The Big A[1] | |
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 Angel Stadium in2019 | |
  Angel Stadium Location in theLos Angeles metropolitan area Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area | |
| Former names | Anaheim Stadium (1966–1997) Edison International Field of Anaheim (1998–2003) |
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| Address | 2000Gene Autry Way |
| Location | Anaheim, California, US |
| Coordinates | 33°48′1″N117°52′58″W / 33.80028°N 117.88278°W /33.80028; -117.88278 |
| Public transit |   Anaheim |
| Owner | City of Anaheim |
| Operator | Angels Baseball LP |
| Capacity | 43,250 (1966) 64,593 (Baseball—1980) 69,008 (Football—1980) 45,517 (2019–present) |
| Record attendance | Baseball: 64,406[2] October 5, 1982 (ALCS Game 1) |
| Field size | Left Field – 347 ft (105.8 m) Left-Center – 390 ft (118.9 m) Center Field – 396 ft (120.7 m) Right-Center – 370 ft (112.8 m) Right-Center(shallow) – 365 ft (111.3 m) Right Field – 350 ft (106.7 m) Backstop – 60.5 ft (18.4 m)  |
| Surface | Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | August 31, 1964 (1964-08-31) |
| Opened | April 19, 1966 (1966-04-19) April 1, 1998 (1998-04-1) (renovations) |
| Construction cost | US$24 million ($172 million in 2023 dollars[3]) $118 million (1997–1999 renovations) ($206 million in 2023 dollars[3]) |
| Architect | Noble W. Herzberg and Associates (1966)[4] HOK Sport Robert A. M. Stern, and Walt Disney Imagineering (Renovations) |
| General contractor | Del E. Webb Company (1966) Turner Construction Company (Renovations)[5] |
| Tenants | |
| Los Angeles Angels (MLB) (1966–present) Orange County Ramblers (CoFL) (1967–1968) Cal State Fullerton Titans football (NCAA) (1970–1971, 1983) Southern California Sun (WFL) (1974–1975) Long Beach State 49ers football (NCAA) (1977–1982) California Surf (NASL) (1978–1981) Los Angeles Rams (NFL) (1980–1994) Freedom Bowl (NCAA) (1984–1994) | |
Angel Stadium is aballpark inAnaheim, California, United States. Since its opening 59 years ago in1966, it has been the home venue of theLos Angeles Angels ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). It was also the home of theLos Angeles Rams of theNational Football League (NFL) from1980 to1994.
The stadium is often referred to by its unofficial nicknameThe Big A, coined byHerald Examiner Sports Editor, Bud Furillo. It is the fourth-oldestactive ballpark in the majors, behindFenway Park,Wrigley Field, andDodger Stadium.[6] The stadium hosted the MLBAll-Star Game three times in1967,1989, and2010, as well as hosted theWorld Series in2002.[7]
Aside from professional baseball and football, Angel Stadium has hostedhigh school andcollege football games, the short-livedWorld Football League, two crusades by evangelistBilly Graham, twenty consecutive annualcrusades by evangelistGreg Laurie,Eid el Fitr celebrations,[8] concerts, and two to threeAMA Supercross Championship races a year.
The stadium also houses the studios and offices of the Angels' owned and operated flagship radio station,KLAA (830 AM).
Angel Stadium and its surrounding parking lot are roughly bounded by Katella Avenue to the north, theOrange Freeway to the east, Orangewood Avenue to the south, and State College Boulevard to the west.[9]
The landmark"Big A" sign, which originally served as a scoreboard support in left field, is located near the eastern boundary of the parking lot. Thehalo located near the top of the 230-foot (70 m) tall, 210-ton sign once blinked on and off after dark on game days when the Angels won (both at home and on the road) a practice broadcasterVictor Rojas was known for referring to by saying "Light that baby up!" (blinking) after a victory. The halo would remain on without blinking when they lost.[10] Since at least the 2023 season, the halo remains lit at all times, although it shines brighter when the Angels win.[11]
ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center) servicing theMetrolinkOrange County Line andAmtrakPacific Surfliner, is located nearby on the other side of theState Route 57 and accessed through the Douglass Road gate at the northeast corner of the parking lot. The station provides convenient access to the stadium, the nearbyHonda Center, andDisneyland from various communities along the route.
Angel Stadium has been the home of the Angels since their move from Los Angeles. On August 31,1964, ground was broken for Anaheim Stadium and in1966, the then-California Angels moved into their new home after having spent four seasons rentingDodger Stadium (referred to in Angels games asChavez Ravine Stadium) from theDodgers. (In their inaugural season of1961, the Angels played their home games atLos Angeles' Wrigley Field.)[12]
The stadium was built on a parcel of about 160 acres (0.65 km2) of flat land originally used for agricultural purposes by the Allec, Russell, and Knutzen families[1] in the southeast portion of Anaheim. Consistent with many major-league sports stadiums built in the 1960s, it is located in a suburban area, though one that is host to major tourist attractions.[13]
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The field dimensions (333 feet)[citation needed] were derived from a scientific study conducted by the Angels. Based on the air density at normal game times (1:30 pm and 8 pm), the Angels tried to formulate dimensions that were fairly balanced between pitcher, hitter, and average weather conditions. The Angels tinkered with those dimensions several times, expanding or contracting parts of the outfield by a few feet, to refine that balance. 396 feet (120.7 m) is the second shortest center-field in the American League, and tied for 4th-shortest in the major leagues withPetco Park behind onlyFenway Park at 389 feet (118.6 m),Oracle Park at 391 feet (119.2 m) andDodger Stadium at 395 ft (120.4 m). Despite this, AngelsHall of Fame pitcherNolan Ryan still threw two of his sevenno-hitters in the ballpark, alongside 2,416 of his 5,714 career strikeouts.[14]
In the late 1970s,Los Angeles Rams ownerCarroll Rosenbloom was looking for a more modern venue than theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and also wanted a stadium small enough to prevent Rams games from beingblacked out on local television. The Coliseum seated almost 100,000 people, and the Rams had trouble filling it even in their best years. Rosenbloom eventually brokered a deal by which the Rams would move from Los Angeles to an expanded Anaheim Stadium. To add more seats (eventually about 23,000) for football games, the mezzanine and upper decks were extended completely around the playing field, resulting in a roughly trapezoidal, completely enclosed stadium. An elevated bank of bleachers was built in right and left fields, and temporary seats were placed underneath to be pulled out for football games.
Additionally, theBig A scoreboard support that stood in left field, and was the inspiration for the stadium's nickname, was moved 1,300 feet (395 m) to its present site in the parking lot, adjoining the Orange Freeway beyond the right-field stands; its usage changed from scoreboard to electronic marquee advertising upcoming events at the stadium. A black and amber scoreboard/instant replay video board was installed above the newly constructed upper deck seats in left field. Swift technical innovations in scoreboards in the 1980s quickly made the 1979 display obsolete, and the visual quality was washed out during day games as it was in direct sunshine, leading aSonyJumbotron color board to replace it in 1988, alongside amber matrix displays installed above the right field upper deck and along the infield balcony. A triangular metal spire was added to the top of the Jumbotron to evoke the original emplacement of the "Big A".
As with the addition of football seats toCandlestick Park a decade before to accommodate the rivalSan Francisco 49ers, the changes ultimately disadvantaged the Angels and their fans. Originally no seat had been further than 109 feet (33 m) from the field when first designed for baseball,[15] but afterwards this was no longer the case. Also, while the expanded capacity allowed the Angels to set attendance records that still stand today, on most occasions even crowds of 40,000 left swaths of unusable and empty seats. It also did not completely solve the television blackout issue which inspired the Rams to move from the Coliseum, as the stadium would not sell out if the Rams weren't competitive or if the opposing team did not draw their own fans to Anaheim (be they from out of town or transplants to Southern California) to sell out the game.
The expansion was completed in time for the 1980 NFL season, and the Rams played in Anaheim Stadium from then until their move toSt. Louis after the 1994 season.[16] The Rams would later return to Los Angeles in 2016, playing their games at the Memorial Coliseum again for four seasons; the team moved into the newSoFi Stadium inInglewood in 2020.
The January 17,1994 Northridge earthquake onMartin Luther King Jr. Day caused the left-field Jumbotron to collapse onto the upper deck seats beneath it. As the Rams and Angels were both out of season and it occurred in the pre-dawn hours, nobody was injured.[17] The damaged section was deconstructed and rebuilt with a new scoreboard structure and Jumbotron, eliminating the A-frame spire that evoked the Big A.[18]
In 1996, two years after the Rams' final game in Anaheim,The Walt Disney Company, a minority owner of the team since its inception (the stadium is located less than 3 miles (4.8 km) east ofDisneyland and across from theArrowhead Pond, the home venue of the then Disney-ownedMighty Ducks of Anaheim), gained enough support on the board to effectively take control of the team.[19] Soon afterward, the Angels and the city of Anaheim agreed to a new deal that would keep the Angels in Anaheim until 2031, with an option to leave the facility after the 2016 season. As part of the deal, the stadium underwent an extensive renovation, returning the stadium to its original role as a baseball-only facility. Before the1997 baseball season, the section behind the outfield wall was demolished. Disney briefly considered moving the Big A scoreboard to its original location, but decided against such a move, citing costs as well as the fact that the Big A had become a Southern California landmark in its parking lot location.
Despite the fact that much of the stadium was still a hard-hat zone, the demolition and construction being only half-completed, the Angels played their 1997 season in Anaheim. Fans were greeted by a restored view of the San Gabriel and Santa Ana Mountains, the Brea Hills, and the 57 freeway beyond the outfield.
Work that did not interfere with game play continued throughout the 1997 season, with major renovations resuming in the winter of 1997. These included the installation of outfield bleacher pavilions, a video display board and an out-of-town scoreboard below the right field seats. All of the multicolored seats were replaced by green seats. The exterior of the stadium was also renovated. The concrete structure and ramps were painted a combination of green and sandstone. Much of the façade of the stadium was torn down to create a more open feeling for visitors.[20]
The most notable feature of the entire renovation, however, was a "California Spectacular" in which geysers erupt and a stream cascades down a mountainside (Pride Rock) covered with real trees, artificial rocks behind the left-center field fence, and new bullpens. Fireworks shoot out of the display at the start of games, after every Angel home run and after every Angel win (previously they had been shot off from a parking garage).[21]
The field dimensions of the renovated stadium became somewhat asymmetrical, with the 8-foot (2.4 m) high fence in right center field (which earlier hid the football-only bleacher section) replaced by a 19-foot (5.8 m) high wall which contains a scoreboard displaying out-of-town scores of other games. A plaza was built around the perimeter of the stadium, and inside are statues depicting longtime Angel owner and chairmanGene Autry and Michelle Carew, daughter of former AngelRod Carew, who died ofleukemia at the age of 18.
The main entrance includes two giant Angels hats complete withNew Era tags on the sweatband (including one indicating the hats'size: 649½). The hats were originally blue and featured the Angels' "winged" logo designed byDisney for the 1997 season, and were repainted red and decorated with the present-day halo insignia for the 2002 season. Also outside home plate gate is a full-sized brick infield complete with regulation pitcher's mound and lighted bases, with bricks at each player position engraved with the names of Angels players who played at that position on Opening Day of each season since the Angels began play in 1961. For a fee, the green infield bricks can be engraved with fans' names or personalized messages. The Angels opened their "new" stadium on April 1, 1998, with a 4–1 victory over the New York Yankees.[22] The renovated stadium has 5,075 club seats and 78 luxury suites.
In 1998, the stadium was renamed Edison International Field of Anaheim after local utilityEdison International reached a deal giving itnaming rights over the stadium for 20 years, and during this time, the stadium was referred to as the "Big Ed". However, after the 2003 season, Edison International exercised its option to exit the sponsorship deal. On December 29, 2003, the Angels announced that from then on the stadium would be known as Angel Stadium (in full, Angel Stadium of Anaheim); Disney sold the Angels around this time as well.[citation needed]
In 2009,Daktronics installedlight emitting diode (LED) displays at the stadium. The largest video display measures 41 ft (12.50 m) high by 67 ft (20.42 m) wide. Two smaller displays flank the large display, and a field-level display sits in the centerfield fence.[23]
During the 2017-2018 offseason, the Angels upgraded the existing video boards in left and right field. The new left field video board measures 5,488 sq ft (509.9 m2), while the new right field board measures 9,500 sq ft (880 m2), the fourth largest scoreboard in MLB. In addition to this, the out of town scoreboard was upgraded, new video ribbons stretch from foul pole to foul pole, and a new sound system was added. Because of the new out of town scoreboard, the Angels moved the home run line in right field down from 18 feet (5.5 m) to 8 feet (2.4 m), though the height of the right field wall remains the same.[24][25]
The Angels opted out of their lease in October 2018, largely to avoid a contractual provision which would have forced them to remain in the stadium until 2029, though the club then had no new stadium proposals or moving plans.[26] In December 2019, the city of Anaheim agreed to sell the stadium and surrounding land to anArte Moreno-affiliated management company for $325 million, with the team committed to remain in Anaheim until at least 2050, with options to remain until at least 2065.[27] The deal, made behind closed doors, has led to allegations of corruption and violations of the state's Surplus Land Act. An ongoing FBI investigation into the city's internal affairs and the stadium sale eventually led to the resignation of Anaheim mayorHarry Sidhu on May 23, 2022, putting the stadium's pending sale into question.[28][29] On May 24, 2022, the Anaheim City Council voted to cancel the sale to Moreno's SRB Management, in light of the corruption probe.[30] On February 6, 2025, the Angels extended their lease until 2032.[31]
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The stadium was host to the 1967 MLB All-Star Game, the first All-Star Game to be played onprime-time television. This was the first time an All-Star Game was held at night since World War II. Angel Stadium again hosted All-Star Games in 1989 and 2010.[7]
It hosted sevenAmerican League Division Series (2002,2004,2005,2007,2008,2009, and2014) and sixAmerican League Championship Series (1979,1982,1986,2002,2005, and2009). Most notably, it hosted the2002 World Series, which the Angels won over theSan Francisco Giants.[35]
Angel Stadium hosted several games during Round 2 of the 2006World Baseball Classic.
Famous individual baseball milestones attained in the stadium includedMickey Mantle's last game-winning home run,Nolan Ryan's striking out of nine consecutiveBoston Red Sox players (and two of hisseven no-hitters),Reggie Jackson's 500th career home run,Rod Carew's 3,000th career base hit,Don Sutton's 300th career win,Vladimir Guerrero's 400th career home run,George Brett's 3,000th career base hit, andAlbert Pujols' 600th career home run.
On Saturday, August 9, 2014, the stadium hosted a 6-hour, 31-minute game between the Angels and theBoston Red Sox that extended for 19 innings, beforeAlbert Pujols gave the Angels a 5-4 win.[36]
The stadium is currently designated to host baseball events for the2028 Summer Olympics along withDodger Stadium.[citation needed]
A "Battle of the Bell" game betweenFountain Valley High School andEdison High School was hosted in the stadium sometime during the 1970s.[37]
Eric Dickerson broke the NFL single-season rushing record in game 15 of the 1984 season, finishing with 2,007 yards.[38] (He would go on accumulate 2,105 yards that season.)
In December 2017, thePhiladelphia Eagles used Angel Stadium as their practice field, as part of the Eagles’ two game west coast road trip.[39]
Anaheim Stadium hosted five group stage matches of the1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup, including two involving theUnited States national team.[40]
| Date | Winning Team | Result | Losing Team | Tournament | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 10, 1996 |  Canada | 3–1 |  Honduras | 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup First Round | 27,125 |
 El Salvador | 3–2 |  Trinidad and Tobago | |||
| January 13, 1996 |  United States | 3–2 | Trinidad and Tobago | 12,425 | |
| January 16, 1996 |  Guatemala | 3–0 |  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 52,345 | |
| United States | 2–0 | El Salvador |
Angel Stadium has hosted concerts including bands such asThe Rolling Stones,The Who,David Bowie,U2,The Osmonds,Pink Floyd,Alice Cooper,The Grateful Dead,Madonna, theEagles,[41]Jackson Browne,[41]Linda Ronstadt,[41] andToots and the Maytals.[41]
Several major motion pictures have been shot at Angel Stadium. The final sequence ofThe Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) featured an electronically manipulatedReggie Jackson trying to shootQueen Elizabeth II. Exteriors were shot at the ballpark, but most baseball scenes were shot atDodger Stadium. The 1988 sci-fi comedyMy Stepmother Is an Alien features a scene shot in Angel Stadium ofKim Basinger speaking to an extraterrestrial counsel. The 1990 comedyTaking Care of Business featured a World Series matchup between the Angels and theChicago Cubs, with the baseball scenes in the movie having been filmed in the stadium. The Disney remake ofAngels in the Outfield (1994) prominently uses the ballpark; however, many of the interior shots were filmed at theOakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The stadium served as a stand-in forCandlestick Park in filming ofThe Fan (1996). Scenes fromDeuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo andAir Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch were also filmed here.[48]
On November 16, 1979, Anaheim Stadium hostedmotorcycle speedway, when it was the venue for the American Final, a qualifying round for the1980 edition of theSpeedway World Championship.6[49][50]Bruce Penhall won the American Final fromScott Autrey andDennis Sigalos. Penhall and Autrey qualified to theIntercontinental Final in England held over 6 months later. Penhall qualified through to his first World Final held at theUllevi Stadium inGothenburg, Sweden where he finished in 5th place.[51]
Anaheim Stadium has hosted anAMA Supercross Championship round from 1976 to 1979, 1981 to 1987, 1989 to 1996, and 1999 to the present.[52]
The stadium is also host toMonster Jam, which hosts several shows every year.
Angel Stadium has been the site of annual ChristianHarvest Crusades since 1990.[53] It has also hosted MuslimEid el Fitr celebrations.[8] In 2014,Barack Obama gave acommencement speech forUniversity of California, Irvine graduates, which was held at the stadium due to capacity and security concerns.
Angel Stadium holds an annual5K run whose course runs through the stadium and around its parking lot.[54]
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