It will mark the ninth Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area across three venues: the Coliseum (two), Rose Bowl (five) and SoFi (two). But in some ways, all those previous games were a drumroll leading up to this one — Super Bowl LXI, in a futuristic $5-billion stadium, absent the lingering restrictions of a pandemic.
“Super Bowl LVI was an amazing experience, but it was still on that tail end of COVID, and it was not everything that this Super Bowl LXI could be,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events.
“We didn’t do a Super Bowl Opening Night — it was virtual — and there were a lot of things we were still adjusting. … It was absolutely spectacular during the weekend and on game day, but I do think this Super Bowl gives us all the chance to do it full-on, in the way an L.A. Super Bowl can and should be.”
In the weeks leading up to the first Super Bowl at SoFi, there were misguided rumblings that the game might be moved to Dallas, because the NFL had secured that city as a backup. But those type of contingency plans are in place for every Super Bowl, and the game was not in serious peril of being moved. Still, there was a cloud of public doubt lingering over the event.
“Those rumors created a lot of havoc and uncertainty in our market,” said Kathy Schloessman, chief executive of the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee for both games. “It was hard to get the excitement going because people didn’t know if the city was open or closed. I almost hate to say it because I don’t want to jinx anything, but this is our first normal Super Bowl planning.”
Super Bowls can take over a city. Look at the games played in New Orleans, Indianapolis or Houston. Seemingly every resident was aware the game was happening. But in some of the bigger cities — New York, Los Angeles, Miami — there aren’t reminders everywhere you turn.
Something that might offset that this season is ESPN is broadcasting the game for the first time, and has been hyping it ever since the most recent Super Bowl ended.
“It’s a year of the Super Bowl for them that ends in Los Angeles,” O’Reilly said. “That feels natural and poetic. I can’t say enough good things about the way they’ve embraced it.”
South side view of the field at SoFi Stadium.
(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)
Disney is the parent company of ESPN, and likewise has embraced the game, which feels like a true confluence of the sports and entertainment industries.
“When I think about L.A. and brands coming together — Disney, SoFi Stadium, the Rams — I think it takes advantage of what the NFL had always hoped when bringing a Los Angeles team back,” Rams president Kevin Demoff said. “SoFi Stadium is that marriage of the NFL and entertainment.”
Whether they play in the game or not, the Rams are intimately connected to this Super Bowl, as they are the host team. That means they have a degree of financial responsibility to make good on the commitments made to the NFL when Los Angeles was awarded the game. They also are allotted more tickets to the game than the other franchises not hosting (or playing in) the event.
Although the Chargers were co-hosts for the first Super Bowl at SoFi, they opted not to host this one. According to a Chargers spokesman, they chose to cede the stage to Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose vision they credit for the stadium and Hollywood Park development, but will make a “significant seven-figure financial commitment” to the host committee in the run-up to the game.
Part of Kroenke’s vision in moving the Rams and building the stadium and surrounding campus was to shift the center of gravity of the sporting world to Los Angeles. It’s worth noting that SoFi was a central location of the World Cup — the first U.S. goal was scored there — and will play host to swimming events in the 2028 Olympic Games.
“[SoFi] is now established as one of the world’s greatest sporting stages, which the Super Bowl helped put on the map the first time,” Demoff said. “But now it’s in the middle of this global run.”
It isn’t just the Super Bowl. SoFi will also play host to the NFL’s first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game — Rams versus Green Bay Packers — on Netflix.
“If you’re looking at the arc — not as a Super Bowl but how the NFL wanted to come back to Los Angeles — you have Disney, a longstanding, old-school entertainment partner,” Demoff said. “And then you have this element of streaming and new media and where the NFL is heading. It’s a really interesting juxtaposition.”
After a series of head-turning trades, signings and one legendary player’s return from retirement, the Rams and 10th-year coach Sean McVay are well beyond all-in.
On paper, the star-studded offense is seemingly invincible, the reconstructed defense inarguably impenetrable.
“It gets down to: how do we come together as a team,” McVay said. “But it’s hard to say top to bottom that the collection of individuals is not very special.”
The Rams are an overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
It’s Super Bowl or bust. Again.
McVay said at the outset of training camp that the season would not be considered a success or a failure by whether the Rams win the Super Bowl.
Tell that to Rams fans.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford is the reigning NFL most valuable player — and shows no sign of slippage as he enters his 18th NFL season.
Receiver Puka Nacua led the league in receptions last season, and future Hall of Famer Davante Adams led the league in touchdown catches.
After their secondary was exposed in an NFC championship game defeat by the Seattle Seahawks, the Rams traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie. They signed cornerback Jaylen Watson, McDuffie’s former Kansas City Chiefs teammate. And then general manager Les Snead pulled off another stunning deal for defensive end Myles Garrett, a two-time NFL defensive player of the year.
And that was before Aaron Donald, a three-time defensive player of the year, ended a two-year retirement to join a team about to embark on a boom-or-bust season.
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Defensive lineman Aaron Donald has come out of retirement to join the Rams’ Super Bowl title push.
“You know all these other teams probably hate us,” Rams safety Quentin Lake said, chuckling. “They think we’re like the new Dodgers or something like that.”
Defensive line coach Giff Smith described the acquisition of Garrett, who amassed an NFL-season record 23 sacks last season, as “a grand slam.”
So what could possibly go wrong?
Nacua and left tackle Alaric Jackson are under investigation by the NFL regarding separate off-the-field incidents. If the league determines they violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy, they could be suspended.
The offensive line is experienced but short on quality depth at tackle. If Jackson is injured or suspended, Stafford is at more risk of injury.
Garrett sat out most of training camp and preseason practices because of a knee issue. Donald has not played a snap in two years.
Kicker Harrison Mevis came on last season and solidified a suspect field-goal unit, but it remains to be seen whether new coordinator Bubba Ventrone turns special teams from a liability into a strength.
Regardless, the Rams are built to win another title on their home turf.
“It’s special to be part of a team that can truly go all-in and bring in some new firepower to help us be able to reach the goals that we have in store for ourselves,” defensive lineman Kobie Turner said.
The Rams open the season this week against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. The 49ers traveled there last week. The Rams are scheduled to depart Tuesday evening, arrive Thursday morning and play on Friday.
Unlike after other previous international trips, there will be no off week before the Rams play their home opener against the New York Giants. Then it’s consecutive road games against the Denver Broncos and the Philadelphia Eagles before a home game against the Buffalo Bills.
Rams defensive end Myles Garrett smiles during training camp in July.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Rams then host the Arizona Cardinals before playing three of the next four games on the road at Las Vegas, Washington and Arizona.
It doesn’t get easier after a shortened bye week. The Rams play the Green Bay Packers the night before Thanksgiving. Then it’s a home game against the Chiefs, a trip to Santa Clara to play the 49ers, and a home game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Rams play the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks twice in the final three weeks, with a game at Tampa Bay sandwiched in between.
After all the buildup, the Rams are ready to embark on their quest.
They plan to finish it by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at SoFi Stadium.
“It’s our time,” Turner said, “to go and make those dreams a reality.”
The first edition of the remade “60 Minutes” under CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss debuts Sept. 13 with a reliable formula from the venerable newsmagazine’s playbook.
Correspondent Jon Wertheim will lead off the 59th season with an in-depth look at the Los Angeles Rams, the favorite of oddsmakers to win the Super Bowl this season. Wertheim sits down with Rams general manager Les Snead, head coach Sean McVay and veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. The segment will also explore team owner Stan Kroenke’s investment in technology, including artificial intelligence, to help the team gain an edge on the field.
Jon Wertheim interviews Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.
(CBS News)
“60 Minutes” has often turned to sports-related segments when a season premiere follows a late afternoon NFL game. Last year, Wertheim profiled Ultimate Fighting Championship Chief Executive Dana White for the 58th season premiere. The program scored more than 10 million viewers and was the most-watched non-sports program of the week. In 2023, Wertheim interviewed University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders for the 56th season opener.
CBS News will be under pressure to have “60 Minutes” get off to a strong start in the ratings following the major upheaval at the program earlier this year.
After the completion of a successful season where ratings were up 9% over the previous year, Weiss fired “60 Minutes” correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega — both of whom complained that the executive pushed them to add right-wing talking points to their stories. Weiss also dismissed “60 Minutes” executive producer Tanya Simon and replaced her with screenwriter and documentary filmmaker Nick Bilton, who has no previous experience in TV news.
In response to the firings, longtime correspondent Scott Pelley accused Weiss of “murdering” the program and claimed she was putting “her thumb on the scale” for more favorable coverage of President Trump’s administration. Pelley was shown the door with cause after confronting management at a June 1 meeting. CBS denied the claims.
The discord meant the program spent much of the summer hiring replacement correspondents, including Ross Douthat, a conservative New York Times opinion writer with no experience as a TV journalist.
Weiss, founder of the heterodox digital news site the Free Press, was hired by Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison with a mandate to pull the news division to the political center. The stated goal has put every move by Weiss under heavy scrutiny, as many critics have suggested she is at the network to placate the Trump White House while Paramount pursues its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Other new “60 Minutes” contributors include author and journalist Sebastian Junger, former CNN and Vice News correspondent Gianna Toboni, and Trevor Phillips, a British journalist who joined CBS News earlier this year as a senior global affairs correspondent. They will join correspondents Wertheim, Norah O’Donnell, Bill Whitaker and Lesley Stahl.
The program will also feature stories with CBS News correspondents outside of the core group at “60 Minutes,” such as Seth Doane and Matt Gutman.
The other two segments on the “60 Minutes” premiere, — which could include a significant newsmaker interview, — will be announced sometime next week.
This year’s premiere should get a strong boost, as most of the country will get CBS coverage of a late afternoon match-up between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings, two contenders in the highly competitive NFC North. The network’s pregame show “The NFL Today” is traveling to Green Bay for the telecast.
The San Francisco 49ers already are on the ground in Melbourne, Australia.
Both teams are preparing for their Sept. 10 opener at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Rams will depart late Tuesday night, arrive in Melbourne about 16 hours later on Thursday and play Friday (5:30 p.m. PDT Thursday).
Rams coach Sean McVay is aware that if his Super Bowl-favorite team plays well and wins, his travel strategy will be hailed as smart. If the Rams lose, it could be ridiculed.
McVay said Friday that the postgame review will be “circumstantial based on what happens,” and that the Rams make decisions based on what they feel is in the best interest of the players.
“I understand the narratives,” McVay said, adding, “That’s just part of the nature, but what you have to do is be able to separate the actual result for what is actually sound in terms of your process.
“I’m comfortable with that. That’s the world that we live in. … That’s kind of the price of doing business.”
The Rams employed a similar travel strategy last season, when they remained in Baltimore after playing the Ravens, and then traveled to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Rams arrived the day before the game, and then routed the Jaguars.
The flight to Australia is much longer, but McVay said that “staying in our rhythm and routine” was deemed best by a collective that includes Reggie Scott, the Rams’ senior vice-president for sports medicine and performance.
“The thinking in its simplest form is what do we deem the best for our football players and for them to try and be at their best,” McVay said. “There’s different approaches and theories, but I do have a lot of trust in our group and we’ll see. Hopefully, it works out.”
This will be the first NFL game in Australia, a potential boon for a league eager to expand its global footprint.
“What we try to do is focus on the things we can control,” McVay said, “and then just really abide by clear parameters that guys can follow so that it’s seamless and then they feel as fresh as possible.
“Easier said than done. But when you have the right people, it’s served us well over the years.”
Aaron Donald’s status undecided
Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald walks on the practice field on Aug. 30.
(Greg Beacham / Associated Press)
Aaron Donald rejoined the Rams last week, but the three-time NFL defensive player of the year, who retired in 2023, has yet to go through a full 11-on-11 practice.
Can he play against the 49ers?
“Don’t have that sense quite yet,” McVay said, adding, “This week will be a big week for him in terms of how he feels, and then we’ll just kind of take it a day at a time and see where he’s at.
“If he feels good enough to go — great. If not, I’ve got a lot of confidence in the other guys that will be ready to step up if that’s the case.”
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Future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Aaron Donald officially came out of retirement Sunday to rejoin the Rams for their Super Bowl title push.
Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford and Tyler Davis are among the interior linemen who have taken reps since training camp began in July.
Last Sunday, after agreeing to terms with the Rams, Donald said he did not want to be given anything — he wanted to earn his role.
“Ain’t rushing,” he said of his timeline, adding, “Just continue to stack them days and see where we at.”
Donald, 35, is playing on a one-year contract that includes $10 million in base salary, and per-game roster bonuses that could total $10 million, according to Overthecap.com. The deal also includes incentives that could make it worth $30 million.
With four void years added, the salary-cap hit for this season is $5.8 million and $17.9 million next season, according to the website.
Defensive end Myles Garrett, who has been sidelined for a few weeks because of a knee issue, and receiver Puka Nacua (groin) are “making really good progress,” McVay said.
On the Rams’ depth chart, Stetson Bennett is listed as quarterback Matthew Stafford’s backup with rookie Ty Simpson third.
“I look at it as a 2a, 2b,” McVay said. “We’ll see how we approach the game.”
The deal marks the end of Arte Moreno’s turbulent ownership of the Angels, with the news triggering shock followed by celebration among beleaguered fans whose team owns baseball’s longest playoff drought.
The transaction runs through Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Kroenke’s holding company, which also owns the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Colorado Rapids of MLS and Arsenal of the English Premier League.
The Angels are being sold for an MLB-record $4-billion valuation, a person with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times. The previous high was the $3.9-billion sale of the San Diego Padres that was completed last month.
Forbes had valued the Angels at $2.8 billion in March. The sale is “subject to customary closing conditions” and MLB approval, with the expectation it will close in the first quarter of next year, according to a news release announcing the deal.
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Light the Big A! Stan Kroenke just made Angels fans big winners
Angels fans hold up signs on Tuesday thanking Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, led by Stan Kroenke, for buying the majority share of the Angels from Art Moreno.
This is huge. This is landscape altering. This is like Southern California just added an expansion team led by one of the best owners in sports.
For the Angels, currently the second-worst team in baseball and on track to finish a league-worst 12th consecutive season out of the playoffs, this is downright life changing.
Angels exuberant about Stan Kroenke buying the franchise
Angels star Mike Trout, center, was excited to learn Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought the majoirty share of the Angels.
(Joe Scarnici / Getty Images)
From Bill Shaikin: Mike Trout was practically beaming. He dropped the phrase “fresh start” four times in an interview that barely lasted five minutes.
The burden of the Angels’ failures has been disproportionately his to bear. He has insisted that his path to Cooperstown would run through Anaheim and only Anaheim. He has played 16 seasons for an owner that blessed him with half a billion dollars, treated his family like royalty and stranded him in position to conclude a star-spangled career without ever winning a postseason game.
Sluggish Dodgers open homestand with lopsided loss to Cardinals
Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker can’t reach a fifth-inning homer by Cardinals shortstop Thomas Saggese at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
From Maddie Lee: The Dodgers’ August woes followed them into the first day of September.
Roster expansion, returning three players from the injured list, the mental relief of turning the calendar page — none of that gave the Dodgers the boost they needed against the Cardinals on Tuesday.
Instead, the Dodgers lost 13-8 to a team that entered the day 4 ½ games out of the last National League wild-card spot.
“I just think tonight we just got behind the eight ball,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Ignore the out-of-town trolls. Los Angeles sports fans are the nation’s best
USC fans brace for the heat before kickoff of the Trojans’ game against San José State at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
From Bill Plaschke: The coach was mad. Sections of his home stadium were empty for a blowout win against an overmatched opponent, and he couldn’t understand why.
“I can honestly say I was a little disappointed there weren’t more students at the last game,” the coach said, adding, “There’s got to be a spirit that makes it special to play here, because that’s what makes it special to be here. And if that’s not here…”
Hmmm. Empty seats even at the royal palace of the king of college football, huh?
There has been much similar chatter this week after the sports landscape witnessed a virtual ghost town at the USC opener against San José State Saturday at the Coliseum. There was an announced crowd of 51,444 but only about half that many showed up, immersing a national television audience in a giant bowl of empty red that left outsiders in a rage.
They called the Los Angeles sports fans a disgrace. They said they weren’t real sports fans. They whined so loudly on social media that USC embarrassingly felt compelled to issue a statement promising better turnouts.
“We understand the factors that impacted Saturday’s attendance,” read the statement. “We have high expectations and a premier home schedule this season, and we know the competitive advantage an electric Coliseum atmosphere can provide our program. We thank our fans who showed up Saturday and look forward to seeing increased attendance the rest of the season.”
With all due respect, I would like to issue a second statement to all you arrogant dummies spouting lazy cliches about a market you don’t understand.
1901 — Seven-year-old Ogden wins two races in a single day at Sheepshead Bay race track in Coney Island, New York. Ogden edges Cameron by a head in the second race on the card, a six furlong sprint on the main track. In the sixth race, a 1 1-16 mile distance on the turf, Ogden beats Monarka by a length.
1908 — Tommy Burns knocks out Bill Lang in the sixth round in Melbourne for his last successful defense of his heavyweight title.
1924 — Bill Tilden wins his fifth straight U.S. men’s singles title with a 6-1, 9-7, 6-2 victory over Bill Johnston.
1940 — Byron Nelson wins the PGA by beating Sam Snead 1-up at the Hershey Country Club in Pennsylvania.
1945 — Frank Parker wins the men’s singles title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships by beating Bill Talbert. Sarah Palfrey Cooke beats Pauline Betz for the women’s title.
1965 — Cubs slugger Ernie Banks hits his MLB 400th career HR (off Curt Simmons) in Chicago’s 5-3 win v St. Louis at Wrigley Field; Simmons also gave up Willie Mays’ 400th HR in 1963.
1970 — The tie-break debuts in Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open. A total of 26 tie-breaks (the nine-point sudden death tie-break) are played on the first day of the tournament. Bob McKinley and Ray Ruffels both win matches in fifth-set tie-breaks.
1971 — Sixteen-year-old Chris Evert wins the first of her record 101 U.S. Open matches, defeating Edda Buding, 6-1, 6-0, in 42 minutes. Jimmy Connors, playing on 19th birthday, comes back from a two-set deficit to beat Alex Olmedo for his first U.S. Open victory.
1984 — In his first NFL start, Atlanta’s Gerald Riggs rushes for 202 yards and scores two touchdowns as the Falcons beat New Orleans 36-28.
1991 — Jimmy Connors turns 39 years old and rallies from a 2-5 fifth-set deficit to defeat 24-year-old Aaron Krickstein, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6. The fourth-round Labor Day match lasts 4 hours and 41 minutes.
1995 — Frank Bruno wins a heavyweight championship in his fourth attempt registering a unanimous decision over Oliver McCall to take his WBC title in Wembley, England.
2001 — Michael Schumacher becomes the winningest driver in Formula One history, winning the Belgian Grand Prix for his 52nd career victory. Schumacher breaks the mark shared with Alain Prost and clinches his fourth world championship.
2004 — In a second-round match, Sargis Sargsian defeats Nicolas Massu, 6-7 (8), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, in five hours and nine minutes. It’s the second-longest match on record at the U.S. Open and falls 18 minutes shy of breaking the record for longest match, set in 1992 when Stefan Edberg defeated Michael Chang in 5:26 in the semifinals.
2007 — Clay Buchholz throws a no-hitter in his second career start against the Baltimore Orioles.
2008 — Adrian Beltre goes 5 for 6 and hits for the cycle in a 12-6 Seattle Mariners win over the Texas Rangers.
Compiled by the Associated Press
This day in baseball history
1929 — Joe Cronin of the Washington Senators hit for the cycle in a 10-7 win against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
1937 — For the second time this season, two batters opened a game with home runs. Boze Berger and Mike Kreevich of the Chicago White Sox connected off Boston’s Johnny Marcum, en route to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox.
1944 — Dixie Walker of the Brooklyn Dodgers hit for the cycle and drove in four runs in an 8-4 win over the New York Giants at Ebbets Field.
1952 — Mike Fornieles of the Washington Senators, in his major league debut, pitched a one-hitter for a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics in the second game of a doubleheader.
1957 — The Milwaukee Braves swept the Chicago Cubs, 23-10 and 4-0. Bob Hazle of the Braves got four hits in the first game and teammate Frank Torre scored six runs to tie the major league record.
1963 — Cincinnati’s Pete Rose hit a leadoff homer of Jay Hook to give the Reds a 1-0 win over the New York Mets in the second game of a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds.
1965 — Ernie Banks hit his 400th home run as the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 at Wrigley Field. The blow came off Curt Simmons in the third inning.
1971 — Cesar Cedeno’s 200-foot fly ball in the fifth inning fell for an inside-the-park grand slam home run as second baseman Jim Lefebvre and right fielder Bill Buckner of the Dodgers collided. The hit helped the Houston Astros beat Los Angeles 9-3.
1972 — Milt Pappas of the Chicago Cubs retired 26 consecutive San Diego Padres before walking pinch-hitter Larry Stahl on a 3-2 pitch. Pappas then retired Gary Jestadt to finish his 8-0 no-hitter.
1987 — Houston’s Kevin Bass went 4-for-4, including home runs from both sides of plate, and drove in three runs as the Astros posted a 10-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
1990 — Dave Stieb, who had lost three no-hit bids with one out to go in the previous two seasons, finally pitched one as the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 3-0. It was the record ninth no-hitter of the season.
1996 — Mike Greenwell set a major league record by driving in all nine Boston runs, the final one on a 10th-inning single to give the Red Sox a 9-8 victory over Seattle.
2001 — New York’s Mike Mussina came within one strike of pitching the first perfect game in the 89-year history of Fenway Park in a 1-0 win over Boston. Mussina’s bid was broken up by pinch-hitter Carl Everett’s clean single.
2002 — Miguel Tejada had his second straight game-ending hit as he singled home Terrence Long with the bases loaded in the ninth inning as Oakland tied the longest winning streak in AL history with a 7-6 victory over Kansas City. Oakland, which overcame a 5-0 deficit, equaled the 19 straight wins by the 1906 Chicago White Sox and the 1947 New York Yankees.
2003 — Eric Gagne set a major league record with his 55th consecutive save in Los Angeles’s 4-1 victory over Houston.
2009 — Alex Rodriguez picks up the 2,500th hit of his career as his Yankees defeat Baltimore, 10 – 2, to complete a sweep at Camden Yards. Eric Hinske‘s home run is the Bronx Bombers’ 20th at the park this season, the most by a visiting team since the ballpark opened in 1992. CC Sabathia earns his American League-leading 16th win.
2012 — Jurickson Profar made quite a debut at age 19, homering in his first major league at-bat and doubling his next time up in the Texas Rangers’ 8-3 win over Cleveland.
2015 — Clayton Kershaw strikes out 15 batters tying a career best and setting a new personal record of 251 for the season.
2022 — Yu Darvish reaches a rare milestone with a strikeout of Cody Bellinger in the 5th inning of the Padres’ 7 – 1 win over the Dodgers: this gives him 1,750 Ks in ten major league seasons, and this gives him 3,000 when the 1,250 he amassed in seven seasons in Japan are added. Among all pitchers who have struck out 1,000 or more batters on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, only Hideo Nomo has preceded Darvish in reaching the mark.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Mike Trout was practically beaming. He dropped the phrase “fresh start” four times in an interview that barely lasted five minutes.
The burden of the Angels’ failures has been disproportionately his to bear. He has insisted that his path to Cooperstown would run through Anaheim and only Anaheim. He has played 16 seasons for an owner that blessed him with half a billion dollars, treated his family like royalty and stranded him in position to conclude a star-spangled career without ever winning a postseason game.
“What a track record,” Trout said. “Wherever he buys, he wins.”
Rams owner Stan Kroenke has agreed to purchase a majority stake of the Angels on Tuesday. The deal is pending regulatory review and MLB approval.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
The Rams. The Colorado Avalanche. The Denver Nuggets. Arsenal.
So what if the Angels have baseball’s longest playoff drought? They now have baseball’s richest owner, with a net worth valued by Forbes at $24 billion.
Kroenke bought a controlling share of the Angels at a valuation of $4 billion, a record for a major league team, with current owner Arte Moreno retaining a small stake, a source with knowledge of the deal not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times. The sale includes the team-owned television and radio outlets, ABTV and AM 830. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and MLB approval.
In 2009, ESPN put Moreno on the cover of its magazine, proclaiming the Angels delivered the best value of the then-122 teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. In this decade, the experience had been so devalued by 12 consecutive losing seasons that resale tickets for Tuesday’s game against the mighty New York Yankees were available for $5, amid a season of fans regularly chanting “Sell the Team!”
“He’s aware of the chants,” Angels president Molly Jolly said. “He knows about them. At the end of the day, this is about having the right next owner more than it is about anything else.”
Jolly wouldn’t say whether Kroenke or Moreno initiated the negotiations. She did say the sale was not conducted through a formal bidding process, but proceeded through face-to-face discussions between Kroenke and Moreno.
“He has a traditional sense about him,” Jolly said. “To be able to sit down with another gentleman and have a conversation and talk about baseball and the franchise, that resonates for how he thinks and looks at things, rather than it being a complex conversation.
“I think that’s what was the ‘Why now?’ It was the right person having the right conversation with him.”
As far as she knew, Jolly said, the conversations had not started when she assumed the team presidency in April, but the possibility of a sale had “always stayed out there” after Moreno invited bids in 2022 and then decided not to sell.
In July, after joining the Angels as interim general manager, John Mozeliak said he had spoken with Moreno for hours and the topic of whether the owner might sell the team “never came up.” On Tuesday, Mozeliak acknowledged that, when he started his position, Moreno “had mentioned that this was a possibility.”
Fans at Angel Stadium hold up signs during a game against the Yankees Tuesday marking Stan Kroenke’s agreement to purchase the Angels from Arte Moreno.
(Mark J. Terrill / Ap Photo/mark J. Terrill)
The sale is not expected to be finalized until early next year. Kroenke has not done the usual due diligence that would precede a sale — meeting with team management and touring the stadium — and has not introduced himself to officials from the city of Anaheim. The city owns the stadium and surrounding parking lots, a 150-acre site that city officials would love to see Kroenke develop.
In the meantime, it’s business as usual for the Angels. Mozeliak, who ran the St. Louis Cardinals when the Rams played in St. Louis, said he never has met Kroenke. He did recall speaking with Kevin Demoff, who oversees all of Kroenke’s teams.
Mozeliak has no idea whether Kroenke might invite him to stay, but for now the plan of rebuilding the team and reorganizing the front office remains on course, in the interest of serving fans weary and frustrated after 12 consecutive losing seasons.
“We’ve been preaching change all along,” Mozeliak said. “Now they’re going to see even more.”
And, he noted, the Padres and Angels had sold at successive record prices for MLB teams, despite the prospect of a lockout and owners’ hopes for a new collective bargaining agreement with a salary cap intended in part to raise franchise values.
“A lot of people thought teams wouldn’t sell until there was a new CBA,” Mozeliak said. “Clearly, that prediction was wrong.”
In the clubhouse, no one was talking about that. Neto was talking about the call Trout made to “some of the Rams guys” for a scouting report on Kroenke.
“I reached out to one Rams player,” Trout said, smiling. “He exaggerates a little bit.”
Still, given the national attention given last winter to the air conditioning not working properly in an Angel Stadium weight room, Neto said the evaluation from the Rams’ locker room was glowing.
“The most important thing they said is, he just wants what’s important for us,” Neto said. “That’s to make the clubhouse better, in the sense of whatever we need, we get, whether that’s amenity-wise, speakers, whatever it is, he’ll make sure we get those.”
Trout was so enthusiastic that, when a reporter asked if he was excited about what the new vision might be, he answered before the reporter could finish asking the question.
“No doubt,” Trout said. “Obviously, when you’re frustrated the last — I don’t know how many years it’s been, but to hear the news like this, I’m super excited to have this change.”
For his part, Neto sounded ready to pitch Tarik Skubal on pitching for the Angels — or, at least, pitching Kroenke on the possibility of recruiting him in free agency.
“Who doesn’t want to be in Southern California?” Neto said. “The weather is beautiful here. We have the best fans, in my opinion. We have a beautiful stadium.
“Who wouldn’t want to be here and play in this organization, in this market? It would be a no-brainer.”
Trout said the ownership change “was needed” and said there was “a good vibe around the clubhouse,” but both he and Neto expressed appreciation for Moreno.
“Arte was very supportive of us, whatever the outside noise was,” Neto said.
“I’ve seen a lot of hate, a lot of love, a lot more hate. But, as a player who has played under him, it was a lot of love. He treated us well, and that’s all you can ask for as a player.”
Rams owner Stan Kroenke holds up the Lombardi Trophy after his team beat the Bengals to win the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in 2022.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
This is huge. This is landscape altering. This is like Southern California just added an expansion team led by one of the best owners in sports.
For the Angels, currently the second-worst team in baseball and on track to finish a league-worst 12th consecutive season out of the playoffs, this is downright life changing.
Kroenke builds. Kroenke spends. Kroenke wins.
The sale is not expected to close until early 2027, so change will come slowly, but buckle up, because a bumps-be-damned renovation is coming.
First, the Angels are getting a new stadium. Kroenke hasn’t confirmed it, but it’s surely happening. He’s a real estate guy at heart who loves turning empty lots into palaces and that’s what he’ll do in Anaheim.
You think SoFi is nice? Here’s guessing the new Angels stadium will be nicer, and surrounded by the sort of commercial baseball village sprouting up all over the major leagues. The stadium and its environs will offer everything the Dodgers can’t, and may just steal a few fans in the process.
Second, the Angels are getting new swashbuckling leadership. Don’t know who, but expect the new general manager to be the kind of leader who will boldly sacrifice the future to win now, because that’s what Kroenke does, he wins now. Think baseball’s version of Les Snead.
Third, the Angels are getting one of the game’s bright young managers. Don’t know who, but he will be a guy who’s big on analytics and even bigger on the human touch, and he’ll probably be very young and very anonymous and eventually very successful. Think baseball’s version of Sean McVay.
The overall theme of Kroenke’s leadership will be championship or bust. He hates finishing second, and has left no stone unturned in giving the Rams every opportunity to succeed.
When he brought the Rams back to Los Angeles in 2016, he gave the team all of 13 games before firing then-coach Jeff Fisher after going 4-9. Soon thereafter he made 30-year-old McVay the youngest coach in NFL history and they’ve since become arguably the most admired franchise in the NFL.
Kroenke wins both on the field and in the community. His entire operation, which also owns the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL, the Colorado Rapids of MLS and Arsenal of the Premier League, is led by Kevin Demoff, a lifelong Angeleno who understands and works the local market as well as any sports executive ever. The community has become saturated with Rams, and the same will be happening with the Angels as they increase their reach into Los Angeles County, something Moreno tried but could never pull off.
The name will remain the Los Angeles Angels, not because Kroenke doesn’t like Anaheim, but because he knows his investment must expand out of Orange County to eventually reap rewards.
“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke said in a statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”
Storied. Anchored. Exciting. Those are words you rarely heard about the Angels under Moreno, whose 23-year stewardship began with a cheer and ended with a whimper.
Angels owner Arte Moreno has agreed to sell the team to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Remember how, in his first news conference after buying the team from Disney, he lowered beer prices? He was fun, he was innovative and he was the first Latino majority owner in major American team sports. It was all so cool, and the team responded with five American League West titles and two appearances in the American League Championship Series.
Donald, a future Hall of Famer two years into retirement, noticed.
His thought: “OK, I wish I was still out there playing right about now.”
On Sunday, there he was.
Hours after ending months of speculation that kept the NFL world at rapt attention, Donald, 35, agreed to terms with the Rams, donned his No. 99 jersey and practiced with the team for the first time since 2023.
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Future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Aaron Donald officially came out of retirement Sunday to rejoin the Rams for their Super Bowl title push.
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,” Donald said after the workout. “Do I feel like I can still be myself? 100%.
“If I didn’t feel like that I wouldn’t be here.”
Rams coach Sean McVay is happy to have him. Since the Rams traded for star defensive end Myles Garrett in June, McVay had said he would welcome Donald’s return — and subsequently stressed that any decision would be Donald’s and on the eight-time All-Pro’s timeline.
Donald said that he and McVay communicated “damn near every day” as he worked out and pondered his decision.
“He and I both had kind of an unspoken understanding, like, ‘All right, once we get the roster down, where are you at with it?’” McVay said. “We wanted to make sure he felt good about doing that.
“When he does something, he does it all-in. And that’s kind of what led to getting it done.”
When he retired, Donald had $30 million left on his contract. Under the new agreement, he can earn $20 million during the regular season on a one-year deal that could be worth as much as $30 million, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the contract had not yet posted.
On Sunday, Donald went through individual drills with defensive linemen, and then headed to the training room. McVay indicated the Rams would handle Donald’s ramp-up conservatively as they prepare for their Sept. 10 opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.
“Whether or not he’s available and whether or not we think it’s best to be able to play him in Australia, I think the best way to do it is to take it one day at a time,” McVay said.
That is how Donald approached it during what he said was a 13-week decision process. He worked out in the gym, did speed and agility workouts on the field and also did sessions of football drills.
Donald recorded every workout. Every movement and every cut, to see how he stacked up against his earlier self, the one who won three NFL defensive player of the year awards.
“In my opinion, I don’t see no difference,” he said. “If not, it looked a little cleaner to me.”
Still, Donald said “it really wasn’t an easy decision.” That it was “on and off for a while.” But after many conversations with his wife, Erica, and others, he said he knew for the last two weeks that he wanted to return.
Aaron Donald reacts after tackling Cleveland running back Jerome Ford during a game at SoFi Stadium in December 2023.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
It initially felt “weird” to arrive at the Rams’ Woodland Hills facility as a player rather than a visitor, he said, but he quickly acclimated after sitting through an 80-minute team meeting, getting to know new teammates and walking onto the field for practice.
Before the Rams went through stretching exercises, Donald sat on a red exercise ball, taking in the scene and focusing his thoughts for the workout ahead.
Though teammates insisted that he go first, he put himself at the back of the lines.
“Whatever my role is, I’m going to earn it,” he said.
Donald, who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium at the end of the 2021 season, aims to help the Rams win another championship at SoFi Stadium this season.
The Rams piqued his interest when they traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and then dealt edge rusher Jared Verse to the Cleveland Browns for Garrett.
“I already thought it was a stacked D-line with Verse,” Donald said. “Obviously, things transpired and happened, and then you bring in a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and it’s like, ‘That could be fun.’”
Donald said that before seeing him on Sunday, he had texted several times with Garrett.
“Hopefully,” Donald said, “we can do some special things together.”
The Chargers’ backup quarterback competition is over — for now.
Despite DJ Uiagalelei outperforming Trey Lance in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Rams, the incumbent was named QB2 once again, as the Chargers announced their initial 53-man roster Sunday evening.
“My mindset has just been stacking days,” Lance said. “As many days as I can have; good days that I could feel good about. Good reps [or] bad reps, I learn from them all.”
Choosing Lance, who is familiar with the role and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel’s system from their shared time with the San Francisco 49ers, was one of several interesting roster moves the Chargers made on cut-down day.
Most notably, punter and nine-year veteran JK Scott was released alongside running back Jaret Patterson.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Chargers brought Scott back this week. However, he had a rough preseason, in which he showed abysmal tackling effort and shanked a punt.
“As competitors, yeah, I don’t like seeing that on tape,” special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken said.
Patterson, meanwhile, couldn’t crack a crowded running back room led by Omarion Hampton. Greg Desrosiers Jr. and Amar Johnson also didn’t make the roster despite promising showings during the preseason.
“I feel like I did everything I needed to do to kind of put all the teams on notice [and] put the front office here on notice,” Desrosiers said after rushing for 118 yards and a touchdown against the Rams.
Other intriguing players, such as wideout Dalevon Campbell, outside linebacker Kyle Kennard and linebacker Junior Colson, a third-round pick in 2024, were waived.
Some “bubble” players, though, did make the cut; cornerback Rodney Shelley is one of them.
The undrafted rookie put a bow on a strong camp by earning five tackles and a pretty pass breakup against the Rams. Plus, the Chargers made room for him by trading cornerback Avery Smith to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2027 sixth-round pick. The Chargers also traded defensive lineman TeRah Ewards to the Carolina Panthers for a 2028 sixth-round draft pick.
Jacob Spomer is another undrafted rookie who will remain in Los Angeles.
The offensive lineman impressed during training camp and adds depth after the Chargers assigned offensive lineman Branson Taylor to injury reserve alongside two-way trenches trooper Scott Matlock.
Of course, some waived players could see extended opportunities with the Chargers through the practice squad.
“I can’t really think of anybody that I’m going to tell their football lives are over to,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said Thursday. “I can’t think of one guy I’d say that to. I just don’t believe that.
“I’m probably going to put myself in their shoes and hopefully give them some great advice [on] what to do next. It’s going to be said with encouragement and love, because I truly believe in them.”
