Stan Kroenke just bought the Angels for $4 billion, and Mike Trout couldn't hide his relief
Arte Moreno's 23-year run in Anaheim ends with a record-setting MLB sale to the Rams, Nuggets and Avalanche owner - and the team's best player said the change was long overdue.
In brief
Stan Kroenke just bought the Angels for $4 billion, and Mike Trout couldn't hide his relief
The announcement came Tuesday evening and landed at Angel Stadium like a walk-off. Arte Moreno has agreed to sell the Los Angeles Angels to Stan Kroenke, owner of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, Arsenal, and a growing list of teams that actually win things. The deal values the Angels at $4 billion - an MLB record, clearing the $3.9 billion that Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones paid for the San Diego Padres just weeks earlier. It ends Moreno's 23-year ownership run, a tenure that started with a World Series title in 2003 and eventually curdled into one of the sport's most stubborn losing stretches.
MLB.com confirmed the deal Tuesday, with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment releasing a formal statement. The transaction is expected to become official in the first quarter of 2027, pending Major League Baseball approval, ending Moreno's 23-year tenure - though Moreno will remain a minority owner with an undisclosed share. Kroenke is purchasing Moreno's majority but not the entire franchise, and there will still be other minority owners involved in the group.
The price tag alone rewrites the record books. Moreno bought the team for $184 million in 2003 and sold it for $4 billion in 2026 - a 14.5% compounded annual growth rate before considering any profits accrued during his ownership. That number also has implications beyond Anaheim. The average MLB team is now worth $4.04 billion, 37% more than CNBC's valuations from March. The New York Yankees top the list at a value of $12 billion.
What Kroenke brings
The man buying in is not a passive sports tourist. Kroenke, 79, also owns the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Colorado Rapids of MLS, and Arsenal of the Premier League through his holding company. The Rams won Super Bowl LVI and are considered the favorites to win the title again this season, the Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Finals, and the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2001 and 2022. Arsenal won the 2025-26 Premier League title. That's not a coincidence. That's a track record.
Fans outside Angel Stadium Tuesday night didn't wait for the close of escrow. Hours before first pitch against the Yankees, fans gathered to celebrate Arte's exit, like they'd just won a World Series. Since Moreno's tenure was marred by mediocrity and scandal, many fans in the Anaheim area are excited. That excitement extended to Anaheim city hall, with mayor Ashleigh Aitken speaking to Sam Blum of The Athletic: "I feel like it's my birthday," Aitken said. "As a diehard Angels fan my entire life, I am so optimistic about the future of Anaheim Angels baseball."
Trout finally exhales
Nobody's reaction mattered more than Mike Trout's. The three-time AL MVP has spent his entire career in Anaheim and has almost nothing to show for it in October. Only once during Trout's 16-year MLB career have the Angels made the playoffs - back in 2014, when they were swept by the Royals in the ALDS. The 2026 season, in which the Angels clinched a losing record before September arrived, will be no different. They currently hold a 53-85 record, tied for the worst mark in the AL.
Trout spoke to reporters, including the Los Angeles Times, on Tuesday and made no effort to temper his excitement. "What a track record," Trout said of Kroenke. "Wherever he buys, he wins." He kept going. "Obviously, when you're frustrated the last - I don't know how many years it's been, but to hear the news like this, I'm super excited to have this change," Trout said.
He was also asked, directly, whether Moreno's departure might make him reconsider his own future with the club. The answer was no. "No, it doesn't change," Trout said when asked whether Moreno's departure affected his own loyalty to the organization. "I got four years left on my deal." Trout is signed through 2030.
He put it plainly: "Seeing the reaction from the fans and some of the guys and the whole vibe, I think it was needed for a fresh start. The biggest thing is getting that feeling of getting that winning culture back and having that vibe in the clubhouse."
What comes next
There's one number from the Moreno years that hangs over everything. The stadium was awash in "sell the team" chants this year. The Angels had top-five attendance from 2004 to 2019; they haven't cracked the top 10 since. That erosion is what Kroenke inherits alongside the franchise itself.
He'll also inherit the Angel Stadium question. The relationship between Anaheim and the club has hit some speed bumps in recent years. The city owns Angel Stadium and the land surrounding it. No official word yet on whether Kroenke plans to renovate the existing park, pursue a new facility, or simply let the lawyers sort it out before the deal closes in early 2027.
Kroenke's arrival could have significant implications for Trout, with one ESPN insider suggesting the ownership change could make a future Trout trade more conceivable. Whether that conversation ever gets serious depends on how aggressively Kroenke moves to rebuild the roster. The sale is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2027.
Moreno bought the Angels for $184 million the year after they won their only World Series. Twenty-three years later, the franchise hasn't won a playoff series since. The deal won't officially close until early 2027, pending MLB approval, but the Moreno era is finished. For Angel Stadium regulars who have been chanting for exactly this outcome, Tuesday's news arrived about a decade late - and still felt like a relief.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
