Kroenke - You Sneaky S.o.B.

Stan Kroenke, the head honcho of Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE), has bought his stake in Arsenal today. For the past month or so (ever since the link up between Colorado and the Gunners really), it has been speculated that he would front a take-over bid. The bid, however, never materialized but this is certainly a step in that direction. Kroenke extends overseas for the first time as he has mostly been confined to ownership of Colorado teams (the NHL's Avalanche, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the MLS' Rapids). His only outlier is his co-ownership of the NFL's St. Louis Rams. This particular chunk of ownership was bought from the British boobtube network, ITV which Kroenke is also looking at buying into. The stake is worth about $80 million. Although a "small" percentage was taken over, this puts the Big Four (Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Man Utd) in the hands of overseas owners.

His stake is now 9.99% (as reported by ESPN Soccernet). He is clearly bullish on the prospects of Arsenal and might be eying a future takeover. This is big news following the recent takeover of Liverpool by Americans George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks (both big in the NHL) and the controversial takeover of Manchester United by Tampa Bay Bucs' owner Malcolm Glazer and his entourage of offspring. Don't forget Randy Lerner with Aston Villa. All in the past year or so. Kind of ridiculous.