Angels owner Arte Moreno has agreed to sell his Major League Baseball team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) will acquire a controlling interest. The agreement was announced Tuesday via a joint news release, with executives expecting the deal to close in the first quarter of next year. This announcement arrives more than four years after a corruption scandal in Anaheim City Hall derailed a prior deal to sell Angel Stadium to Moreno and the ballclub.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment's holdings include the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Rapids professional sports teams, and Arsenal, a professional soccer team based in North London, England. The sale price of the Angels team was not disclosed. Angels spokeswoman Marie Garvey and KSE spokeswoman Joanna Hunter both referred inquiries regarding the price to the news release. Moreno expressed his family has been “honored to steward the Angels for 23 years,” while Kroenke stated the Angels are “a storied franchise anchored in a great market.”
The sale agreement comes as Anaheim residents continue to await information regarding the condition of the taxpayer-owned Angel Stadium, four years after the city's corruption scandal. Adding to the context, Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed the “Home Run for Anaheim Act.” This bill mandates the team use the “Anaheim Angels” name if an exemption is granted for a surplus land disposition involving Angel Stadium, contingent on a new lease or land sale agreement. State Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, who authored the bill, described the sale announcement as “a big day for OC’s largest city.”
State Senator Tom Umberg echoed these sentiments, stating the agreement “ushers in an exciting new era for the team, the city.” Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken also issued a statement after publication, calling the agreement “a new chapter for baseball in Anaheim.” Mayor Aitken indicated she is “encouraged by Stan Kroenke’s track record” and his commitment to investment. She stated her anticipation of working with the incoming ownership to advance “city’s priorities around housing, open space and youth sports.” Mayor Aitken confirmed via text message that the current stadium lease will remain in place once the deal is approved, adding that it is “premature to discuss any future development.”
