Key facts
- $4 billion sale price, record for MLB, surpassing Padres’ $3.9 billion
- Kroenke Sports & Entertainment takes controlling interest; deal expected to close Q1 2027
- Moreno owned Angels since 2003, paid $180–$183.5 million; transaction requires MLB owner approval
- Angels 53-85 this season, on track for ninth to eleventh consecutive losing season
- Angels playoff drought stretches from 2014; no postseason wins since 2009, including during Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani’s tenure
- Kroenke also owns Rams (NFL), Nuggets (NBA), Avalanche (NHL), Rapids (MLS), and Arsenal (Premier League)
The sale and the principals
Stan Kroenke’s holding company, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, has agreed to acquire a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels from current owner Arte Moreno. The deal was announced on Tuesday and is valued at $4 billion, making it the most expensive franchise sale in Major League Baseball history, according to multiple sources. The previous record was the San Diego Padres’ sale for $3.9 billion earlier in 2026. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027 and requires approval from Major League Baseball and its ownership group.
Moreno, 80, has owned the Angels since 2003, when he purchased the franchise from the Walt Disney Company for between $180 million and $183.5 million. His acquisition made him the first Mexican-American owner of a major U.S. sports franchise. Kroenke, 79, is also the owner of the Los Angeles Rams (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Rapids (MLS), and Arsenal of the English Premier League. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is based in Denver.
The Angels’ on-field record and recent performance
At the time of the sale announcement, the Angels held a record of 53 wins and 85 losses, placing them fourth in the American League West. Sources indicate the team is on track for either its ninth or eleventh consecutive losing season, depending on how the current year is counted. The Angels have not made the postseason since 2014, when they lost to the Kansas City Royals in a best-of-five series. They have not won a playoff game or series since 2009, a drought that lasted through the peak career years of Mike Trout and overlapped with the first six seasons of Shohei Ohtani’s tenure with the club.
During Moreno’s ownership, the Angels had early success. The team made the postseason in five of the first six or seven years after Moreno took over, but performance deteriorated over subsequent decades. Dubious free-agent signings, including those of Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon, Justin Upton, and Gary Matthews Jr., were cited as some of the worst contracts in franchise history. Between 2014 and 2023, Trout and Ohtani combined to win five MVP Awards while wearing Angels uniforms without making a postseason appearance.
Organizational turnover and management changes
The Angels have undergone significant leadership instability under Moreno’s ownership. The team was on its seventh managerial hire since 2018 at the time of the sale announcement. The current interim general manager, John Mozeliak, is the sixth head of baseball operations under Moreno’s tenure. One of Kroenke’s first major decisions as the new owner will be whether to retain Mozeliak as the permanent general manager or conduct an external search.
Fan response and context
Disgruntled Angels fans have protested during games this season. According to The Guardian, groups of young fans in the upper deck right field corner have held demonstrations in which they remove their shorts and wave them while chanting for Moreno to sell the team, along with other nightly chants. Moreno briefly explored selling the Angels in 2022 but abandoned the plan less than a year later, before announcing the Kroenke sale in 2026.
Sources
Featured photo: Alek Leckszas via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)