Arte Moreno, who has owned the Los Angeles Angels since 2003 but has come under scrutiny amid a decade of losing, has agreed to sell a controlling interest in the team to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
The stunning announcement was made Tuesday morning by both Kroenke Sports and Entertainment and the Angels.
The sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027, according to the release. It is subject to the approval of Major League Baseball.
The sale price is not yet known. For reference, the sale of the San Diego Padres was completed this summer for $3.9 billion. Moreno paid $183 million for the Angels in 2003. It’s also unclear what percentage, if any, Moreno will retain.
Moreno, 80, did not immediately return a message, but he made a statement for the press release.
“The Angels Organization is pleased to announce this transaction with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment,” Moreno said. “The Moreno Family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years and we believe with KSE’s experience and success they are the best next owner for the franchise. The Angels Organization looks forward to continuing its commitment to the fans, our employees, the players and our business partners.”
KSE also owns the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, so the company will now control teams in all four major sports. KSE also owns Arsenal, a soccer team in the Premier League.
The Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche and Arsenal have all won championships under KSE’s ownership.
“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke, 79, said in the statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”
According to Forbes, Kroenke has a net worth of about $24 billion, which is nearly five times Moreno’s $5 billion net worth. This transaction likely shifts both of those figures, though.
News of the sale will certainly be celebrated by the long-suffering fans of the Angels, who are finishing their 11th consecutive losing season. The Angels have not made the postseason since 2014, the longest drought in the majors and the second-longest drought in any of the four major North American pro sports. Only the NFL’s New York Jets have been absent from the playoffs for longer.
Throughout the summer, groups of fans have been congregating in the upper reaches of Angel Stadium and chanting “Sell the team.”
Fans and baseball insiders have been critical of Moreno’s role in the Angels’ poor performance, believing he interfered too much with baseball operations and spent money in the wrong areas. For most of his tenure, Moreno wasn’t shy about signing star players to nine-figure contracts, while at the same time skimping on key infrastructure necessary to develop a sustainable team.
Kroenke has been lauded in recent years in Colorado for stepping back and allowing basketball and hockey people to make decisions with the Nuggets and Avalanche. The Nuggets won the NBA title in 2023, and the Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup in 2022.
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News of Kroenke’s purchase comes just as the Angels have been undergoing a transformation in baseball operations.
Molly Jolly took over for longtime president John Carpino in April, and she fired general manager Perry Minasian in June. John Mozeliak was hired as interim GM, and for the past two months he’s made moves that have been celebrated throughout the industry as a proper change of direction.
The Angels still need to determine who will run their baseball operations department going forward. Perhaps Mozeliak will be retained in some role, or perhaps the Angels will hire someone from outside. Many experienced baseball executives would not have been interested in working under the constraints Moreno had on previous GMs, but that could be different now.
The sale also raises questions about the team’s home and its relationship with the city of Anaheim. Angel Stadium, which is owned by the city, is the fourth-oldest ballpark in the majors. Moreno and the city have extended the lease, but they have been unable to reach any agreement that would lead to a new ballpark or more development in the area.
SoFi Stadium, the home of the Rams and Chargers, was built for $5.5 billion, primarily with private investments, at the time making it the most expensive stadium ever built. Ground was broken at the former Hollywood Park site in Inglewood in November 2016, with the first game taking place in September 2020.
This deal comes just over four years after Moreno first announced his intention to explore a sale of the team. Moreno went through that process and reportedly was near a deal to sell the team for around $3 billion, but he changed his mind and decided to keep the team.
Since then, he’s given no indication that he was reviving his plan to sell, although he’s always left open the possibility if the right offer came along.
A deal at this time is surprising because MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement is expiring on Dec. 1. After an expected lockout, the sport could emerge with a new financial system. If that system includes a salary cap, franchise values will all climb. It was widely expected that Moreno wouldn’t sell until knowing the terms of the new CBA.