guncurug: Stan Kroenke

Kroenke's Bid for Rams Coming to a Vote August 25

19.24

The tortuous path to full ownership of the St. Louis Rams by Stan Kroenke should come to a conclusion by August 25. A special meeting of the NFL owners has been called for that date to vote on his proposed purchase of the team pursuant to the exercise of his option to purchase the sixty percent of the club he didn't own once that was put up for sale. Chances are good that he will be approved at that meeting since it was called especially for the vote. "Everybody wants him as an owner, I can tell you," New Orleans owner Tom Benson said. Benson is chairman of the finance committee which first must approve his application.

Kroenke's purchase has run afoul of the league's cross-ownership rules which forbid an owner to have controlling interest in another major league franchise in North America. Kroenke owns the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and 93% of the Pepsi Center.

Kroenke has apparently asked the NFL to approve a plan to purchase the Rams' interest in two chunks, although it may be a tough fight to win approval for that. Several owners are known to be opposed as they believe they are already stretching the cross-ownership rules enough with his plan to dispose of his interest in the Nuggets and Avalanche. Originally, Kroenke planned to give his interest to his children but ran into opposition to that plan as he was going to have to guaranty any operating losses. His current plan is believed to involve a sale of the Nuggets and Avalanche to his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke. That should please the NFL; after all, she can certainly (note her maiden name) afford it, she is number 297 on the Forbes 400, he is merely number 342.

Should he end up with the Rams, Kroenke could also be the latest American with ownership of the both NFL and the English Premier League. He is the largest single shareholder of Arsenal and a fifty percent shareholder of Arsenal Broadband. He has indicated a willingness to purchase any shares in Arsenal that come on the market, believing, correctly, that Arsenal is a brand that has just begun to be exploited in a way that befits its global recognition.

Arsenal

Kroenke Exercise Option to Buy Rams; Arsenal May Be in Play

06.55

Stan Kroenke, the billionaire by marriage owner of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, not to mention a significant stake in Arsenal of the English Premier League, which we will get to later, has decided to exercise his option to purchase the equity interests in the St. Louis Rams which he did not own. Kroenke currently owns 40% of the Rams, with the remaining 60% held by Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. Kroenke also held a right to match any offer Rosenbloom and Rodriguez received to purchase their interest. He exercised that right last week, setting up a showdown with the NFL and Commissioner Goodell.

The NFL has cross-ownership rules that prohibit an owner from owning a franchise in another sport in a different city than the owner's NFL city. Under that rule, Kroenke's Denver franchises would preclude him from owning the Rams - Arsenal would not yet be a problem as Jacksonville has yet to decamp for London. It would appear that Kroenke is itching for a fight and believes that he either has enough owners on his side already or has found a way around the restriction. According to espn.com, he has not asked for an exemption nor does he intend to sell the Nugget or Avalanche. ESPN suggests he may hand over control of the Denver operations to his son, implying that may be enough to satisfy the NFL. If so, that would be an awfully easy way out of the problem and a fix that would seem to be available to almost any owner; enough so that the rule would be gutted, which wouldn't be a bad thing since it doesn't make any sense in the first place.

Across the pond, it appears that control over Arsenal may finally be put into play. Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov have been accumulating shares for some time in anticipation of the opportunity to gain control. That opportunity is at hand. Nia Bracewell-Smith, the owner of nearly 16% of the club has hired Blackstone to market her interest. If either Kroenke or Usmanov acquire it, he will cross the 30% ownership line which, under UK law, requires a mandatory takeover bid. Stay tuned, the buying and selling of Premiership clubs as if they were houses in a game of Monopoly continues unabated.