So I was reading an interesting article about him today and I figured I would wikipedia him and I saw this: So does Kroenke have to give up majority control of the Rapids as well? I'm just curious. I assume he doesnt, and this article (the [6] above): http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5496516 doesnt say he has to sell either. I just thought I would ask. If he did sell the Rapids, he would obviously become STL's best hope at a potential MLS owner.
No, there's an exemption in the NFL ownership rules for soccer because back in the NASL days Lamar Hunt took the league to court and won so that he could own NFL and NASL teams.
Who knows if he has to sell. But one thing is certain, nearly every Rapids fan would love to see him go. He's pretty much an absentee owner. He has done some good things, mind you, just not enough and it's starting to hurt the rapids.
First off, to say he has to sell by 2014 is misleading because the deadline is Dec. 2014, so really the thinking should be does he have to sell by 2015. Quick answer is no he does not have to sell the Rapids. The NFL blocks owners from owning NHL, NBA, or MLB teams, but they are allowed to own MLS, hence Lamar Hunt owning Wizards and Kraft owning the Revolution. The true question is what will happen to Kroenke Sports Enterprises. Currently to make the NFL happy his son Josh is in charge of KSE and therefore is the head of the Nuggets/Avalanche/Pepsi Center. It seems to me the logical step is that by the end of 2014 Josh Kroenke will take over/buy KSE or setup a separate company and ownership of those clubs will be transferred to the new company. Then Stan would own the Rams and Arsenal but not the Nuggets/Avalanche. The question is where do the Rapids fit into this? Well comments have been made over the past couple of years that the Rapids have been brought more fully under the KSE umbrella than they were in the past. The Rapids main asset to Kroenke is the stadium and the land around the stadium which he has been unable to fully develop. He probably really doesn't care about the Rapids at all. Therefore I think the plan is to lump them in with the transfer of the Nuggets/Avalanche to Josh Kroenke. Whether the stadium/land are part of that is another matter. So the end of the long answer is: No he does not have to sell the Rapids, but I think he most likely will transfer ownership of them along with the Nuggets/Avalanche to Josh before the end of 2014.
Could it be that Josh ends up owning the Rapids, but his dad retains ownership of the The Dick and the land? And how do we feel about Josh as an owner as opposed to Stan? Or is there really no way to know?
I would love the city in which I live to have a MLS team and call me crazy but I think Stan might care more about a team in his backyard and home state than one in Colorado.
Interesting thread... For the most part, I think owners of sport teams just have the teams as their little toys. But the potential upside of MLS franchises are just insane. I don't know for sure what the franchises are worth today, but I would think that when (not if) they break the growth curve and get that major TV contract, these teams will be worth 4-5 times what they are today. Montreal bought in for $40M and there are rumors of wanting $70 to $100M for the 20th franchise. I could imagine a situation where the Rapids are worth at least $100M in 5-6 years. Does anyone know the current "worth" of the Rapids? How much did those new DC United owners have to pony up to buy into that ownership group?
Something I've wondered that maybe someone can shed some light on: As MLS starts to make more and more money, wouldn't it eventually drag the Rapids finances into being profitable? Could that be the reason why we didn't lose as much money last season?