While it’s unknown if or when Anaheim might work out another deal to sell the Angel Stadium property, the city has locked in the short-term future of the included City National Grove of Anaheim with an extension of Nederlander Concerts’ contract to book the venue.

The Grove was intended to be part of the stadium sale, but the transaction was derailed in May by a scandal involving the former mayor.

Nederlander has managed the theater since the city bought it in 2002. The current contract ran through the end of this year, but the Anaheim City Council recently extended it through 2023, with an optional one-year extension after that.

“We wanted to keep Nederlander in place. They’ve been operating it fantastically,” city spokeswoman Erin Ryan said.

The contract includes a revenue sharing agreement that has typically pumped about half a million dollars or more per year into the city coffers.

After a surprise shutdown caused by the pandemic (Nederlander pivoted to offering drive-in concerts to keep the music going), the Grove has returned to a full slate of events and is seeing audiences come back, company CEO Alex Hodges said.

With more than 50,000 tickets sold this year and recent sellouts including performances by comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, tenor group Il Divo and kids’ show “Blippi the Musical,” “overall at the City National Grove, I’m very happy with 2022,” Hodges said. “But 2023 will be even better than 2019 or this year.”

For next year, concert-goers should expect more of the Grove’s usual mix of comedy, family shows, rock bands, emerging artists and top-shelf tribute groups, Hodges said.

If the Grove does eventually close, it could leave a hole in the area’s array of performance venues, Hodges said. “I think the Grove is very unique and there’s not really anything quite like it” that can handle a wide variety of events, has lots of on-site parking and is easy to get to, he said.

For now, Nederlander will continue partnering with Anaheim to keep the theater’s doors open, and the city is happy to work with the company.

“The future of the Grove, no one really knows at this point,” Ryan said, “but in the near term this is the path forward for us.”

Related Articles