DENVER -- Colorado businessman Stan Kroenke bought a 9.99
percent stake in London's Arsenal soccer team from the British
television network ITV.
Kroenke, a real estate developer who owns the Denver Nuggets,
the Colorado Avalanche and the Colorado Rapids of Major League
Soccer, said Thursday that he also entered into "conditional
arrangements" with ITV involving the sale of ITV's 50 percent
share in Arsenal Broadband Limited.
The total value of the deals would be approximately $128.1
million, Kroenke's company said in a statement.
A spokesman for Kroenke Sports Enterprises wouldn't comment on
whether Kroenke would attempt to buy Arsenal outright down the
road.
"It's always been our policy not to speculate on any
investments," said Paul Andrews, executive vice president and
chief marketing officer for Kroenke Sports. "We hold pretty tight
to that policy."
Kroenke Sports announced in February it had formed a marketing
alliance with the Arsenal club to exchange business, commercial and
marketing information, and share coaching and training
philosophies.
"We really have a tremendous amount of respect for Arsenal and
the way they manage their team," Andrews said.
Andrews said the marketing alliance led to Kroenke's interest in
Arsenal.
"It's fair to say he was impressed with them and made this
investment due to the respect he gained in that process," Andrews
said.
Andrews wouldn't comment on whether the Rapids planned to change
their name to Arsenal.
When the marketing alliance was announced, Arsenal manager
Arsene Wenger insisted it did not mean Kroenke was buying the
London team.
"(The deal) is not for a takeover," Wenger said in February.
"There are enough Americans in the league now."
Kroenke, who is also a co-owner of the St. Louis Rams, is the
latest American businessman to invest in a European soccer team.
Tom Hicks and George Gillette Jr. recently completed their
takeover of the Liverpool soccer team. Hicks owns baseball's Texas
Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars, and Gillette owns the NHL's
Montreal Canadiens.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer controls Manchester
United, and Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner took over Aston
Villa this season.
The Rapids will open the MLS season Saturday against D.C. United
in Dick's Sporting Goods Park, a new 18,000-seat soccer complex in
the Denver area that includes 24 lighted fields and is one of the
largest soccer parks in the world.