The Kroenke Cometh?
By: Trent | April 25th, 2007
I certainly never thought I’d be reading and writing so much about Stan Kroenke, left, in this lifetime. Stan Laurel, maybe. Or maybe Laurel Park, or Parker Posey. The point is, with little left to decide in Arsenal’s season, takeover talk has come to the fore.
You’ll recall that in the wake of American businessman and Colorado Rapids owner Kroenke’s purchase of nearly 10% of the club, vice chairman David Dein resigned from his post. The speculation is that Chaiman Peter Hill-Wood and the rest of the board are not nearly as keen as Dein on the prospect of an American takeover. Kroenke, who was unimpressed with Hill-Wood’s diatribe against him, has since raised his stake in Arsenal to 12.2%.
A couple of Arsenal legends have now weighed in on the Dein / Kroenke / Hill-Wood brouhaha. Ian Wright says that the Gunner players, including Thierry Henry, are not at all happy with Dein’s departure. Tony Adams says he wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dein departure pave the way for Arsene Wenger’s exit from North London. But Adams also suggests that Wenger wouldn’t make any rash decisions one way or the other. Of course, Adams also thinks A-Dub might go into politics, so who knows.
I’ve remained fairly agnostic on the Dein takeover saga, and remain so. What do you guys and gals think–would another Yank in the Prem ownership club be good for the league? Good for the Arsenal?
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Category: Arsenal News
Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Peter Hill-Wood, David Dein, Stan Kroenke, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Tony Adams, Arsenal News, Tag IndexSubscribe
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Comments
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It just goes along with the increasing internationalism of the sport. Whether it’s good or not has little effect on the outcome; it seems that Kroenke really wants to own him some Arsenal, and there’s probably little anyone can do to stop that.
As an Arsenal fan, the aspect that worries me is his potential misunderstanding of football. Maybe he’ll come from the Glazer school of thought, however, of less involvement, just working the money aspect. Glazer may have put ManU heavily into debt but it doesn’t really seem to matter, now does it? If being in debt means competing to the very end for 3 trophies, well dammit, Kroenke, put Arsenal in debt.
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United States
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Are you kidding? Of course he knows football - look at how well his American team is doing. Erm, actually, don’t. In fact, on second thought… RUN!
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Maybe he keeps thinking the Buccaneers are playing in La Liga?
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i’m an arsenal fan, too, but that seems to be a short-sighted view of things, SXB. at what price should these trophies come? why should arsenal plunge (very possibly) into debt with kroenke when the board seem to have handled club debt quite well, with a new stadium to show for it?
i suspect plenty of united fans are (and have been) upset about the level of debt at their club, although the prospect of chasing three trophies may push that out of their minds at the moment.
a lot of people have been asking: where are the rich british billionaires, and why aren’t they interested in owning a top premiership club?
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Well, see, I was joking. I’d really rather Arsenal not be in debt.
While I’m sure more casual ManU fans are swayed by the possibility of a Treble, don’t forget the hardcore faithful who put together the FC United (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_United) in opposition.
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I’ve been reading the British press and the Arsenal blogs in the UK for the past couple of weeks on this whole issue. Gooners are seriously divided on the takeover.
I’ve learned that Kroenke apparently DOES love and know a lot about football (soccer). He follows the English game faithfully, he loves the Prem. So he does know and love the sport. By contrast, the Glazers at Manu apparently had very little knowledge of or interest in the sport. Also, Kroenke has a record of keeping a low profile in the clubs he owns, letting the club managers and coaches run the club as they see fit. I don’t follow his clubs, I have no idea how successful they’ve been.
I agree with many in England who say they’d prefer the club to remain in English hands (and as many have asked before, where are the British billionnaires and why aren’t they buying into the Prem?). Also, like some gooners in England have noted, I’m not crazy about Kroenke’s Wal-Mart association.
But the guy’s nationality is not my main concern. My problem with the takeover has to do with the concerns raised by the Guardian’s columnist, David Conn, over on their football podcast this week. You can find it here: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/04/23/football_weekly_31.html
And that’s the issue of the enormous debt that will accrue to the club with Kroenke’s takeover. Some naive fans talk as if Kroenke will buy the club outright — he won’t do that, he’ll borrow the money and then club revenues will go toward paying that debt. Club revenues will thus go into his pocket instead of improving the club.
I think the Board members who threw out Dein and are resisting the takeover feel like they’ve done all the work to finance the new, prosperous stadium; finance and invest in the re-building of the Highbury apartments, waiting a couple of years for the revenue to accrue from that. They’ve put together a careful, sound business plan — including a way to pay out the debt for the stadium in a rational manner. Now this guy wants to come in and benefit from the success they’ve worked hard to develop.
Also, I think it’s naive to assume that Kroenke will be some sugar daddy like Abramovich. The Glazers haven’t proven to be that. I doubt Liverpool’s new owners will be. Abramovich is a one-off.
And then we forget the other clubs who’ve been bought out by these billionnaires, and their lackluster performance: Aston Villa, Fulham, West Ham. West Ham’s about to be relegated.
All that said, Dein knows the club better than I do and apparently he feels very strongly that it needs this takeover. He’s ambitious and from what I gather would like to gave greater control of the club — he’s allied himself with Kroenke. I think Dein will be back.
By the way, many gooners don’t put too much stock in what Ian Wright says — he has a radio show and always tries to use his former relationship with the club to make headlines, and to sound more authoritative than he really is.
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Most people are assuming that a new rich owner will put the club into debt. But it could very well be the opposite - he might improve a club’s finances.
I’m not sure about his business acumen, but how is Colorado’s financial situation?
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I always wondered about debt and why it is even in the minds of fans. Is it because some teams gather so much debt that they eventually have to disband completely (or in less dire situations, sell off their best players)? The economics of football must be quite different from leagues like the NFL and the NBA. Typically in those leagues a team that is losing money will simply bleed until another wealthy person/group steps in and buys up the club and debt. Is that different from how things work in England? Are there still concerns that map from the fans’ minds to the finances of the club and the team they field? Inquiring minds want to know.
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but…we’re already in debt, sxb. =D i hear ya, though!
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Australia -
once again, my post didn’t show up!
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United States -
sorry again, sandrahn! not sure what this application has against you, but clearly, it’s personal!
thanks as always for your comments!
Posted from
United States
Comments are closed
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