MORENO EYES CABLE OWNER BLASTS 'LITTLE LEAGUE' TV DEAL.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. - Angels owner Arte Moreno, stung but unbowed by a hail of criticism and legal wrangling following his decision to change the name of his team, revealed Thursday he wants his franchise to reach the revenue plateaus of baseball's power elite by possibly developing his own television station or entering into a big-money partnership with one or more cable companies.

In his first meeting with reporters since the Jan. 3 announcement that his club would be known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Moreno bemoaned the club's picayune local broadcast deals and justified the the polarizing decision to adopt a new team name. He claimed it could help in acquiring or developing a TV station for his club and bring with it the riches enjoyed by the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and, beginning next year, the New York Mets.

Two days after the city of Anaheim, despite two setbacks in Orange County Superior Court, vowed to continue its legal fight against Moreno over his decision to ditch the name Anaheim Angels, Moreno fought back. He again cast his club not as an Orange County entity but rather as a regional player, said the Angels were woefully under-marketed while under Disney's ownership and suggested the city of Anaheim cannot comprehend the reason behind the club's name change.

So Moreno laid it out for them and the largely Orange County-based opponents of the new name: He says the club's current media agreements are ``a Little League package,'' and that the club will not close off any avenues to change that.

``There's not anything out of the realm that says we can't buy our own TV station and market ourselves,'' Moreno said as Angels pitchers and catchers went through their first spring workout behind him. ``We are, whether anyone likes it or not, in the second-largest media market, the No. 1 entertainment market in the world. This is a helluva market we're in. To stick our head in the sand and not reach out to the market is a disservice to our fans.

``If you're not looking at what others are doing, the Mets, the Braves and Cubs with their superstations, you have your head in the sand.''

In fact, the Angels will receive just $5 million from KCAL, their over- the-air TV carrier, this season. Despite ratings Moreno said were within a tenth of a point of the Dodgers last season, KCAL chose to broadcast Dodgers games beginning in 2006, at a reported $10 million per season.

Minus an over-the-air carrier for the future, and with Fox Sports Net committed to just 50 games per year through 2008, the Angels' conventional local TV options appear limited. But Moreno's vision is to go from the poorhouse to the penthouse, much like the Mets have done, while acknowledging that having some games on free TV remains crucial.

Beginning in 2006, the Mets will partner with Comcast and Time Warner to produce their own cable station, a venture that some experts have said could be worth $150 million in annual revenue; the Yankees reportedly receive $190 million annually from their YES network.

Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consulting firm Sportscorp, says a similar arrangement for the Angels is ``extraordinarily viable,'' particularly if they could eventually partner with the Lakers, Clippers, Kings or Ducks to provide a winter programming vehicle.

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com

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Arte Moreno, along with wife Carole, left, wants to improve the Angels' TV situation.

Lee Celano/AFP/Getty Images