The city of Anaheim and the Angels agreed to a settlement Monday, ending a years-long dispute that involved an FBI investigation and a former mayor facing corruption charges.
The city will give the team $2.75 million, which it expects to make back in stadium revenue like ticket sales, parking, and special events over the next few seasons. Also as part of the agreement, the team will now let Anaheim build a fire station on the stadium property. The settlement was signed Thursday, according to The Orange County Register.
“This is a fair settlement for our city,” Anaheim mayor Ashleigh Aitken said in a statement. “It allows both sides to move forward without needless expense and distraction.”
In 2022, then mayor Harry Sidhu was found by the FBI to have given confidential information to the Angels to help them get favorable terms in a deal to sell the stadium site to the team. After the news went public, the deal fell through. The city was supposed to give team owner Arte Moreno $5 million plus legal fees if the deal failed, which it didn’t want to pay, so the two sides have been working toward a settlement ever since.
Sidhu in 2023 pleaded guilty to federal felony charges of obstruction of justice, wire fraud, and making false statements to federal officials. His sentencing is set for December. Investigators have not found the Angels to have committed any wrongdoing.
The settlement won’t shape the team’s future in Anaheim, the Los Angeles Times reported, with the city telling the outlet that there are “no long-term talks underway now.” The Angels’ current lease is up in 2029.
