Stanley and Josh Kroenke, global sports tycoons on a winning run

As champagne flowed in the Denver Nuggets locker room on Monday after the basketball team’s first NBA league title, Josh Kroenke, scion of the Kroenke-Walton families that have owned it since 2000, reflected on what the victory meant for the Colorado city’s residents.

“Enjoy it. This is for you,” he told the local Kroenke-owned Altitude TV network. “I knew that when we got here we wanted to figure out a way to stay and be in the conversation and I think these guys are going to be in the championship conversation for a long time.”

The result gives Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, a sprawling sports, media and real estate empire with six professional clubs spanning four sports and two continents, its fourth league title in less than two years. KSE last year notched up a Super Bowl victory with the Los Angeles Rams, a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche ice hockey team and a National Lacrosse League championship for the Colorado Mammoth. 

With their London football club Arsenal finishing second in the English Premier League and returning to the Champions League after a six-year absence, the Kroenkes have amassed as prolific a sporting run of any ownership group in recent years.

Executives who have worked with the Kroenkes, led by patriarch E Stanley Kroenke alongside his 43-year-old son Josh, say the pair take a hands-on approach to managing their clubs, making clear their goal is not just winning titles but also seeking to ensure long-term stability.

“One of the greatest characteristics of Stan is that the highs are not too high and the lows are not too low,” Kevin Demoff, president of the Los Angeles Rams, told the Financial Times. “He takes a steady, methodical approach.” 

The elder Kroenke, a real estate developer by background and husband to Walmart heir Ann Walton, has placed particular emphasis on owning and developing his clubs’ stadiums, including the Nuggets’ Ball Arena and the Rams’ SoFi Stadium. Forbes estimates the value of the KSE empire at $12.8bn.

Among the biggest controversies of Kronke’s tenure as a sports owner was his manoeuvre to relocate the Rams seven years ago from St Louis back to their original home in Los Angeles. In 2021, Kroenke and the National Football League agreed to pay $791mn to settle claims by St Louis that the team had been improperly yanked from the region, depriving it of a lucrative source of tourism and entertainment. 

The same year, the Kroenkes were among the ownership groups who formed the ultimately doomed breakaway European Super League, roiling global football and prompting grovelling apologies by owners to clubs and their supporters.

However, the mood at Emirates has improved this season with an uptick in fortunes on the pitch and a younger, refreshed line-up under head coach Mikel Arteta. A campaign to get Kroenke to sell the club during years of underperformance has faded away. 

“There is definitely more of a connection with fans. It’s definitely a happier Arsenal,” said Tim Payton of the Arsenal Supporters Trust, although he cautioned that “it’s fragile and doubts remain over their intent given the support they gave for the Super League”.

Succession plans are in motion. In March Josh Kroenke became co-chair of Arsenal while Tim Lewis, the lawyer who advised on the original purchase of the club, was named executive vice-chair. Fans say the increased profile of the younger Kroenke has helped mend relations. 

“Arsenal fans will think of KSE’s involvement through Josh — he’s the figurehead. But Stan still makes the big calls,” said Payton. “Josh has a much more outgoing personality,” he added, while Stan is “distant and reserved” and has never shown “real interest in engaging with supporters”. 

Both Kroenkes have been pounding the pavement and racking up air miles this spring, attending playoff games for the Nuggets and Avalanche both in their home markets as well as on the road, while Josh attended Arsenal’s final fixture of the season at Emirates on May 28 before returning to Colorado for the NBA Finals.

Demoff, the Rams president, said both father and son are “elite competitors” who have a say in most major club decisions, from the appointment of coaches and stars to attending team practices and chatting with players each week.

“We talk to him daily to keep him abreast of what’s going on,” Demoff said of the elder Kroenke.

The family also foster group interaction between their clubs, inviting coaches and management from each team to share in the celebrations or attend consequential matches.

Sean McVay, the Rams head coach, said this week he attended a playoff series two seasons ago between the Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns that Denver ultimately lost.

“Being in the locker room with them afterwards and just watching the way they stayed the course, the patience and leadership by the Kroenkes. it was awesome to be able to see,” McVay told reporters on Tuesday. 

“What else can you say, a Super Bowl, a Stanley Cup, winning an NBA title now and [the Arsenal result] — some pretty damn good owners right there.”