[ad_1]
LOS ANGELES — Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke is in a tent looking out over a field at Loyola Marymount University, where Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay have just finished coaching 100 children at a community event.
“Just seeing Mikel and Sean out there standing, talking with the kids around, it is kind of a full-circle moment that we have been building towards for a number of years,” Kroenke says in an exclusive interview with ESPN. “I’ve always preached that we need to figure out a way to get our different groups together because it is apples, oranges and watermelon but it’s all fruit to fruit.”
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), founded by Josh’s father, Stan, has enjoyed a ripe spell of late. It owns six professional teams and, in June 2023, the Denver Nuggets won their first NBA championship in their 48-year history. It was KSE’s fourth title in 18 months after the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2021, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche claimed the 2021-22 Stanley Cup, and the Colorado Mammoth were crowned 2022 National Lacrosse League champions. MLS side Colorado Rapids and English Premier League club Arsenal complete the six, and altogether KSE was valued by Forbes in January at $15.59 billion, making it the world’s largest privately held sports group.
“The benefit of the organisation my dad has built has given us the ability to cross-pollinate certain concepts and ideas across similar but different businesses, and those are our teams,” Kroenke continues.
“When you go through your hiring process, whether that’s your technical director/general manager-type role, a head coaching role, or you’re getting into new commercial enterprise driving the business, there are a lot of similarities, but they are all very different at times. With Sean and Mikel in particular, there is a relative template to putting good people in positions, giving them time and resources to succeed.”
There is a harmony within KSE these days….
[ad_2]
