Stan Kroenke
Stan Kroenke, a 40% owner of the Rams, is making his move to buy the other 60% of the club. His net worth sits at about $2.7 Billion, and his wife is Anne Walton (WAL as in WalMart. She’s an heir.) Money isn’t an issue. The hurdle has been his ownership of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids, and majority ownership of an English football club. See, NFL owners don’t like outside ownership to mishmash in their elite club. But they’ve made exceptions before, and they seem to like Kroenke. A deal is currently on the table for Shahid Khan, a guy who made his money in the Illinois auto parts industry, to buy the team. The deal is falling apart and the NFL needs the Rams off the table.
Now before you start running with the theory that the Rams are one of the few teams looking to go Hollywood, let’s look at Kroenke’s tendencies. He founded his real estate corporation in St. Louis in 1991, and became a minority owner of the Rams when they relocated in 1995. In 2000 he began accumulating ownership of Colorado sports franchises. Not once has he spoken of relocation. In fact, he seems to invest and build around the teams he claims stakes in. On his bid to buy the Rams he said, “While the decision about ownership now rests in the hands of the NFL and its owners, my dedication to the league, the Rams, their fans and the St. Louis community is as strong as ever.” This doesn’t sound like a man looking to buy and relocate. My best guess is, assuming the NFL approves the bid, he keeps the Rams in St. Louis and they go through a Redskins like transformation from the ground up. Could be the best thing to happen to team.
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