Friday, November 12, 2004
Dear Arte Moreno,
Enough with the Los Angeles Angels nonsense.
I realize that the franchise was born as a Los Angeles team, but it has evolved into something different. Have you spent much time in Los Angeles? When it comes to people and lifestyles, the difference between Los Angeles and Anaheim is pretty amazing given the short geographic distance separating the two. The Angels are a team to root for if you live in Southern California but don't like the "LA" Label. If you don't want to be pinned with the Beverly Hills/Hollywood rap, you root for the Angels. If you live in the suburbs and visit Huntington Beach ten times more than you visit Malibu, you root for the Angels. The Angels are Orange County's team.
I see the same attendance records that you do, Arte, and I see that even with our consecutive 3-million-plus seasons, that the Dodgers still sit one spot higher than us. You want to outdraw them and that's fine, but don't overlook the fact that Dodger Stadium has a whopping 10,950 seat advantage on Angel Stadium in total capacity. If you sort the attendance rankings by percentage, the Angels are 15.6% better than the Dodgers. This number is far more relevant than total attendance.
You're a business man. Surely, you want to maximize your revenue by broadening your fan base to all of the Los Angeles area. Any fool could tell you there is more money to be made from a city of 3.8 million than there is from a city of 328,000. However, the numbers don't tell the whole story here.
L.A. fans are front-running, bandwagon fans. They're not going to drive 30 miles down the dreaded I-5 freeway just because you put the name of their city on your jerseys. The Clippers can attest to that and they play in the same building as their Los Angeles counterparts. L.A. fans root for winners, plain and simple. If you want more Dodger-area fans in the stands, all you have to do is outperform the Dodgers in the standings.
While slapping "Los Angeles" on the jerseys won't really bring L.A. fans, it will almost certainly drive many of the current Angel fans away. As I said before, some people in Southern California relish the chance to root for a team that does not come with the baggage of an L.A. host. They don't want to see L.A. fans at Angel Stadium. Why would you risk betraying the 6,436,771 fans that have filled your seats in the last two years, raking up hot dogs, beers, and ice-cold coolicoos? The more you talk about broadening your base and calling out to the reaches of the L.A. basin, the more you seem to take for granted the great and numerous fans you already have.
Mr. Moreno, I implore you, stop toying around with the name of this team. I believe no team should have more uniform, logo, and name changes than it has division championships. We're finally starting to get some consistency and credibility going here and the last thing we need is another name change. If you want to beat the Dodgers, focus on how the roster looks rather than the cover of the media guide.
Sincerely,
John Kumpart, a loyal and longtime Angel fan
P.S. As a Spanish-speaker, I would think you would be more tuned to the lunacy of having a team that translates to The Angels Angels.
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I realize that the franchise was born as a Los Angeles team, but it has evolved into something different. Have you spent much time in Los Angeles? When it comes to people and lifestyles, the difference between Los Angeles and Anaheim is pretty amazing given the short geographic distance separating the two. The Angels are a team to root for if you live in Southern California but don't like the "LA" Label. If you don't want to be pinned with the Beverly Hills/Hollywood rap, you root for the Angels. If you live in the suburbs and visit Huntington Beach ten times more than you visit Malibu, you root for the Angels. The Angels are Orange County's team.
I see the same attendance records that you do, Arte, and I see that even with our consecutive 3-million-plus seasons, that the Dodgers still sit one spot higher than us. You want to outdraw them and that's fine, but don't overlook the fact that Dodger Stadium has a whopping 10,950 seat advantage on Angel Stadium in total capacity. If you sort the attendance rankings by percentage, the Angels are 15.6% better than the Dodgers. This number is far more relevant than total attendance.
You're a business man. Surely, you want to maximize your revenue by broadening your fan base to all of the Los Angeles area. Any fool could tell you there is more money to be made from a city of 3.8 million than there is from a city of 328,000. However, the numbers don't tell the whole story here.
L.A. fans are front-running, bandwagon fans. They're not going to drive 30 miles down the dreaded I-5 freeway just because you put the name of their city on your jerseys. The Clippers can attest to that and they play in the same building as their Los Angeles counterparts. L.A. fans root for winners, plain and simple. If you want more Dodger-area fans in the stands, all you have to do is outperform the Dodgers in the standings.
While slapping "Los Angeles" on the jerseys won't really bring L.A. fans, it will almost certainly drive many of the current Angel fans away. As I said before, some people in Southern California relish the chance to root for a team that does not come with the baggage of an L.A. host. They don't want to see L.A. fans at Angel Stadium. Why would you risk betraying the 6,436,771 fans that have filled your seats in the last two years, raking up hot dogs, beers, and ice-cold coolicoos? The more you talk about broadening your base and calling out to the reaches of the L.A. basin, the more you seem to take for granted the great and numerous fans you already have.
Mr. Moreno, I implore you, stop toying around with the name of this team. I believe no team should have more uniform, logo, and name changes than it has division championships. We're finally starting to get some consistency and credibility going here and the last thing we need is another name change. If you want to beat the Dodgers, focus on how the roster looks rather than the cover of the media guide.
Sincerely,
John Kumpart, a loyal and longtime Angel fan
P.S. As a Spanish-speaker, I would think you would be more tuned to the lunacy of having a team that translates to The Angels Angels.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:30 AM 
