When it comes to getting fans in the stands for Angels games, team owner Arte Moreno believes more people care about affordability than a winning product on the field, and that isn’t sitting well with the MLB Players Association.
Moreno Local reporters said this on Friday that “the most important thing fans want is affordability” and that “winning is not in their top five.”
The Angels’ owner cited studies the club had done but did not appear to provide many more details. New union head Bruce Meyer told The Athletic on Sunday that “players took notice” and that “we took notice too.”
“The bottom line is that players are competitors. They grow up competing every day. They go out and do their best to win every game. And players want to see owners do the same,” Meyer told the outlet.
“The main thing fans want is affordability,” Moreno had said on Friday. “They want affordability. They want safety and they want a good experience when they come to the ballpark. Believe it or not, winning is not in their top five.”
He further explained that ‘moms’ are looking for affordable activities to take their children to,
“Mothers make about 80% of the decisions,” he said. “They want to be able to take their kids and be affordable and they want safety and they want to have a good experience so they get all the entertainment or whatever. The purists, you know, it’s just winning.”
The Angels have cut payroll to about $155 million, which explains the deferred payments to injured third baseman Anthony Rendon.
The Angels have been dealing with the fallout of the loss of local television when they, along with eight other franchises, recently left Main Street Sports Group, owner of FanDuel Sports Networks.
Seven of those nine teams joined MLB Media to broadcast the games, but the Angels have yet to decide on a course of action.
“Shall [payroll] Back to $200 million? Probably,” Moreno told reporters on Friday. “We have to get our TV thing in order, and we just have to improve our brand.”
But Meyer seemed to feel that the Angels’ approach was part of a larger problem, with certain teams not spending as they should, especially in a major market like Los Angeles.
“If you can’t do a successful operation in Los Angeles, it’s hard to understand what the problem is,” Meyer said. “It’s easy to make excuses, but the Los Angeles Angels certainly have the tools to compete in every aspect.
“To come out and say that winning is not a priority, even in the top five priorities, is really remarkable.”
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