ATLANTA — Stan Kroenke has pulled off the rare Triple Crown of sports ownership.
By unanimous approval, NFL owners voted here today to approve Kroenke’ full purchase of the St. Louis Rams’ franchise.
To comply with the NFL cross-ownership policy, Kroenke will transfer financial interest of the NFL Colorado Avalanche and NBA Denver Nuggets to his son Josh.
Wayne Huizenga — who once owned baseball’s Florida Marlins, hockey’s Florida Panthers and football’s Miami Dolphins — is the only other person who once owned three major sports franchises at the same. Huizenga has since sold the Marlins and Panthers and all but 5 percent of the Dolphins.
It won’t be easy for Kroenke to build the Rams into the type of consistent winner that for the most part he has for the Avs and Nuggets. In the previous three seasons, the Rams have gone on a 3-2-1 countdown — posting records of 3-13, 2-14 and 1-15.
“Everybody knows we like to be competitive,” Kroenke said. “To be competitive you have to have revenue. We’re going to work really hard to have a model that produces revenue to where we can be consistently competitive. Anybody can be competitive in the sports business every so often. But the real challenge is to be competitive every year. And the guys from Denver can tell you we’ve been in the playoffs between 70 to 80 percent of the time.”
Kroenke declined to address the cross-over issue regarding the long-term future concerning Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony. Kroenke offered Anthony the max-value contract extension of $65 million over three years but the forward has yet to accept, creating suspicion he will leave the Nuggets after this coming season.
“I think we’re here to talk about the Rams,” Kroenke said. “We can talk about Carmelo some other time. Josh will have lots of good answers for you on that.”
Josh Walton Kroenke is 30, stands 6-foot-4, and is a former shooting guard at the University of Missouri for coach Quin Snyder. He graduated from Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri, then attened New Hampton (NH) Prep School for a year before accepting a scholarship to Missouri.
Kroenke will have until the end of the year to remove himself from control of the Avs and Nuggets. Josh Kroenke will not only hold the financial interests of both clubs, he will be running the Nuggets as a front-office executive. Pierre Lacroix will continue running the Avs.
In acquiring so many sports franchises — besides the Avalanche, Nuggets and Rams, Kroenke also owns franchises in soccer (Rapids), lacrosse (Mammoth) and the Arsenal Football Club in England — Kroenke was asked if he’s spreading himself too thin.
“Pierre Lacroix has a proven record with the Avalanche so I don’t think we’re spread too thin there,” Kroenke said. “Josh Kroenke in my view has been ready to take over the Nuggets for a couple years. I just haven’t put him in that position. He was, and still is, very young, but he’s had his 10,000 hours if you read Malcom Gladwell. Josh is ready to do that.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
