Angels owner Arte Moreno has agreed to sell his Major League Baseball team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke more than four years after a corruption scandal rocked Anaheim City Hall and imploded a deal to sell Angel Stadium to Moreno and the ballclub.

In a joint Tuesday news release, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced that they reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the baseball team from Moreno with executives expecting the deal to close in the first quarter of next year. 

“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market. We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization,” Kroenke said in the Tuesday release

His company Kroenke Sports & Entertainment also owns the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Rapids professional sports teams as well as Arsenal – a professional soccer team based in North London, England. 

Marie Garvey, a spokeswoman for the Angels, and Joanna Hunter, a spokeswoman for Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, both wouldn’t speak to the sale price of the team, each pointing a reporter to the news release.

Moreno, who has faced criticism from Angels fans for years, applauded the sale.

“The Moreno Family has been honored to steward the Angels for 23 years and we believe with KSE’s experience and success they are the best next owner for the franchise,” he said in the news release. “The Angels Organization looks forward to continuing its commitment to the fans, our employees, the players and our business partners.”

Tuesday’s announcement comes as Anaheim residents are still waiting to find out if Angel Stadium is trashed four years after elected officials ventured to find out the condition of the taxpayer owned property in the wake of the corruption scandal.

It also comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill dubbed the “Home Run for Anaheim Act” that requires the team to use the Anaheim Angels’ name if they reach a new lease agreement or land sale deal if there is a surplus land act exemption.

“This bill would require, if an exemption is granted to the City of Anaheim for the disposition of surplus land involving the sale or lease of Angel Stadium to the Los Angeles Angels, that any materials refer to that team as the Anaheim Angels. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature not to apply this requirement if the City of Anaheim is able to come to an agreement with the Major League Baseball team known as the Los Angeles Angels about their affiliation,” reads the new law.

Naming the team after the city they play in has been a point of contention historically during negotiations between Anaheim officials and Moreno.

State Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, who authored the bill, said the sale announcement marks a big day for OC’s largest city and a new chapter for the Angels. 

“New ownership means new possibilities, and Anaheim is ready for them,” he said in a Tuesday statement. “Let’s build a partnership rooted in pride of place, a team that reflects the city it calls home, and the return of the Anaheim Angels. Anaheim is ready to work together, and Anaheim is ready to win!”

State Senator Tom Umberg, who previously called for an audit on the Angel Stadium lease with Valencia after the city’s own corruption probe into city hall, echoed the assemblyman’s remarks in a statement also posted on social media.

“A great day for Angels fans and Anaheim. This agreement ushers in an exciting new era for the team, the city and the generations of fans who call Anaheim home. Looking forward to what’s ahead,” reads a Tuesday statement from the state senator. 

Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken and city spokesman Mike Lyster did not immediately respond to questions on the sale Tuesday or what it will mean for future negotiations regarding Angel Stadium. 

In a statement after publication, Aitken called it a “new chapter for baseball in Anaheim.”

Read more here: Voice of OC