed oceanfront lot remains empty, but the challenge also remains: With more than 81 games each season, how would tens of thousands of fans get in and out of a stadium that's primarily accessible by a single highway?
For the Los Angeles Angels, perhaps the solution could be found in Los Angeles County.
The Dodgers could stop every other Major League team from moving to Los Angeles, but not the Angels. Under MLB rules, neither team could prevent the other team from moving anywhere within Los Angeles County or Orange County.
The logical landing spot would be Inglewood, where the Rams, Chargers and Clippers have moved since 2020. Inglewood Mayor James Butts said SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome have helped revitalize the city, with reduced unemployment, rising home prices and increased municipal revenue.
“We used to be known for gangs, crime and poverty,” Butts told me.
“We are now known as the sports and entertainment capital of the Western United States.”
How about a baseball stadium instead of the Forum?
“The Forum parcel is nowhere near big enough for a baseball stadium,” Butts said.
Butts said he believes a ballpark there would require about 170 acres for the stadium and surrounding parking. Angel Stadium and surrounding parking lots cover approximately 150 acres.
On the other hand, the A's are building a ballpark on a nine-acre plot of land in Las Vegas, where parking, entertainment and dining options already exist nearby, and more are on the way, and the A's are not responsible for any of it. The same could be true for the Angels in Inglewood, with Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer developing the land around the sports facility.
However, Butts said he didn't imagine baseball would come to Inglewood, at least while he remains mayor. There isn't enough space in the city, he said.
“We're all out when it comes to sports,” Butts said. “We're not going to reduce the housing stock and move residents to have a baseball team.”
Anaheim has one, plus a 150-acre site perfect for a new stadium surrounded by restaurants, shops and homes. There will be days when we feel anxiety and worry about the future of the Angels in the city they have called home for 60 years. Today is not one of them.
Take it from the mayor of Anaheim, who told me that even after telling me why she wants the city attorney to investigate whether the Angels are violating the stadium lease.
“To me, opening day is not about clauses in a contract,” Aitken said. “It's about family traditions. It's about kicking off the summer. And it's about bringing together so many factions and neighborhoods of Anaheim for a singular purpose, which is to lift up our hometown kids. That's the beauty of baseball.”
And, as a lifelong Angels fan, I had one more thing to say.
“Right now,” Aitken said, “we're tied for first place.”
