Stan Kroenke, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Rams, has agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno in a record-setting $4 billion deal — a transaction that ends Moreno's 23-year run as owner and brings one of American sports' most accomplished team owners into Major League Baseball for the first time.
Announced Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, the agreement gives Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Kroenke's Denver-based holding company, a controlling stake in the Angels and their regional sports network. Valued at roughly $4 billion, the sale is the richest in MLB history and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, pending approval from the league's other 29 owners.
For a franchise that has not reached the postseason since 2014 and now carries the longest active playoff drought in baseball, the deal closes a frustrating chapter — and, fans hope, opens a championship-minded one under one of the wealthiest owners in American sports.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Lands the Angels in a Record $4 Billion Deal
The transaction, confirmed Tuesday by both parties and first reported by The Athletic and ESPN, values the Angels and their regional sports network at $4 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. The New York Post and other outlets pegged the purchase price above $3.9 billion — still comfortably the most ever paid for a Major League Baseball franchise.
"The Angels Organization is pleased to announce this transaction with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment," Moreno said in a statement. "The Moreno Family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years and we believe with KSE's experience and success they are the best next owner for the franchise."
The deal adds a first MLB club to Kroenke's sprawling portfolio. Kroenke, 79, became the Rams' majority owner in 2010, moved the franchise back to Los Angeles in 2016, and opened the roughly $5 billion SoFi Stadium in Inglewood in 2020. His KSE umbrella also controls the Premier League's Arsenal, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, and MLS's Colorado Rapids — franchises that have combined for a Super Bowl championship, an NBA title, and a Stanley Cup since 2022. Forbes pegged Kroenke's net worth at roughly $24.3 billion as of Sept. 1.
Moreno, 80, bought the then-Anaheim Angels from the Walt Disney Company for $184 million in 2003, becoming MLB's first Latino majority owner. The reported $4 billion valuation represents a staggering return on that investment, a reflection of two decades of league-wide franchise appreciation rather than recent on-field success.
From the 2002 World Series to a $4 Billion Handoff
The arc of the Angels' last quarter-century runs through both owners now involved in the deal:
- 2002: The Angels win their first and still only World Series championship.
- 2003: Moreno buys the club from Disney for $184 million, becoming MLB's first Latino majority owner.
- 2010: Kroenke becomes majority owner of the Rams.
- 2014: The Angels make their most recent postseason appearance.
- 2016: Kroenke moves the Rams back to Los Angeles.
- 2020: SoFi Stadium opens in Inglewood.
- 2022–23: Moreno briefly explores selling the Angels before pulling them off the market.
- 2023: Shohei Ohtani departs the Angels for the crosstown Dodgers.
- Sept. 1, 2026: Kroenke's agreement to buy the Angels is announced.
- Q1 2027: The transaction is expected to close, pending MLB owners' approval.
Why the Angels Sale Reshapes Southern California Sports
Moreno's tenure opened with genuine promise. The franchise captured five division titles in the years immediately after his 2003 purchase, building on the 2002 championship roster and keeping the club in perennial contention through the late 2000s. But the last decade-plus has been defined by disappointment: the Angels have not reached the postseason since 2014, and with the Detroit Tigers qualifying this year, Anaheim now holds the longest active playoff drought in the sport.
The failures were compounded by the talent that slipped through. The club fielded two of baseball's biggest stars in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, yet made only a single postseason trip between them — and Ohtani left for the Dodgers after the 2023 season, immediately winning a World Series. Trout, a three-time MVP, has spent much of his prime on losing teams, a reality that made Tuesday's news land with unusual emotional weight in Anaheim.
Kroenke's track record is precisely what Moreno lacked in his later years. Since opening SoFi Stadium, KSE teams have won the Super Bowl (Rams, 2022), the Stanley Cup (Avalanche, 2022), and the NBA championship (Nuggets, 2023). Analysts and fans alike expect that infrastructure — deep-pocketed ownership, ambitious spending, and modern stadium development — to translate to the Angels, who have routinely been outspent by the crosstown Dodgers despite sharing the nation's second-largest media market.
Where Things Stand: Optimism at Angel Stadium
Inside the organization, the mood was unmistakably upbeat. The Los Angeles Times reported that Mike Trout "could not stop smiling" as optimism and goodwill filled Angel Stadium on the day the deal was announced. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian described the purchase as "a great day for the Angels," and the Times framed the moment bluntly: "A big day for Anaheim."
The transaction remains subject to approval by MLB's 29 other owners and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. Until then, Moreno remains in control of day-to-day operations, though the direction of the franchise has already shifted.
The Road Ahead for Kroenke and the Angels
Once the sale closes, the central questions become what Kroenke will do with a franchise that has underperformed for a decade. The likeliest changes involve a more aggressive approach to payroll, renewed investment in the minor-league pipeline, and eventually a resolution to the long-running conversation about the future of Angel Stadium, where the club has played since 1966.
For fans, the promise is simple: an owner who has repeatedly turned franchises into champions now has the keys to Anaheim. For the rest of baseball, the sale signals that even a struggling club in a major market can command a record price — and that Kroenke's empire is still growing.
The Bottom Line: Key Takeaways
- Stan Kroenke agreed to buy a controlling stake in the Angels from Arte Moreno in a record $4 billion deal.
- The transaction, announced Sept. 1, 2026, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, pending MLB owners' approval.
- The sale ends Moreno's 23-year tenure; he bought the club for $184 million in 2003 as MLB's first Latino majority owner.
- The Angels carry MLB's longest active playoff drought, having last reached the postseason in 2014.
- The Angels become the first MLB club in Kroenke's portfolio, joining the Rams, Arsenal, Nuggets, Avalanche, and Rapids.
