Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has given a rate interview that could indicate his long-term plans for the Gunners.
The US billionaire sports investor first bough into the North London club in 2007 and steadily increased his shares until 2018, when he took full ownership.
Arsenal were far from his first venture into sports, however.
The 76-year-old’s Kroenke Sports & Entertainment group owns eight sports teams in total, with the remaining seven besides Arsenal operating in the US.
He has NBA, Stanley Cup and MLS titles to his name through those ventures – but one of his greatest successes in US sport was arguably distinct from the on-field action itself.
The £4bn SoFi Stadium in California became the new home of NFL side Los Angeles Rams, who were relocated from St Louis, nearly 2,000 miles away.
Kroenke‘s investment in that stadium and his latest remarks tell us something about how he
Stan Kroenke wants to push Arsenal brand beyond football
Unlike American sports, football is modelled on meritocracy and linked intrinsically to a club’s geography.
However, owners of ultra-elite clubs – including Arsenal – are now exploring both the possibility of playing competitive matches abroad.
They have also cottoned on to the fact that their club’s brands can be monetised worldwide, not just through broadcast deals but also merchandise and content.
Clubs have used their stadiums to host concerts and other non-sporting events to maximise revenue and get their brands associated with other cultural institutions.
That is exactly what has happened at Kroenke’s SoFi Stadium, which he and other notable individuals involved in the project opened up on in an interview with the LA Times last Sunday (16 June)
“I knew that SoFi Stadium would become the Eighth Wonder of the World but I’d be lying if I told you I knew it would be a movie star, too,” said SoFi chief executive Anthony Noto in reference to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour move being filmed at the .
On his LA Rams side winning the Super Bowl at the stadium in 2022, Kroenke said: “You talk about the movie business, well you could write that script and nobody would believe it.”
*“Robert \[Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots\] toured the site when it was just a hole in the ground,” he continued\.*
“He said it took a lot of guts. I said, ‘Well, this is all good, but when I’m sitting on a street corner out here in a few years, will you buy me a cup of coffee?’”
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Analysis: What are Kroenke’s plans for Arsenal?
It is only a small interview and does not explicitly reference Arsenal, but Kroenke’s comments to the LA Times indicate his philosophy when it comes to running sports teams.
He wants to maximise value in order to eventually secure a return that will far exceed the circa £800m he has paid for his shares in the club so far.
He clearly feels European football clubs are undervalued because there is unrealised potential to cross into other cultural mediums and monetise accordingly.
Arsenal are increasingly focusing on sportswear-style merchandise, for example, which is hugely popular in Japan an other international Adidas markets.
They are also following in the footsteps of Man City in attempting to drive revenue from content. City deem this an integral part of their commercial success in recent years.
Josh Kroenke, Stan’s son, may be taking the reigns at the Emirates at present, but it is his father who will be looking at the bigger picture and dictating things on a macro level.