Nathan MooreIt has finally happened. The day Angels fans and Orange County residents have awaited for years has come; Arte Moreno has sold the Angels.
The County Project, an Orange County-based group devoted to reinstating county pride, hosted a “sellabration” tailgate for the final home game of the 2026 season on Sept. 20th, 2026. While Angel Stadium was relatively full, for an Angels game at least, the tailgate appeared to be sparse compared to past events, such as the Opening Day and Little League Day tailgates. People appeared to be trickling in and out of the “Big A” area, rather than pitching tents and grilling in traditional tailgate fashion. Fans have not been showing up out of spite for the Moreno ownership, showing that until the team wins or claims Anaheim as their namesake, they do not care.
“[We want to] create a space where we can celebrate our pride for OC and the places we love that make our home unique. We hope to see the name change back to something to better reflect OC, similar to the Ducks or OCSC in Irvine,” The County Project founder Kevin Hobby explained. City pride and recognition have been hard to come by for Angels fans and Anaheim residents. The city that the team physically plays in has been turned into a joke and an afterthought once Moreno renamed the team to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, claiming putting the city of Los Angeles in the front would make the Angels a big market team, which has amounted to very little success. The Angels ultimately lost the game on Sept. 20th by a score of 8-0 in weak fashion to the Minnesota Twins, a game that perfectly encapsulates the Arte Moreno era of Angels baseball.
The lack of attendance has been a common narrative surrounding the Angels in past seasons. While ESPN reports the average Angels Stadium attendance is 32,492, I have never seen nearly that many people there, not even for giveaways. The blame has always deservedly fallen onto Angels owner Arte Moreno, with a majority of fans stating they would not support the team until Moreno sold the team. This year, Major League Baseball saw a trend in the “tarps off” movement, where fans would gather in a section, take their shirts off and begin to chant. The Angels were among the teams whose fans participated in the movement, with the most popular chants being “sell the team” and “Arte sucks,” a blunt statement of fans’ emotions. I am not even an Angels fan, but I despise Moreno enough to take my shirt off and chant in front of thousands of people along with the fans. Moreno was bad enough of an owner to unite fans of different teams to ridicule him.
Contrary to popular belief, the Angels have not always been a joke. The Angels have a storied history, including some of the greatest players to ever pick up a baseball. However, the great legacy abruptly came to an end at the hands of one man, Arte Moreno. In 2003, Moreno purchased the Anaheim Angels from the Walt Disney Company for $180 million. Fresh off a World Series win, the fans of Anaheim maintained their optimism. That optimism and satisfaction lasted for about a decade of Moreno’s ownership; the years after began the Angels we know today. Under Moreno, the Angels have only made the playoffs 6 times out of Moreno’s 24 seasons of ownership. The Angels have not made a playoff appearance since 2014 and have not won a playoff game since 2009, before superstar Mike Trout was officially part of the organization.
A more recent and prominent mistake Moreno made was claiming fans do not prioritize competing and winning but rather “safety and affordability.” This sparked outrage among fans, ultimately creating a joke of saying that while they lost, the game was safe and affordable. This Moreno quote sparked intense outrage among not only Angels fans, but all MLB fans alike, giving them the final ammunition to declare Moreno an incompetent owner.
Moreno recently sold the majority share of the Angels to Stan Kroenke, a man with plenty of recent sports success. Kroenke owns the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, Denver Nuggets of the NBA, Colorado Rapids of the MLS, and Arsenal FC of the English Premier League. Kroenke’s teams have won a collective 16 titles under his ownership, providing a new beacon of hope to Angels fans. Moreno sold the Angels for a whopping $4 billion, over 22 times the value he originally bought the team for.
The sale was certainly something that needed to be done. Moreno was one of the most incompetent owners in sports. The Angels wasted Mike Trout’s hall-of-fame-level talents, Shohei Ohtani’s early career, Albert Pujols, and countless other great players under Moreno’s tenure. Moreno had the opportunity to re-sign Ohtani and prevent him from going to the Dodgers but decided not to, despite certainly having the funds. Moreno’s heart has not seemed to be with the team for some time and, to me, appeared to only hold on to the Angels to get more money. Moreno’s neglect of the city of Anaheim created desperation among citizens and legislators, eventually passing the Home Run for Anaheim Act, forcing ownership to change the namesake if any Angels Stadium renovations are taxpayer-funded.
In an age of polarizing sports ownership, the Angels just made a huge leap in quality of ownership. Fandom should never reach desperation to the point of getting legislation passed. Arte Moreno was truly a one-of-a-kind owner, but just for bad reasons. Pat yourselves on the back, Angels fans; you are finally free.
