Stan Kroenke has been a winner everywhere including the Premier. League Now he can try to bring his magic to ownership of the Angels. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images For Premier League)
Getty Images For Premier League
ANAHEIM – The intended sale of the Padres was announced this past November and proceeded with tortoise-like transparency for months. It finally closed on Aug. 21 to Jose E. Feliciano and his wife Kawanza Jones for a record Major League Baseball valuation at the time of $3.9 billion.
The record didn’t last long. The Angels were tentatively sold Tuesday to sports empresario Stan Kroenke for a valuation of $4.5 billion, Forbes has learned. The deal is expected to close sometime early next year after going through MLB’s approval process.
In addition, Kroenke intends to build a new $2.5 billion ballpark to replace aging and decaying Angel Stadium, which opened in 1966 and has been refurbished at least twice. In San Diego, the new owners already have Petco Park, which debuted in 2004, has been constantly upgraded, and looks pristine.
Kroenke has had success everywhere, having won championships with teams he owns in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MSL, and the English Premier League while building SoFi Stadium and the complex around it to the north for a cool $5.5 billion.
The Kroenke sale happened with lightning speed and was kept a secret until the Los Angeles Times broke the story on Tuesday morning.
“Yeah, this was obviously news to me,” said interim general manager John Mozeliak during a hastily called media conference at the ballpark hours before the Angels lost to the Yankees, 7-3. “It was a surprise, but definitely not a shocker. It’s exciting news for everybody.”
Mozeliak, formerly the St. Louis Cardinals’ GM, replaced the fired Perry Minasian on June 27 and has been recasting the franchise both on and off the field. He said recent club president Molly Jolly told him about the ownership change from Arte Moreno to Kroenke on Tuesday.
“When I first came here I spoke to Arte and he said this was a possibility,” Mozeliak said. “I was just sitting there quietly in my office and Molly dropped a folder on my desk and said, ‘Your day is going to change.’”
It immediately changed for everyone in the vicinity.
Arte Moreno Has Been Under Constant Criticism
Fans and local columnists have been calling all season for Moreno to sell the team. Fans campaigned with signs and jeers at the ballpark and in June, Bill Plaschke wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Moreno had to sell.
It was noted the Angels were the defending World Series champs in 2003 when Moreno bought the team from Disney for $184 million and it’s been in a long and deadly decline ever since. The Angels haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, including a run from 2018 to 2023 when they had both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the roster. The duo won five American League MVPs between them. How’s that possible? In Trout’s 16 years with the team, the Angels have only made the playoffs that once and failed to win a game.
It’s been an abomination, Plaschke wrote:
“You made Shohei Ohtani disappear, you made Mike Trout anonymous, you made bright hopes vanish by betting on broken former stars like Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton and Vernon Wells and Anthony Rendon. Now it’s time for you to go.”
Even Trout, who took $246.5 million of Moreno’s money over 12 years in a contract that runs through 2030, said Tuesday he’s ready for a “fresh start.”
“We’re super excited. They guys are excited,” Trout said. “There’s a vibe in the clubhouse, a vibe around the stadium. We’re all excited.”
Stan Kroenke Brings Instant Credibility To The Angels
No wonder there’s excitement. Kroenke personally is worth $24.3 billion according to Forbes, putting him right up there with the Mets’ Steve Cohen at $23 bullion as the richest owner in MLB. And he’s willing to spend the money to win, which is all fans want.
From Denver to Los Angeles to Anaheim to London, Kroenke’s sports holdings are worth a combined $30 billion, a little less than double the holdings of Harris Blitzer at $18 billion.
“Well, I hope this leads to a lot of success,” Mozeliak said. “I didn’t come out to change something and not to make it better, right? Obviously when you look at the Angels they haven’t gotten where they need to go. And we’re working on that foundation now. From a fan’s standpoint we’ve been preaching change all along. Now we’re going to see even more.”
The Rams, the Avalanche, the Nuggets and the Rapids all won their individual league titles. Arsenal, this season, broke a 22-year drought and won the Premier League. Where Kroenke goes, winning follows, which augurs well for the Angels, who’ve only gone to the World Series that one time in their 66-year history, coming from behind to defeat the Giants in a seven-game, 2002 World Series.
“Look at his track record,” Trout said. “It’s all there. So, I‘m super excited to meet him, get to know him a little bit, and see where it goes.”
But in one area, Trout said he’ll draw the line. A native of the Philadelphia area and a big Eagles fan, Trout was asked if he’d wear a Rams cap.
“I will not,” he said.
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