Arsenal majority owner Stan Kroenke pays $32 million… for some shopping malls in the United States.
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has committed $32 million to a major venture… but unfortunately it will not help the Gunners.
Instead, limited companies owned by The Kroenke Group have bought two huge shopping malls in the United States – the 215,000-square-foot Uintah Gardens and the 84,000-square-foot Academy Place, both in Colorado Springs, the second largest city in the state of Colorado behind Denver.
It is an intriguing move for Kroenke’s company, of course, but one that fans of any of his sport teams will be frustrated by.
As well as Arsenal, Kroenke has stakes in NBA basketball franchise Denver Nuggets as well as ice hockey outfit Colorado Rapids, who take part in the NHL.
That makes the Gunners his one sport team investment outside of the state of Colorado, and Arsenal fans have regularly criticised his seeming lack of interest.
A barely seen presence at Arsenal matches, Kroenke often appears to have an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality when it comes to the north London club.
He seems content to let the club continue along the same model, gradually eliminating its debt with profits on player sales. Unfortunately for the fans, that has often resulted in the team’s best players leaving Arsenal.
They will certainly feel it is time for Kroenke to finally invest in the club he owns – especially with rival shareholder Alisher Usmanov lurking.
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