The Los Angeles Angels are under new ownership after billionaire Walmart heir Stan Kroenke bought the team from Arte Moreno, adding another professional sports team to his extensive portfolio.
There's great faith that Kroenke will turn the Halos around, but also a notion that it begins with a new stadium for the Angels.
There was speculation of a potential new ballpark after a Forbes story made mention of the possibility. However, the reference to the possible new Angels stadium was later removed from the Forbes piece because "a spokesperson for Kroenke said the Angels were not ready to move forward on the project at this time, but might in the future," the outlet wrote.
The Halos' ownership change won't be official until some time next year, but
still that won't stop fresh ideas and big dreams coming to the fold of conversation.
"It’s great to see all the attention on Anaheim as the place for Angels baseball for years to come," Anaheim mayor Ashleigh Aitken told USA TODAY Sports in a statement. "We have read all the same reports but do not have any inside information. There is a lot of potential for the stadium site, but anything at this point is speculative."
Kroenke's ownership brings a newfound optimism in Anaheim because every team he owns becomes successful. He is the chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment which owns the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, Arsenal FC of the English Premier League and theColorado Rapids of MLS. He's won two Super Bowls, two Stanley Cups, an NBA championship and the Premier League, among other titles.
Success has been hard to come by in Anaheim, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2014. However, there's a strong sense of optimism and hope down in Orange County, and it's even trickled inside the Angels' dugout. Mike Trout, who's spent his entire career – 16 seasons – with the Angels, said he was "super excited for the change."
"Seeing the reaction from the fans and some of the guys and the whole vibe, I think it was needed for a fresh start," Trout said. "The biggest thing is getting that feeling of getting that winning culture back and having that vibe in the clubhouse."
Kroenke is no stranger to building stadiums. He led the financing and construction of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which is the home for both the Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL, and also has hosted a number of other major sporting events, including the 2026 World Cup.
Whether or not there's truth to speculation that Kroenke is building a new stadium in Anaheim, it would still be a long time before anything came to fruition.
"We need to let a proposed team sale play out," Aitken said. "We are also bound by a process under California law known as the Surplus Land Act. There are different ways to approach it, but we have been clear that we need to follow the law before any discussions around the future of Anaheim stadium take place."
The Angels' lease with their current Angel Stadium ballpark doesn't expire until 2032, and can be extended to 2038, so there's time.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Could the Angels build a new ballpark? 'There is a lot of potential'
