The immediate reaction is understandable.
Stan Kroenke is adding another professional sports franchise to an empire that already includes the Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and Arsenal.
Now, with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment agreeing to acquire a controlling interest in the Angels, it is fair to wonder what adding a Major League Baseball team to the portfolio might mean for the Rams.
After all, he spent a pretty penny to do it. The purchase of the Angels was the largest in professional baseball history.
The short answer?
Probably very little.
If anything, Kroenke’s history suggests the Angels will simply become another independently operated piece of a sports empire specifically designed to handle multiple franchises at the same time.
The Nuggets and Avalanche are Exhibit A.
Kroenke became owner of the Nuggets and Avalanche in 2000, and both organizations have flourished under the KSE umbrella. The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and the Nuggets won their first NBA championship in 2023. Those championships came immediately after the Rams won Super Bowl LVI following the 2021 season.
In other words, there is already ample evidence that success with one Kroenke franchise doesn’t have to come at the expense of another.
Nor has Kroenke shown any inclination to operate his teams with one financial pie that must be divided among them.
Quite the opposite.
His philosophy has been to establish individual organizations with strong leadership structures, provide them the resources necessary to compete and empower the people running them to make decisions.
That has certainly been the case with the Rams.
Kroenke has backed president Kevin Demoff, COO Tony Pastoors, general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay through aggressive trades, expensive contracts and the financial consequences that accompany them. Snead has specifically credited Kroenke’s support and willingness to take risks as essential to the Rams’ success through big trades, the draft and free agency.
And nothing illustrates Kroenke’s willingness to spend on the Rams and the NFL more dramatically than SoFi Stadium and the surrounding Hollywood Park development in Inglewood. The privately financed stadium project cost more than $5 billion and sits at the center of an approximately 300-acre development.
Against that backdrop, the idea that purchasing the Angels will suddenly cause Kroenke to pinch pennies with the Rams seems difficult to support.
This isn’t an owner stretching himself to buy a second team.
It is the latest acquisition by one of the largest sports operations in the world. KSE’s sports empire was valued at $26.05 billion as of July, and his portfolio extends well beyond sports into massive real-estate holdings.
The more interesting question might be what Kroenke’s arrival means for the Angels.
Kroenke impact on Angels
The franchise hasn’t reached the postseason since 2014 and is headed toward an 11th consecutive losing season. It also plays in a 60-year-old stadium, presenting Kroenke with the sort of organizational and infrastructure challenge that could require significant attention and investment.
But that doesn’t mean those resources will be siphoned away from the Rams.
The Nuggets didn’t prevent Kroenke from funding the Avalanche. The Avalanche didn’t prevent him from building SoFi Stadium. The Rams didn’t prevent him from investing in Arsenal.
And none of them prevented him from buying the Angels.
That’s the whole point of the empire Kroenke has built.
The Angels aren’t replacing the Rams as a priority.
They’re simply becoming another part of it.
