Watkins’ Chances Diminish

The baseball labor agreement reached Friday enhances the chance for Disney to sell the Angels but further diminishes the likelihood that the buyer will be Alabama businessman Donald Watkins, who has pursued the purchase of the money-losing team for six months.

Disney has not granted exclusive negotiating rights to Watkins, and baseball sources continue to express reservations about his ability to afford the team and whatever operating losses might follow. Although he appeared to be the only party willing to make a deal despite the threat of a player strike, he acknowledges that labor peace--and with it the uninterrupted flow of revenues for four years--increases the chance for Disney to find other Angel bidders.

“I expect there will be several more people involved, and it will be fiercely competitive,” Watkins said Friday. “From Disney’s standpoint, it’s a seller’s market. That doesn’t bother me.”

Disney executives have not met face to face with Watkins since June. He said he contacted company officials Friday to alert them that he planned to submit a revised bid next week. He is expected to offer $200 million for the Angels, up from the $150 million he proposed in June.

“I think Disney made the correct decision to hold onto the team and ride out the resolution of the labor situation,” he said. “Now that the labor situation has been resolved, I’ll be submitting a new proposal that will more accurately reflect the value of the team.”

Disney did not respond to the $150-million offer, a decision that had less to do with the unsettled labor situation than with the bid simply being considered too low, sources said. Disney spent $140 million to buy the Angels in 1996 and another $98 million to renovate Anaheim Stadium, now Edison Field. The Angels reported $100 million in operating losses from 1995-2001, according to figures released by the commissioner’s office.

With Disney’s stock price plunging to eight-year lows, the company appears willing to write off either the renovation costs or the operating losses, but not both.

It is uncertain how, or if, Disney would respond to a new proposal from Watkins. He privately lists his net worth at $1.5 billion, but Forbes examined his holdings in March and reported that “we have reason to doubt the number.” In response, Watkins said he would reveal his financial records only to major league officials.