More large-scale changes are coming to MLB team ownership.
The Stan Kroenke–led Kroenke Sports & Entertainment has reached what it called “a definitive agreement” to buy the Angels from Arte Moreno.
The deal, set to close in early 2027, will see Kroenke become the first majority team owner in all four of the major U.S. men’s pro sports leagues, with his sports holdings going well beyond that. Kroenke, the largest private landowner in the U.S., also controls the NFL’s Rams, NBA’s Nuggets, NHL’s Avalanche, the Rapids of Major League Soccer, NLL’s Mammoth, and the Premier League’s Arsenal—all of which have won league titles under his ownership.
Kroenke has also developed SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., which has already hosted one Super Bowl and part of the FIFA men’s World Cup, and is set to have a second NFL title game with Super Bowl LXI in February. SoFi will also be a key venue for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Financial terms of the Angels deal were not announced, but multiple reports and industry sources pointed to a $4 billion valuation, setting an MLB record and surpassing the recently closed $3.9 billion pact for the Padres.
Moreno, who has owned the Angels since 2003, has openly flirted with selling the club before, and previously had the franchise on the market before abandoning those efforts in early 2023.
The ripples from this deal will be significant. Among them:
- MLB sees its second sale of a controlling team interest in less than a year following the Padres sale to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.
- The Los Angeles sports market sees another major change after the recent, $12.5 billion shift of the Lakers from Mark Walter to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger.
- The Angels could have a more competitive future under the KSE ownership. Under Moreno, the club has posted 10 consecutive losing seasons, is already assured of an 11th this season, has not reached the postseason since 2014, and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2009. That run of losing has happened despite having star outfielder and future Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Trout for his entire career, and two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani for the first part of his career in the U.S.
- MLB management will gain a notable new voice in the room as it continues a fractious labor negotiation with the MLB Players Association. The closing of the purchase is slated to closely follow the Dec. 1 expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement, at which point owners are expected to impose a lockout.
“The Angels are a storied franchise in a great market,” Kroenke said in a typically understated statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”
Kroenke, 79, is only one year younger than the outgoing Moreno, but he has shown far more vigor in the operation of his other teams, and has at his disposal the sprawling KSE organization that includes his son and company vice chairman Josh Kroenke, and KSE president of team and media operations Kevin Demoff, also the president of the Rams.
Franchise Matters
It will bear close watching how Kroenke seeks to rebuild the Angels competitively. Amid another ugly season, Moreno recently turned baseball operations over to consultant and former Cardinals executive John Mozeliak, who has been given free rein to reshape the front office, coaching staff, and overall approach.
In the meantime, Kroenke will also inherit a long-troubled real estate situation between Moreno and the city of Anaheim to redevelop the Angel Stadium area. Moreno previously sought to acquire the city-owned ballpark, the league’s fourth oldest, as part of a larger redevelopment plan, but an agreement to do that collapsed four years ago amid a corruption investigation of then–Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu.
A subsequent Angel Stadium lease extension signed last year between the city and Moreno, extending as far as 2038, essentially punted the issue of a larger redevelopment effort.
In the meantime, there continue to be ongoing political efforts seeking to encourage the Angels to drop their Los Angeles geographic signifier and return to their prior Anaheim one, and that will almost certainly be an early question for Kroenke after the sale closes.
If Kroenke attempts any sort of redevelopment, however, it would add to OCVibe, a similar project taking shape around the Honda Center, the home arena of the NHL’s Ducks that neighbors Angel Stadium.
