Stan Kroenke has agreed to buy a controlling stake in the Los Angeles Angels from the Moreno family, a person with knowledge of the deal told the Los Angeles Times, at an MLB-record $4 billion valuation. [1] CNBC reported that the figure covers the club and its regional sports network. [2] The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, pending league approval. [1] [3] Arte Moreno will remain a minority owner with an undisclosed share. [3]
Monday this paper wrote that the Indianapolis Colts were weighing a slice of private-equity capital because coaching and facilities spending now sit outside the salary cap. Tuesday's Angels file is the other end of that race. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment already owns the Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, the Colorado Rapids, and Arsenal. [1] [2] CNBC valued the empire at more than $26 billion in June. [2] Adding baseball gives the holding company a year-round Southern California calendar and, in CNBC's phrase, ownership in every major professional sport. [2] A family club in Indianapolis looks at that table and sees the buy-in it cannot meet from local receipts.
Moreno, 80, was MLB's first Latino owner. [1] He bought the Angels in 2003, after the franchise's only World Series title. The first decade brought five American League West titles and two ALCS appearances. [1] The second did not. The club has not had a winning record since 2015. [3] It is 53-85, tied for the worst mark in the American League. [3] Fans have spent the summer chanting "sell the team." [1] Lifelong fan Johnny Gonzalez told the Times in June, after organizing a protest, that the club showed "a lack of commitment, to say the least." [1] The Times called it baseball's longest playoff drought, eleven seasons. [1] The previous MLB sale record was the Padres at $3.9 billion last month. [1] Forbes had the Angels at $2.8 billion in March. [1]
"The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market," Kroenke said. "We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization." [1] [2] [3] Moreno said the family had been "honored to steward the Angels for 23 years" and that KSE's "experience and success" made it "the best next owner." [1] [3] Mike Trout, still under contract, told MLB.com he had a "great relationship" with Moreno and was "super excited" about Kroenke's "track record of success and winning championships." [3] Interim general manager John Mozeliak said the news was a surprise that was not a shocker. [3] "Change is what I came in to try to start doing." [3] That is the fresh-start copy. It is also the fan-X copy: Moreno gone, Trout rescued.
Kroenke's other clubs have the trophies the Angels have not. The Rams won Super Bowl LVI on their own field. The Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Finals. The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022. Arsenal won the 2025-26 Premier League. [3] CNBC notes he spent more than $5 billion on SoFi Stadium. [2] MLB.com also lists the National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth in the same holding company. [3] Championships are what the Times and Trout sell as the point of the sale. Cross-league capital is what the Colts file named as the point of the league.
The deeper purchase is land and a lease. Companies tied to Kroenke built SoFi Stadium and the 300-acre Hollywood Park district in Inglewood. [1] [2] Angel Stadium's lease runs through December 31, 2032, with extensions that could hold the club through 2038. [3] Recent attempts to renovate or develop around the park stalled under Moreno, including a collapsed land deal in 2022. [3] The Rams played at Angel Stadium from 1980 to 1994. [3] A buyer who finances stadiums off the player cap, and who already owns the Rams across town, is not buying a drought. He is buying a market, a network, and a building that does not count against anyone's competitive-balance story. The Colts were told the cap still equalizes the sport. The Angels just sold at a record to a man whose other leagues do not pretend that it does.
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos