Born in a tiny village in Missouri in 1947, Stan Kroenke now controls the planet’s second most valuable sports empire and is married to Ann Walton, heiress of Walmart, the world’s biggest company by revenue.
Arsenal are just one node of capital in his £15bn fortune, which encompasses a vast commercial property portfolio and several of America’s richest sports franchises.
Since Kroenke first took majority control in 2011, the North Londoners have won four FA Cups, but the very biggest prizes have evaded them. In this, they are the exception in the KSE network.
Runners-up in each of the last two Premier League seasons, Mikel Arteta’s side are a distant 2nd place to Liverpool as things stand. As a result, supporters demanded more investment in January.
But the world-class striker that Arsenal fans were crying out for to give them the best shot at eating up the ground on Arne Slot’s team didn’t arrive. In fact, no one did.
Why? Because the Kroenkes – including the public face of the regime at the Emirates, Josh Kroenke – are inherently risk-averse.
To them, the risk-benefit analysis simply doesn’t suggest that paying a premium in the January window for a striker like Alexander Isak will deliver the swing needed to justify it financially.
It is an alien concept to bedrock Arsenal fans, who are rightly more concerned with success on the pitch than in the balance sheets. It is, however, the reality.
Update chart showing Arsenal's revenue over the last decade and the breakdown between commercial, media and matchday income
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment prefer investments that they know will deliver a return, such as bricks-and-mortar infrastructure projects.
As Josh Kroenke has confirmed, Arsenal are considering expanding the Emirates Stadium, with a potential 20,000-seat capacity upgrade at a cost of £500m.
Infographic sowing the matchday incomes plus stadium capacities and planned upgrades in the Premier League, featuring Newcastle United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Leeds United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Everton
Premier League stadium capacities and income. Credit: Adam Williams, GRV Media
The overheads are huge, yes, but the owners know that it is a banker in terms of future revenue generation, which will offset the expenses many times over.
And now, Arsenal fans may have been given some insight into the kind of innovations the Kroenkes are planning at the Emirates Stadium – and indeed beyond N5.
Stan Kroenke business raises £445m for futuristic stadium tech
According to many investors, immersive or shared reality experiences could be the next big thing in football finance.
Clubs like Arsenal with millions of overseas fans have a largely un-monetised potential customer base, who can’t really engage with the club financially beyond buying merchandise.
That issue is one that Kroenke is attempting to address with his investment in Cosm, an immersive reality sports and events company that have gone viral with their Premier League coverage this season.
The company has units which broadcast sports events on huge, immersive screens. Their flagship venue is set up at Stan Kroenke’s SoFi Stadium.
As it stands, Cosm – whose business is valued at around £800m – are exclusively based in the United States but they have confirmed that they going global.
An aerial view of Emirates Stadium prior to the UEFA Europa League group A match between Arsenal FC and FC Zürich at Emirates Stadium on November 0...
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Towards that end, they have confirmed that they have raised £445m from investors including Kroenke to build new venues in Europe.
And given their links with Arsenal, the Gunners would surely be one of the first clubs to get the Cosm treatment.
It might sound somewhat trivial to bedrock fans, but the big brains in the football finance industry think this sort of high-tech solution could be financially transformative for the world’s elite, globally followed clubs.
KSE’s ‘extraordinary’ vision and how it may impact future Arsenal takeover
According to some analysis, Kroenke’s sports empire is as much about real estate and property as it is about winning trophies.
“The Kroenkes have an extraordinary vision [relating] to professional sports and real estate,” says Mike Neary, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) executive vice president of business operations.
For example, Ball Arena in Denver, the multi-purpose stadium that KSE have owned and redeveloped over a period 25 years, has been used by Kroenke as a platform to build 6,000 new residential units next door.
The SoFi Stadium meanwhile, home of the Los Angeles Rams, was entirely privately financed by Kroenke at staggering expense but has quickly become the world’s most lucrative sports and entertainment venue.
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