Stan Kroenke has personally negotiated £120m off-pitch deal as Arsenal plan emerges

Stan Kroenke has engineered a major business deal that could benefit Arsenal and his wider sports empire.

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the investment vehicle of the 76-year-old Missouri-born billionaire, encompasses nine teams in total.

Arsenal are currently the only European enterprise, with the beating heart of his network moving from the Rust Belt to the West Coast in recent years.

The 70,000-seater arena will host Arsenal when they face Man United in a friendly later this summer, signalling Kroenke’s intent to create synergy across his portfolio.

And the latest news from California shows that he is only accelerating his sports masterplan.

Arsenal’s Kroenke to bring global event to SoFi Stadium

The SoFi stadium has already hosted some of the biggest sporting and musical events worldwide, as well as multiple Arsenal friendlies.

And with the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles on the horizon, the Kroenke-funded arena has scored another victory.

SoFi is expected to host the opening ceremony of the games, although this is unconfirmed.

However, as reported by The Guardian, what is now official is that the arena will stage the swimming as part of a restructuring of the event set to save £120m.

With a configuration of 38,000 spectators set to be in attendance, the SoFi stadium will be the largest swimming venue in Olympic history.

While this might seem unrelated to Arsenal on first inspection, it is in fact all part of the wider commercial strategy implemented by the owner across his network.

TBR Analysis: What does this mean for Arsenal?

While the news of Kroenke’s achievement in bringing the Olympics to SoFi will not have a direct impact on his outpost in North London, Arsenal will be keeping a close eye on proceedings.

The International Olympic Committee are understandably strict about sponsorship presence at the games, so the Gunners will not directly be able to push their brand at the event.

However, there may be cross-promotional opportunities in the form of digital content or boots-on-the-ground advertising outside the stadium.

Arsenal are lagging behind the likes of Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs in terms of their monetisation of the US market.

Any opportunity to amplify their brand in a location that they have visited in previous years and are likely do so gain in future will be welcomed.

Significantly, Kroenke believes the future of football is in the US. It is one of the reasons he is throwing his weight behind the expanded Club World Cup due to be hosted in the nation next year.