There’s no question American billionaire Stanley Kroenke, whose Colorado Rapids announced a strategic partnership with Arsenal of the English Premier League on Friday, could buy an EPL club if he wanted to. The 59-year old is a real estate owner/sports magnate whose personal fortune amounts to more than $2 billion. Along with his wife, Ann, an heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune, the pair has multiple billions squirreled away to play with.
Kroenke, in fact, is similar to Liverpool’s new joint owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who’ve also heavily invested in American sports. He is the co-owner of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Like Hicks and Gillett, his sports investments often include real estate deals; Kroenke is owner, for example, of Denver’s Pepsi Center, but he’s also the man behind the Rapids’ $138 million Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, a venture funded by Kroenke Sports Enterprise and the city of Commerce City. The 18,500-capacity stadium opens its doors this season and will be host of the 2007 MLS All-Star Game.
Like other American sports tycoons, Kroenke senses an untapped opportunity in American soccer. Indeed, the Rapids-Arsenal partnership is more an investment in the future of the Rapids than the Gunners, though it will no-doubt expand the London club’s visibility in the States. The move could also generate a wave of interest from America’s best young talent, as Arsenal’s partners have long been incubators for the London club’s first team.