Stan Kroenke to buy controlling interest in Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno

Rams owner Stan Kroenke has agreed to buy a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno, ending a 23-year run that started with a World Series afterglow and finished in one of baseball’s longest slumps.

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment will complete the deal, subject to Major League Baseball approval, in the first quarter of 2027. The official price was not disclosed. According to reports, the sale would top the $3.9 billion Padres deal and set an MLB record. Notably, Forbes valued the club at $2.8 billion in March.

How the Moreno era rose, then stalled

Moreno, MLB’s first Latino majority owner, bought the Angels from Disney in 2003 for about $184 million, just after Anaheim’s only World Series title. He signed Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon, cut beer prices, and made the club a bigger national brand. The Angels won the AL West five times from 2004 to 2009 and topped 3 million in attendance every year from 2003 to 2019. A 20-year, $3 billion Fox Sports TV deal in 2011 paid for big contracts for Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and CJ Wilson.

The wins stopped. The Angels have reached the playoffs only once since 2010, wasting the primes of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, and are headed for an 11th straight losing season. Critics said Moreno became too involved in baseball decisions and did not put enough money into scouting, development and the rest of the operation.

Change started this summer. After firing general manager Perry Minasian, the club brought in longtime St Louis Cardinals executive John Mozeliak as consultant and interim GM, with room to trade controllable players and rebuild the front office.

What Stan Kroenke brings

Stan Kroenke already owns the Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, MLS Colorado Rapids, and Premier League club Arsenal. Recent titles under his umbrella include the Rams’ 2022 Super Bowl, the Avalanche’s 2022 Stanley Cup, the Nuggets’ 2023 NBA title and Arsenal’s 2026 Premier League crown. He also developed SoFi Stadium and the Hollywood Park site in Inglewood. More than a decade ago he was a backup bidder when the Dodgers were sold.

“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke wrote in a statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”

The sale gives Kroenke teams in all four major US men’s leagues plus soccer, and a year-round Southern California presence next to the Rams. For Angels fans, it is a clean break after more than a decade of missed Octobers. Closing still depends on MLB owners. Until then, Mozeliak’s rebuild continues under the old letterhead.