Kroenke Sports + Entertainment revealed on Tuesday its intention to acquire a majority stake in the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno, with the transaction anticipated to be finalized in the first quarter of 2027.
This acquisition is subject to the approval of Major League Baseball and its governing body.
As reported by ESPN, the Angels are being sold for $4 billion, surpassing the previous MLB record of $3.9 billion established with the sale of the San Diego Padres earlier this year. Arte Moreno originally purchased the Angels for $183.5 million in 2003.
Kroenke Sports + Entertainment, led by Stan Kroenke, also owns several professional sports teams, including the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and MLS’s Colorado Rapids, in addition to Arsenal of the English Premier League.
The organization, headquartered in Denver, has also invested in a professional lacrosse team in Colorado and Arsenal’s women’s team. Kroenke has developed a substantial 300-acre site in Inglewood, California, which houses SoFi Stadium, the home ground for the Rams. The stadium, which opened in 2020 after an investment exceeding $5 billion, is set to host its second Super Bowl following the upcoming NFL season, along with the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
When Arte Moreno acquired the Angels in 2003, he made history as the first Mexican American to own a major sports franchise in the U.S. He took over the team a year after it had won the World Series under the ownership of the Walt Disney Company. Although the Angels reached the playoffs in five of the first seven seasons of Moreno’s ownership, they have only made one postseason appearance in the last 16 years and have not secured a playoff victory since then.
Mike Trout, who has been with the Angels since 2011, is a 12-time All-Star but has only participated in the playoffs once, when the team was eliminated in a best-of-five series by the Kansas City Royals in 2014. Trout played alongside Shohei Ohtani for six seasons, but the pair did not experience postseason success together.
From 2014 to 2023, Trout and Ohtani collectively earned five MVP Awards while playing for the Angels, yet the team failed to qualify for the playoffs during that period. Notably, Ohtani was named the American League Rookie of the Year in 2018, while Trout finished second in the MVP voting that same year.
“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke stated in a press release. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”
Frustrated fans have been vocal in their discontent, staging protests during games this season. Groups of young supporters have taken to the upper deck in the right field corner, removing their shorts and waving them overhead while calling on Moreno to “sell the team” among other chants.
Heading into Tuesday’s game, the Angels had a record of 53-85, marking their 11th consecutive losing season.
During the 2022 season, Moreno hinted at the possibility of selling the Angels but reversed that decision less than a year later.
“The Angels organization is pleased to announce this transaction with Kroenke Sports + Entertainment,” Moreno stated in Tuesday’s press release. “The Moreno family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years, and we believe that KSE’s experience and success make them the best fit for the franchise’s next chapter. The Angels organization remains committed to our fans, employees, players, and business partners.”
