Stan Kroenke, the billionaire owner of Arsenal and the Los Angeles Rams, has agreed to acquire a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels, adding a Major League Baseball franchise to his expanding sports empire.
The deal with the Moreno family is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary conditions and approval by Major League Baseball. Arte Moreno, who bought the Angels in 2003, will retain an undisclosed minority stake.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment said the acquisition would extend its presence across southern California. The group already owns the Rams and developed SoFi Stadium and the surrounding Hollywood Park district in Inglewood, while Kroenke’s wider portfolio includes the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Mammoth and Arsenal Football Club.
“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke said in a statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organisation.”
For Kroenke, the purchase marks his entry into Major League Baseball and gives him control of five major professional sports teams, including Arsenal, who won the 2025-26 Premier League title.
The Angels have endured a prolonged decline despite the presence of two of baseball’s biggest stars, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. The club has not posted a winning record since 2015 and had a 53-85 record at the time of the announcement, among the worst in the American League.
Trout, who has spent his entire major-league career with the Angels, welcomed the change in ownership.
“Kroenke’s got a track record of success and winning championships with his teams,” he said. “I’m super excited about it and can’t wait to meet him.”
The transaction also places renewed attention on the future of Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Earlier plans to redevelop the site stalled during Moreno’s ownership, including a land agreement that collapsed in 2022.
The stadium’s current lease runs until December 31, 2032, with two further extensions available that could keep the Angels in Anaheim until 2038. Kroenke has not said whether the team will remain there, build a new ballpark or alter its Los Angeles branding.
Stan Kroenke’s land empire
The Angels agreement comes as Kroenke holds another distinction: he is ranked as America’s largest private landowner, with about 2.7 million acres, according to the 2025 Land Report.
His position at the top of the ranking followed the purchase of 937,000 acres of ranchland in December from the Singleton family, whose interests include Teledyne Technologies. The acquisition was reported to be the largest US land purchase in more than a decade.
Kroenke rose from fourth place to overtake fellow billionaires John Malone and Ted Turner. The Emmerson family, which runs Sierra Pacific Industries, is ranked second among family landowners with an estimated 2.4 million acres.
His property interests are closely linked to his early business career. Kroenke made his first fortune developing shopping centres, many of them anchored by Walmart, before building a wider real-estate and sports portfolio. He has been married since 1974 to Ann Walton Kroenke, an heir to the Walmart fortune.
The expansion of large-scale private ownership has coincided with growing interest in farmland, ranchland and timberland as long-term investments. US farmland averaged about $4,350 an acre in 2025, according to Department of Agriculture figures, while nearly 40 per cent of farmland is owned by landlords who lease it to farmers and operators.
Advocates for younger farmers have warned that the trend can make it harder for those working the land to buy it. Erin Foster West of the National Young Farmers Coalition said deep-pocketed investors could leave new and established farmers struggling to compete when trying to acquire or expand a holding.
For the Angels, however, the immediate focus will be on the ownership transition and the club’s sporting and stadium future. Moreno said the family believed Kroenke Sports & Entertainment was “the best next owner” for the franchise after 23 years in charge.
