This week Arte Moreno walked away from the Los Angeles Angels of Annual Losing, while Steve Ballmer was handed a one‑year suspension after the Clippers were busted in the Kawhi Leonard cap‑circumvention scandal sparked by Pablo Torre.
Add Mark Walter’s shock Lakers sale and his related headaches, and L.A. sports owners have endured a chaotic stretch.
Anyone know if Bruce McNall still holds the Kings?
Moreno took over the Angels in 2003, a year after their World Series win, slashed beer prices and splurged on free agents. He later locked up Mike Trout with a massive deal and let Shohei Ohtani thrive as a two‑way star.
Yet he poured cash into dead‑end projects and missed key organizational investments, sending the club downhill over the past decade.
Fans grew to despise him as much as any baseball owner. I’d have expected a Disneyland parade to mark his departure.
His era ends with eleven straight losing seasons, a record of relentless disappointment.
Ballmer pours money and enthusiasm, but he still hasn’t learned that cash alone doesn’t guarantee wins.
The Kawhi deal and its financial shenanigans crippled the Clippers. Ballmer once bragged about the number of toilets in the Intuit Dome—a bizarre metaphor for the franchise’s state.
Supporters want owners who invest wisely and enhance the fan experience, not diminish it.
If a Bad Owner Hall of Fame existed in Cleveland, Moreno would be a first‑ballot inductee. In my view, Moreno tops the list of modern missteps.
Ballmer’s fate remains uncertain; we’ll see if he joins the roster.
What defines a bad owner? As Tolstoy paraphrased, all good owners are alike; each bad owner is uniquely terrible.
Some fail morally—racist, harassing, cheating.
Others are stingy 1‑percenters who treat a team like a personal piggy bank rather than a civic institution.
A few relocate franchises to mask their own failures.
Some inherit famous names and simply lack sense.
A handful succeed elsewhere and assume that success will transfer to sports.
Egomaniacs also populate the list.
Most combine several of these flaws.
To place Moreno and Ballmer, I built a tiered Hall of Fame system. It’s imperfect, and fans will add their own names in the comments.
I cover Chicago and often roast Jerry Reinsdorf, yet he didn’t make my list. Though he’s defended employee pensions, his strategic blunders keep him below the worst offenders.
George McCaskey’s tenure, marred by on‑field woes and a stadium saga, is saved only by hiring Ben Johnson; he’s a better youth umpire than an NFL owner.
Special shout‑out to Jed York, whose recent arrest for allegedly paying $160 to an undercover officer made headlines.
Their personal wing
Dan Snyder and Donald Sterling: Both were forced to sell after leagues patiently pushed them out; the NFL and NBA simply waited for the right moment.
Snyder splurged in Washington but never grasped the business, and his notorious behavior drove the franchise to the brink, even prompting a futile rebranding of the team’s name.
Sterling epitomized the worst owner, a racist, cheap, and creepy figure who even let friends watch players shower in the Clippers locker room.
Hall of Fame inductees listed alphabetically
Harold Ballard: Few non‑hockey fans know him, yet his 2022 documentary revealed a fraud‑convicted owner who ruined the Maple Leafs, even hiring a boat mechanic as team trainer.
Norman Braman: The cheap Miami art dealer who owned the Eagles, charged players for socks, fired Buddy Ryan, and after selling said, “I live in Miami, and traveling the 16 weeks in the fall—there’s more to life than the NFL.”
Harry Frazee: The Red Sox owner who shipped Babe Ruth to the Yankees—need I say more?
Jeffrey Loria: He bought and wrecked the Montreal Expos, swapped them for the Florida Marlins, secured public stadium money in Miami, then stopped spending; his favorite “Major League” character is Rachel Phelps.
George Preston Marshall: A segregationist forced by the federal government to sign Black players, he once mocked the nation’s war worries, prompting Shirley Povich’s famous lede about Jim Brown.
Frank McCourt: He turned the Dodgers into a bankrupt joke, yet like many bad owners, walked away with a hefty payout.
Art Modell: His sole redeeming act was outweighed by moving the Browns, a move so offensive the NFL instantly granted Cleveland a new franchise.
Marge Schott: The late Reds owner was cheap, racist and antisemitic, finally exiled after a scathing Sports Illustrated profile.
Ted Stepien: His mismanagement in Cleveland forced the NBA to create the “Ted Stepien Rule” banning consecutive first‑round pick trades.
Bill Wirtz: “Dollar Bill” barred Blackhawks home games from TV, believing it hurt ticket sales; his son Rocky reversed the policy, reviving the club after his 2007 death.
