Stan Kroenke is finally headed into Major League Baseball ownership, and the move only sharpens the contrast with the Rockies.
According to reports, the Nuggets and Avalanche owner has reached an agreement to buy the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno, with the deal expected to take effect in early 2027. Kroenke, whose full name is Enos Stanley Kroenke, was named after Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial, and now he’s about to add an MLB club to a portfolio that already stretches across the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLS.
For Rockies fans, that news lands with a thud. Penner Sports Group - led by Carrie Walton Penner and Greg Penner and tied, like Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, to the Walmart financial empire - bought a 40% stake in the Rockies in April.
But last month, Penner said there were no plans to extend that investment, leaving control of the franchise with the Monfort family. That was the part that bothered a lot of baseball fans, especially with longtime season-ticket holders reporting a 14% price hike for next season and the threat of a potentially nuclear work stoppage looming in early 2027.
The Rockies are already in a brutal spot on the field. They’re trying to avoid becoming the first MLB team since the 1965 Mets to string together four straight 100-loss seasons, all while sharing a division with the real Dodgers. Off the field, the club has built a reputation around real estate and alcohol sales, but not much else that would make Coors Field a happy place.
If KSE had somehow landed the Rockies instead, the fit would have been obvious. The games would help fill the dry summer programming stretch on Altitude TV and add fuel to the evening hours on Altitude Sports Radio. Nikola Jokic could be sitting in the owner’s box at Coors Field instead of watching Arsenal Football Club at the Champions League final across the pond.
Kroenke’s sports empire already runs deep. KSE owns the Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche and Rapids, and Arsenal gives the group a global reach that few sports brands can match. SoFi Stadium sits at the center of the Hollywood Park entertainment district in Inglewood, Calif., and KSE’s footprint keeps getting bigger.
Still, baseball may be the most interesting new test. Kroenke had reportedly been in the mix for the Dodgers before, and the Angels bring their own mess.
They’re on their sixth manager in eight years. Anthony Rendon has become the latest cautionary tale, landing a seven-year, $246-million deal after helping Washington win the 2019 World Series, then falling apart.
Rendon, now 36, has spent this season away from the club without formally retiring.
His agent is Scott Boras, the same agent who represents Kris Bryant.
Magic Johnson, a minority owner of the Dodgers, welcomed Kroenke to MLB ownership on X.com and thanked him for letting the NBA icon “rent their beautiful yacht named Aquila for 7 years!”
For now, the baseball bragging rights are Kroenke’s. And if this deal closes, the Angels will give him another team to manage - while Rockies fans are left wondering what it would look like if he’d bought theirs instead.
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