After 23 years, Arte Moreno is selling the Los Angeles Angels to Stan Kroenke for a reported ~$4 billion — a new record for an MLB franchise sale. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and the Angels announced the deal on Tuesday. It still needs MLB approval before closing in the first quarter of 2027.
Moreno, who became the first Latino majority owner in Major League Baseball history when he bought the club from The Walt Disney Company in 2003 for $180 million, is stepping away with the team sitting in last place in the American League and carrying the longest active playoff drought in all of baseball.
How Moreno Came In — and How He’s Leaving
When Moreno took over in 2003, it felt like a genuine turning point — for the franchise and for the sport. The early years backed it up: the Angels won five AL West division titles between 2004 and 2009 and were a legitimate contender.
What followed is a much harder story to tell. The Angels have now missed the postseason for 12 consecutive seasons, the longest active drought in the majors. In 2026, they’re 53-85, tied for the worst record in the American League. Fans who had been chanting «Sell the Team» inside the stadium received Tuesday’s news with widespread relief.
This isn’t Moreno’s first time near the exit. In 2022 he hired Galatioto Sports Partners to explore a sale, then walked it back without much explanation. This time, at 80 years old, he saw it through.
Who Is Stan Kroenke — and What Does This Mean for the Angels?
Kroenke, 79, is one of the most powerful figures in professional sports. Through Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, he already owns the NFL’s Rams, the NBA’s Nuggets, the NHL’s Avalanche, the MLS’s Rapids, and Arsenal in the English Premier League. CNBC valued his sports empire at more than $26 billion in June 2026.
Adding the Angels gives Kroenke a presence across every major American professional sport. It also deepens his footprint in the Los Angeles market specifically — he already operates SoFi Stadium and the Hollywood Park campus in Inglewood. This is as much a market move as it is a sports one.
The reported $4 billion tops the previous MLB record set earlier in 2026, when the San Diego Padres sold for $3.9 billion. For context, both Sportico and Forbes had valued the Angels at roughly $2.78–$2.8 billion before the announcement — meaning Kroenke paid a significant premium over any prior valuation. Neither party officially confirmed the price; the figure comes from The Athletic and a high-ranking MLB source cited by Yahoo Sports and the AP.
What’s Next for the Anaheim Club
The sale is pending MLB approval and is expected to close in early 2027. In the meantime, the Angels are playing out a season to forget. A 53-85 record isn’t just the worst in the AL — it’s the snapshot of a franchise that needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.
The Angels’ sale is part of an unusually active year for ownership changes in pro sports: the Padres, the Lakers, the Trail Blazers, and the Seahawks also changed hands in 2026, making it one of the most intense liquidity cycles American professional sports has seen in a long time.
Moreno leaves with two defining entries in the record books: he was the first to open that historic door as a Latino owner in the majors, and he oversaw one of the longest playoff droughts any franchise has carried in the modern era. Kroenke inherits all of it — the ballpark, the brand, the market, and the job of ending 12 years without an October.
