{"id":480728,"date":"2026-02-20T22:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/480728\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T22:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:50:08","slug":"tv-ordeal-hasnt-been-easy-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/480728\/","title":{"rendered":"TV ordeal \u2018hasn\u2019t been easy\u2019 \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEMPE, Ariz. \u2014 On the eve of the Angels\u2019 first spring training game of the season, the team is still trying to figure out what their television situation will look like when the regular season starts in just over a month.<\/p>\n

The uncertainty is a large reason why the Angels\u2019 payroll is down so much from last year, owner Arte Moreno said Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be on TV,\u201d he said. \u201cBut put it this way, it hasn\u2019t been easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year after Moreno said he expected the Angels to lose $50 million in 2025<\/a>, their payroll for 2026 is at least $50 million less than it was a season ago.<\/p>\n

As cord-cutters have hurt the business model for television networks, they have been unable to pay sports teams the rights fees they negotiated years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took a (revenue) cut going from Fox to Main Street, and they\u2019re going to go down again,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cA lot of teams have gone to MLB and I haven\u2019t done it yet. I\u2019m not telling you I won\u2019t do it. We\u2019re still working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreno added that \u201cwe\u2019ll know here in the next five to seven days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Street Sports Group, the parent company of FanDuel Sports, is in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings. Many of the other teams that had deals with Main Street simply handed their rights to MLB, which collects subscription fees from fans and passes that directly to the teams, who also generate money from advertising.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t amount to the same revenue as the rights fees, though.<\/p>\n

The alternative is for the Angels to create their own television network, but that requires much more work and negotiation. It\u2019s also complicated because the NHL\u2019s Kings are a part of the Angels\u2019 partnership with Main Street.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the Angels chose not to do a temporary arrangement that would have allowed some of their spring training games to be aired, although Moreno said \u201cthere\u2019s still a possibility\u201d they could.<\/p>\n

All that\u2019s known right now is that the Angels\u2019 regular-season games will be available to stream on MLB.tv. It\u2019s also likely that whatever linear outlet \u2013 cable or satellite \u2013 that fans used to watch games before will still be available. What\u2019s uncertain is who will produce those games, and how much revenue the Angels will generate.<\/p>\n

The television situation was the most pressing issue facing Moreno as he sat down for his annual interview with writers who cover the Angels.<\/p>\n

As for the standard question about whether he\u2019s considering selling, Moreno reiterated that the team is not available.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s put it this way, I\u2019m not shopping (the team),\u201d Moreno said. \u201cBut there\u2019s just a lot of people wanting to buy a baseball team right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The San Diego Padres and Minnesota Twins are both currently for sale.<\/p>\n

Moreno, 79, has owned the Angels since 2003. He announced in 2022 that the team was for sale, but he changed his mind early in 2023, and has not changed his stance since. He does acknowledge his age leads to more questions about the team\u2019s future when he\u2019s not around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love being an owner,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always liked being the owner. It\u2019s just, you get into an age \u2026 I\u2019ve got a big birthday this year. I can\u2019t believe I made it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreno has come under fire in recent years for the team\u2019s failures. The Angels haven\u2019t been to the playoffs since 2014 and they haven\u2019t had a winning season since 2015.<\/p>\n

As the Angels have continued losing, and with the unsettled TV situation, Moreno has trimmed the payroll.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill it get back to $200 million? Probably,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get our TV thing worked out and we just have to improve our brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreno suggested the way to improve the product on the field is to continue trying to develop young players, rather than spending money on free agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is do one or two players substantially change (the record)?\u201d Moreno said. \u201cIf you go out and spend $15 or $20 million a year times three or times five, it doesn\u2019t get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreno also addressed the recent Tyler Skaggs wrongful death civil lawsuit. After a trial that lasted more than two months, the Angels settled for an undisclosed amount of money with the family of Skaggs<\/a>, who died in 2019 after a drug overdose.<\/p>\n

Moreno said the settlement has \u201czero\u201d effect on the finances for the rest of the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just very unfortunate,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cBut economically it has nothing to do with it. Two basically separate situations. Kept that separate.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the ongoing discussions about upgrades to Angel Stadium, Moreno said the Angels spent $5 million for improvements this winter. They redid the seating in the Diamond Club. They also did steelwork, painting and they are about to redo the blacktop in the parking lots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve put in double what we\u2019re supposed to under the (lease with the city),\u201d Moreno said.<\/p>\n

Moreno reiterated that he\u2019s committed to the fan experience, specifically to making the games affordable for families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one thing fans want is affordability,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreno said that information comes from surveys they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moms want to be able to afford to bring the kids,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cMoms make about 80% of the decisions. They want to be able to bring their kids and be affordable and they want safety and they want to have a good experience, so they get all the entertainment stuff or whatever. The purists, you know, it\u2019s just straight winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what his top priority is, Moreno said: \u201cFor me, I\u2019ve always wanted to win. It\u2019s just what\u2019s the cost of winning right now?\u201d<\/p>\n

As Moreno spoke, he motioned toward Mike Trout, who still represents one of the keys to the Angels ending their drought.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can keep him healthy, he changes the games,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cIt changes the audience. Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOTES<\/p>\n

The Angels will have almost their entire projected everyday lineup when they face the Dodgers in the first Cactus League exhibition game on Saturday. They\u2019ll start catcher Logan O\u2019Hoppe, first baseman Nolan Schanuel, second baseman Christian Moore, shortstop Zach Neto, third baseman Yo\u00e1n Moncada, left fielder Josh Lowe, center fielder Bryce Teodosio, right fielder Jo Adell and designated hitter Jorge Soler. Right-hander Jos\u00e9 Soriano will be on the mound. Manager Kurt Suzuki said Neto will lead off, but he\u2019s not certain that he\u2019ll do that during the season. \u2026<\/p>\n

Trout is scheduled to play center field for Sunday\u2019s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He will then DH on Tuesday. \u2026<\/p>\n

Right-handers Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson each threw bullpen sessions on Friday, this time mixing in their secondary pitches. Both pitchers are coming off injuries, so they\u2019re behind the other pitchers. \u2026<\/p>\n

Right-hander Caden Dana is out sick again, after briefly returning to the clubhouse. Suzuki said he\u2019s not sure if Dana has missed enough time to make him unavailable for Opening Day. Dana came into camp as a candidate for the Opening Day roster, but seems more likely to be headed to Triple-A.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEMPE, Ariz. \u2014 On the eve of the Angels\u2019 first spring training game of the season, the team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2322,363,99],"class_list":["post-480728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}