Like most billionaires, E. Stanley Kroenke is accustomed to getting what he wants.
Even more than most billionaires, he is extremely careful about what he says publicly. Hence the nickname Silent Stanley.
So when the owner of the Nuggets and Avalanche announced not an attempt or a bid but his “intention” to buy a majority interest in the St. Louis Rams, it meant something is about to give.
As far as I can tell, there are only three possibilities:
• The NFL gives on the subject of cross-ownership, allowing a Kroenke surrogate or relative to take titular control of the Nuggets and Avs while he takes over the Rams.
• Kroenke gives by actually selling the Nuggets and Avs in an arm’s- length transaction, no simple sale considering he also owns the building they play in and the real estate around it.
• Broncos owner Pat Bowlen gives by participating in the second recorded trade of NFL franchises, allowing Kroenke to consolidate his big league teams in Denver, an established exception to the cross- ownership rule.
Exotic as it sounds, that last one ain’t happening. The Broncos referred all questions to the league office, but I can tell you that one of Bowlen’s favorite declarations, which he made to me a decade ago and made again as recently as Rod Smith’s retirement, is that he will be carried out of Broncos headquarters in a pine box. He means it. The Broncos are his life’s work. He’s not going anywhere.
Based on the statement Kroenke Sports Enterprises issued Tuesday, you can come pretty close to ruling out the second option too.
“On Monday, Mr. E. Stanley Kroenke announced his intention to purchase the remaining interest in the St. Louis Rams franchise of the National Football League,” KSE executive vice president Paul Andrews said. “There will be much speculation in the coming days and weeks about this transaction. We will not speculate or comment further about this decision.”
No surprise there. But then he added this:
“Mr. Kroenke and his family remain fully committed to Denver and each KSE-owned property.”
If Kroenke was preparing to divest himself of the Nuggets and Avs, this sentence wouldn’t be there. It would be foolish to declare himself “fully committed” to the Nuggets and Avs, each a “KSE-owned property,” and then put them up for sale. And Kroenke is not foolish.
Which leaves us with the NFL owners overlooking their own cross-ownership rule. As it happens, Kroenke’s 29-year-old son Josh is listed as a Nuggets executive in the team’s media guide for the first time this year, although he’s been around the club off and on for the last three. It is no accident, I suspect, that Andrews said “Kroenke and his family” remain fully committed to Denver.
If Bowlen is OK with such a fig leaf, his fellow NFL owners might be too, although the precedent would basically destroy the cross-ownership ban. Bowlen and Kroenke are friends and business partners in other ventures. Besides, as a minority owner of the Rams and frequent participant in NFL owners’ meetings, Kroenke is already privy to all the inside information he would get as majority owner. From Bowlen’s standpoint, nothing would really change.
Then there is the matter of Shahid Khan. This is the man whose bid Kroenke trumped by exercising his right-of-first refusal to buy the Rams.
Khan is a Pakistani immigrant who has had issues with the IRS. Between him and Kroenke, who do you suppose the exclusive NFL owners’ club might prefer?
As long as we’re speculating, it seems possible Kroenke is playing the role of a white knight in the transaction, coming in with the active encouragement of other owners. If Bowlen has no objection to his buying the Rams, and Kroenke is willing to provide the fig leaf of Josh or another family member becoming owner of the Nuggets and Avs, that might be enough to get 24 out of 32 votes to approve his ownership.
For now, league spokesmen are saying Kroenke must abide by the cross-ownership rule, which is understandable. Only the owners can change it.
They have already maneuvered around it in the cases of Paul Allen and Wayne Huizenga, rationalizing that Allen’s NBA team, the Blazers, didn’t play in an NFL market, and that Huizenga’s Miami teams all played in the same market.
The most reasonable explanation for Kroenke’s confidence that he can buy the Rams and remain committed to the Nuggets and Avs is that NFL owners are getting ready to maneuver around the cross-ownership rule once again, and that the Broncos have no objection.
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297, dkrieger@denverpost.com or
