Arsenal are involved in advanced talks with a billionaire
American sports tycoon, Stan Kroenke, about forming a
ground-breaking partnership with Kroenke's Major League Soccer
franchise, the Colorado Rapids, The Independent can
reveal.
The deal will primarily focus on Arsenal's push for expansion in
America, initially at least, but an intriguing aspect is that it
will put Arsenal into business with Kroenke, one of America's
richest men with a personal fortune of more than $2bn
(£1.02bn).
Kroenke, 59, a property magnate, is a prolific sports investor
whose portfolio includes the NFL's St Louis Rams, the NBA's Denver
Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, and the Rapids. He sees huge
potential for football in America, evidenced by heavy investment in
the Rapids, including a new, dedicated stadium that will open for
the 2007 season. But he has watched with interest as his
compatriots Malcolm Glazer, Randy Lerner, George Gillett Jnr and
Tom Hicks have bought Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool,
and is understood to be open-minded about branching out in England
himself.
There is no suggestion that Arsenal's current major shareholders -
Danny Fiszman (25 per cent), Nina Bracewell-Smith (15.9 per cent)
or David Dein (14.6 per cent) - are looking to sell, but Kroenke
would give them a ready-made option if that changed and Kroenke
wanted to expand his interests across the Atlantic. Another
shareholder, Granada TV (9.9 per cent), would like to offload its
shares, but those alone would not hand the buyer significant
power.
With three of England's "big four" - United, Chelsea and Liverpool
- already in foreign hands, Arsenal alone remain under British
ownership. This had led to inevitable takeover rumours in the past
year, not dampened by the fact that the hedge fund Lansdowne
Partners has been stockpiling Arsenal shares (2.7 per cent).
Lansdowne also bought into pre-takeover United, eventually selling
to Glazer.
Under the terms of the proposed Arsenal-Rapids alliance, it is
planned that the Rapids will be renamed, and become either Arsenal
Colorado or Colorado Arsenal. There are also plans to change the
colour of the team strip to match the historic maroon strip Arsenal
wore last season.
Both the proposed names have been trademarked by Kroenke's Sports
Enterprises firm, and their website domain names have been
registered to KSE headquarters in Denver, Colorado, in anticipation
of the deal being signed. The tie-up could also see the teams play
against each other in friendlies, work on coaching initiatives, and
develop players. The Rapids have plans to visit England for
pre-season training before the 2007 MLS season starts in April. It
is not known yet whether they will use Arsenal's facilities. The
Rapids will play the final game of their pre-season tour against
Valencia in Spain on 21 March.
Arsenal have been involved with a variety of partnership
agreements, including the Belgian team Beveren and an academy in
the Ivory Coast. They also have a "technical partnership" with
Spain's Celta Vigo, a club increasingly likely to be used as a
"staging post" for South American talent en route to London. The
Rapids tie-up would give Arsenal access to North American talent,
or be an option for young players to gain experience.
One stumbling block to Arsenal's link with the Rapids is that MLS
rules do not allow franchises to change names or team colours
without 18 months' notice, unless a penalty payment is made. Legal
work to resolve this issue is ongoing. Arsenal ideally want the
deal to begin in time for the 2007 season, when the international
media spotlight will focus on the MLS with the arrival of David
Beckham at LA Galaxy. An added complication is whether adidas,
which provides kit for all MLS teams, will have time to produce a
new Arsenal Colorado strip in time for this season's
kick-off.
An important figure in forging the partnership is Jeff Plush, 41,
the Rapids' vice-president and managing director, who is also a key
man in the KSE empire. It is understood he is an Arsenal fan. He
has specialised in recent years in the expansion of KSE's
"strategic business initiatives, new media enterprises, and brand
development".
The Gillett and Hicks takeover at Anfield has highlighted a growing
desire by American sports tycoons to invest in English football. In
a development which is separate from the Kroenke-Arsenal talks, The
Independent understands that another American billionaire, with
three franchises "in US sports", has been looking at Premiership
clubs. A well-connected source at a New York investment firm said
that this unnamed owner considered a bid for Liverpool last year.
The source said that the person in question is not Robert Kraft,
the owner of the NFL's New England Patriots, whose previous
interest in Liverpool was well publicised, but declined to say who
it is. The speculator is believed to be considering other
options.
Arsenal are an attractive option because of their international
status, while Newcastle are seen as ripe for a takeover. The owners
of Manchester City and Reading would sell to the right bidder but
probably lack the name recognition an American would
crave.
