Imagine if a Philadelphia sports owner said what Arte Moreno said about Angels fans

Imagine a Philadelphia owner standing at a podium in Clearwater, Camden, Voorhees, or South Philly and saying, “Winning is not in the fans’ top five priorities.” That is exactly what the owner of the Los Angeles Angels just did.

The Angels are a melancholy organization. The team has possessed Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Albert Pujols all at the same time and never sniffed the postseason. They have a broken television deal, a 60-year-old out-of-date stadium, and have gone through another offseason of frivolity.

What was Angels’ majority owner, chairman, and controlling stakeholder Arte Moreno’s message to the media at camp? It was not buoyant.

“The number one thing fans want is affordability,” Moreno said to the media on Friday. “They 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.

“The moms want to be able to afford to bring the kids. Moms 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’s just straight winning.”

Moreno, who has owned the Angels since 2003, said that this information comes from surveys the team has done.

This all stems from the Angels’ damaged television deal with Main Street Sports Group, which has led to a revenue loss. Moreno claims it as a reason for the team’s conservative spending. The Angels are yet to announce a television partner and are not broadcasting a single Spring Training game.

“For me, I’ve always wanted to win,” the 79-year-old said. “It’s just what’s the cost of winning right now?”

Now, imagine if Moreno owned a team in Philadelphia. Or even New York or Boston. He would be shunned.

This statement by Moreno is an insult to Angels fans and is disrespectful to the players in the organization. It is disgraceful that the employer disdains his workers who suffer lost time from their families and wear their bodies down for the game and the fans. This is the kind of message that proves Moreno really should not be in possession of any sort of organization.

Could you picture if a Philadelphia owner expressed something like this? The amount of backlash one of Jeffrey Lurie, John Middleton, Josh Harris, or anyone from Comcast would receive for making a statement like this.

The message is semi-conveyed from Harris indirectly that winning is not a top priority of his. Considering how the 76ers duck the task every trade deadline, that really does not scream a winning mentality. But never has Harris come out publicly and said this, nor has anyone articulated that the fans do not care about winning. The fans are the ones who put the money in their pockets to build the roster to win. Harris has been criticized for inactivity, but he has never publicly dismissed winning.

Lurie talks constantly about sustained excellence. All Middleton talks about is how he wants that trophy back. Comcast, well, they are Comcast.

Philadelphia does not request perfection, rather intent. The Process had intent. The Eagles’ retool had intent. The Phillies’ spending spree had intent. Even the Flyers’ current rebuild signals direction.

Imagine how Moreno would be fried if he owned a team in Philadelphia on social media and sports-talk radio. This would become national news. Maybe that flies in Anaheim. It would crash in Philly.

Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox: