This is IT for the Rams...

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke might be forever hated in St. Louis, but he will be forever loved in Los Angeles as he is now the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Angels. That's LA County with the Rams, Orange County with the Angels. We're going to break that down as well as the Rams' expectations to win a Super Bowl and how they might be able to meet those expectations all on today's episode of the Rams Digest. I'm your host, Josh Rahidon, and before we get too far into today's video, I want to let you guys know today's video is brought to you by Kalshi. On Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. We're talking about examples like, I mean, let's bring this up for you guys. I want to make sure I show you guys some examples. For example, if I go ahead and pull up Kalshi right now, I can look at this number and say, I want the Rams to win a Super Bowl. I'm going to go ahead and say $25. Yes, the Rams win a Super Bowl. That would get me $138, about $139 for my payout. And let's be real. We think the Rams are going to win the Super Bowl, right? All of you guys watching this video think so. So why not go ahead and put it in on a trade on Kalshi? Check this out right here. It will change throughout the year. Yes, the Rams are favored at 17% right now, but maybe the Rams go off to a slow start. You guys go ahead and adjust off of that, knowing the Rams are going to hoist the Lombardi trophy, no matter what this says. And then you go out and make a trade and maybe even turn it into some more money. How about this right here? You could just go off of single game action, Niners versus Rams. We know the Rams are going to win. Actually, Kalshi says the Rams are going to win. Why don't you go out and put $25 on the Rams winning? If you go ahead and put $25, you would go ahead and get $37 as a payout for you all just on one football game for the Los Angeles Rams. Why are we saying $25 specifically? Well, if you go out there and you put $25 on Kalshi and you use the promo code DigestNFL, it will get you $25 to your account instantly. So make sure if you're interested in trying out Kalshi, you use the link down below in the description and you use $25 to trade on Kalshi using code DigestNFL. That gets you $25 added to your account instantly. So DigestNFL, your promo code, $25 into Kalshi. They give you $25 instantly. Trade on Kalshi today for all of your Los Angeles Rams sports needs. Thank you to Kalshi for sponsoring today's video. All right, let's get into what we wanted to discuss. You saw Stan Kroenke. We'll show another picture of him as he is now the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Angels. He's buying the controlling ownership side of things from Artie Moreno, a very infamous owner of the Los Angeles Angels, I should say, as my calendar is telling me I got to get out of here already. Kroenke is already one of the biggest owners in sports. His portfolio includes crazy teams. We'll talk about that in a second. Right now, I'll show you guys a full list of the teams he and his family own as a sports ownership empire that they are. But now him purchasing the Los Angeles Angels gives him an opportunity to get into the baseball world, right? The reported price right now is $4 billion, which is crazy for a team that was not very successful, right? But still a lot of money for sure for Stan Kroenke to go out and purchase, which would make it the most expensive MLB franchise sale ever. So again, just kind of emphasizing how crazy it is that he is going out and purchasing for $4 billion, a team that has not seen that much success, but also has been obviously a Los Angeles market team for quite some time, have some pretty fair loyal fan, a pretty fair loyal fan base if you want to be fair to them. They're changing owners after 23 years, and they're going from Artie Moreno, an owner with a long track record of investing heavily in professional sports, or sorry, I should say from Artie Moreno to an owner who is invested for a long time. So why does this matter? Look, Angels fans are hoping that this represents a complete reset of their franchise. We can even pull this up here. I mean, look at the loyal fan base of the Los Angeles Angels. Look, I'm not an Angels fan myself. I think a lot of Rams fans are not Angels fans either. I mean, maybe some of you guys are, but I think a lot of you guys are probably Dodger fans, but it is, I think, and maybe I have a differing opinion for most of you guys on this, but I think it's sad to look over down the street in Anaheim and see the Angels so bad to a point where a 45-minute drive to me is just too much to go out and watch a baseball game at Angels Stadium. I've gone to the games. I've seen the Angels play at Angels Stadium. I think it's a beautiful stadium. I think it could have some improvements for sure with some investment, but I think it's a great stadium to see. It's a great place for them to play. The parking lot is huge. You have nice little areas. You can go drink across the street. I mean, it's a cool opportunity, I think, for an LA sports team to really have here in Los Angeles, especially tapping into the Anaheim Orange County market, and I think, you know, Stan Crockett can really turn this around pretty easily, especially if he's coming in here with the money and the deep pockets to go out and spend what he has to do to kind of turn this franchise around like he's kind of done with the Los Angeles Rams, right? So it's exciting to see that. I think for LA sports in general, I think it's cool to see all teams succeed and spend money. I mean, look at the Clippers right now as well, spending money on their team. It's just, it's a nice thing to see them do. It's interesting to go out to Inglewood and see Intuit Dome now, right? Even if you're not a Clippers fan, it's cool to go out and see these buildings and to see, like, LA sports should be kind of this dominant sports force, you know, all across multiple sports, right? Especially because you have so many teams. Why not invest and take advantage of the kind of market you have out here? So I think it's interesting. It's going to be nice to see. I know not everybody is interested in this, but, you know, it's cool. Like, I know some Angels fans, some of them, you know, I see people with from time to time, and they all wanted Artie Moreno to sell the team. I mean, earlier this year, Artie Moreno was, like, saying stuff like, no, fans don't want the team to win. They want the team to be able to, they want to be able to go buy affordable seats. They want to be able to go buy affordable hot dogs and drinks, and they want a place they can enjoy baseball affordably. And so that's why he's not really spending money on investing in terms of his team being really, really good. Now, it sucks, too, because Angels traded away some good pieces this year, like Joe Adele, play people like that. We're not going to focus on the football side of things, baseball side of things too much. But just kind of noting that, you know, they did get off of some talented players recently, but overall, I think Stan Kroenke will step in to this role and really succeed, honestly, just flat out succeed. I mean, look at the teams that the Kroenke family empire has owned, right? They have overseas teams with Arsenal out in London, but they had Colorado Mammoth, the national lacrosse team. They had Colorado Avalanche, a hockey team. We had Major League Soccer, Colorado Rapids, Denver Nuggets, right, with the NBA. And then obviously the Los Angeles Rams, LA Gladiators, an overwatch kind of e-sports league. So this kind of just adds to the vast empire, sports empire that the Kroenke family has taken over in Los Angeles, especially. So I think it's cool, exciting. It's positive for the Rams to be tied to this as well, because the Rams are being looked at as a team. I think a lot of Angels fans are looking at the Rams saying, can we be a team like that, like the Dodgers, like the Rams, like going out there? I know Stan Kroenke's not involved with the Dodgers, but I think the Angels fans are probably like, can we spend money? Can we spend money? Can we improve? Can we improve the fan experience? Can we improve the fan base? All of that. I think they're looking at Stan Kroenke and the Rams to go out and bring that kind of energy, that life and breathe that life into the Los Angeles Angels organization. So exciting to see that. Let me know how your thoughts down below in the comment section. I know it's a lot of baseball talk here on a football channel, but I just want to acknowledge the Rams owners going out and buying the Los Angeles Angels, two LA teams too. So a lot of Rams fans could potentially be Angels fans. And so how do you feel about it? Let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section. Are you excited to see a competitive Angels team? I know as a Dodgers fan, I want the Dodgers to continue to succeed, but at the same time, I don't mind if the Angels are successful. I would love to see a lot of nice, like that freeway, freeway series rivalry. I want to watch that and be like, this is intense. These teams are very good. Last year, you know, you saw the Angels swept the Dodgers in the regular season. A lot of Angels fans weren't quiet about that, but that's fun to see the success, to see them kind of have a competitive rivalry. I want to see that for sure. So let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section on Kroenke owning the Los Angeles Angels. Speaking on Kroenke though, and one of the teams he owns, let's talk about the Rams and what he's done so far. I mean, the Rams have built a team that is ready to contend and it's through defense first, which is, I think, a unique experience for the Rams in terms of what they've been doing the last couple of years. A lot of great offense. You see MVP Stafford, Pukunukuwa putting up numbers, leading the league and receiving touchdowns and Devontae Adams. Like that has been the core for Sean McVay. They had a good defense back in 2021 when they won, a really good defense with a lot of great veterans as well. Pretty stacked roster, but the Rams offense is what kind of triggered them to winning that Super Bowl. I think in terms of like, what do they need in terms of improving to become a Super Bowl team? They needed a quarterback, right? So the focus was kind of on the offense a little bit in the general sense, right? But Cuber Cup absolutely have an incredible season. Stafford had an incredible season. Those things matter to the Rams winning a Super Bowl, but I think their defensive additions that year were really impactful on the Rams winning a Super Bowl. Aaron Donald's performance as well, all that. And so the Rams are kind of focused in on that defense. I mean, these two are already an incredible duo, like just phenomenal. Oh my God. Best duos of all time. And then you're adding this to Byron Young, Kobe Turner, Braden Fisk. Are you kidding me? That D-line in its own on any other team is a good D-line for a team. And they're on the Rams alongside Miles Garrett and alongside Aaron Donald, not to mention Puna Ford. I mean, this team is absolutely stacked and we're just talking about the D-line. I think people are forgetting the Rams have a new quarterback duo in Trent McDuffie and Jalen Watson. They've played together before. They succeeded together before. Trent McDuffie, cornerback one, you extended the contract, you paid the guy. He is going to be your cornerback one lockdown guy. And even if he can't, even if these two can't lock down as much as they typically should or you're expecting or whatever it is, even if they're just okay and pretty good and just a little bit better than what it was last year, the Rams have help. They have safeties. Quentin Lake. Don't forget linebackers, Nate Lamb and Omar Spades. I mean, you have so many players on this team that I think are going to compliment each other so well that I'm just kind of mind blown at what this, this roster is looking like right now for Los Angeles Rams. The expectation is Superbowl. They've gotten the roster now for that to meet that expectation. They have the coaching staff. They have the quarterback to meet those expectations, the leadership, the offense. You have Devontae Adams on one side, Puka Nakua. Don't forget Kyron Williams and Blake Corn might push to take over the running back lead role this year. I mean, that's how good this team is. Not to mention five tight ends, including Tyler Higbee, a Rams legend. I mean, this team, and I talked about this last year, a whole bunch. I said that my frustration with the Rams last year was in the off season. I said, there's clear holes. There's clear things you can improve on. There's clear things you need to address. And the Rams didn't address those things. And it was frustrating for me because I knew that was going to happen. I knew the Rams needed a better cornerback play. I knew the Rams probably could use some linebacker depth. I knew the Rams could probably add to the D line, even though D line was really good. They could have added depth to the D line and even been an even better defensive line. I thought all those things were factors for the Rams last year and they didn't address those things. And this year it feels like they completely threw everything out the window and decided to address every issue on this team. And they're ready to compete for a Superbowl, but there is pressure involved with that. The Rams got to win or else this season is a throwaway for a lot of Rams fans. Not for all, I think of most Rams fans and for the ownership, the team, the coaches, the players themselves, Aaron Dow is not going to play for three seasons, right? Miles Garrett. Yes, of course he's going to be here in this team. We'll still try to compete for a Superbowl if you don't win this season, but you went to the NFC championship last year and you added incredible pieces on defense. You added a former Rams legend to come out of retirement. This team needs to win. It needs to win right here, right now, or else it's kind of a flop of a season for the Rams. A lot of hate will be thrown toward the Rams if they don't win the Superbowl. So with that being said, the Rams have to meet those expectations. Let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section. Is it kind of a throwaway season if the Rams don't win? Or how do you feel about the Rams this upcoming season? Let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section. And don't forget, by the way, if you want to tell me and actually predict your predictions for the NFL season, for the Los Angeles Rams season, who's going to win the Superbowl, who's going to win certain games, whatever, who's going to win MVP, do so on Calshi. Make those predictions on Calshi. Trade on Calshi today. Make sure you guys download Calshi with the link down below in the description. And don't forget, if you use code DigestNFL, you get $25 instantly when you trade with your first $25 yourself. So you trade $25, they'll give you $25, but you got to make sure you use the promo code DigestNFL. Link is down below in the description. Again, you can talk about who the MVP will be, who's going to win the Superbowl, all that and more. Let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section, what you guys end up trading with on Calshi. But go down below, link in the description, trade on Calshi today. Other than that, that's going to do it for me on today's episode of the Rams Digest. I'm your host, Joshua Hidonan.