The billionaire businessman and sports mogul has been fortunate enough to see three of his professional teams — the Los Angeles Rams, the Colorado Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche — take home titles in their respective sports leagues over the past year and a half. Now it's the Denver Nuggets' turn to try to give the Walton family in-law some championship hardware as the team heads to the NBA Finals next month following an epic sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers, which culminated in a soul-crushing 113-111 victory on May 22 in the City of Angels.
“We’ve got a chance — and I’m going to quote Nikola Jokic here — to do something nice," Kroenke told the Denver Post after watching his team nab the franchise's first-ever Western Conference championship over LeBron and Co.
With a chance at making more history ahead and three recent championships in his rearview, it's time to start asking the question: Is Stan Kroenke the best owner in sports right now?
Kroenke's hot streak began in February 2022 with a win in Super Bowl LVI for his Rams over the Cincinnati Bengals. Next up was the Mammoth beating the Buffalo Bandits on June 18, 2022, to take the National Lacrosse League Cup. Kroenke's third title came less than one week later, with the Colorado Avalanche winning a Stanley Cup over the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 26, 2022.
"Stan Kroenke has been turning into one of the best owners in sports," said sports content creator @EGTVEgal in a May 23 tweet listing Kroenke's recent accomplishments.
Kroenke, who also owns the English football club Arsenal F.C. and the Los Angeles Guerrillas — an esports team that won a title in the industry's 2022 Call of Duty League last year — has been considered sports royalty for years now, with the New York Times dubbing him a "Sports Emperor" in 2010 ahead of his acquisition of the storied U.K. soccer franchise. A win by the Nuggets in the NBA Finals could cement Kroenke's legacy as one of the greatest sports owners of all time, however, and the undisputed best in show right now.
And Coach Michael Malone's squad knows it.
“I joke with Stan and [son] Josh Kroenke. I see the Rams win the Super Bowl, the Avs win the Stanley Cup and the teams they own win championships. And I tell them: ‘Here with the Nuggets, we have to do our part,'" Malone told the Denver Post's Mark Kiszla after their Game 3 win against the Lakers.
“I know one thing: Stan loves all of his teams. But he’s a basketball fan at heart," Malone added. "And I know Josh is a basketball fan at heart. So I know how much this means to them.”
Kroenke, who married Walmart heiress Ann Walton in 1974, began building his pro sports empire in 1999 with the formation of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. He purchased the Avalanche in 2000, and the team won a Stanley Cup just a year later.
In 2004, Kroenke decided to add the Colorado Rapids and Colorado Mammoth to his arsenal, and both saw immediate success. The Mammoth wound up winning the now-defunct Champion's Cup for the National Lacrosse League in 2004; the Rapids snagged the Major League Soccer Cup in 2010.
But life hasn't always been all sunshine and rainbows for the 75-year-old Kroenke. His run as a sports owner has been marred by some controversial decisions and spicy career moves, like his 2016 breakup and contract debacle with the St. Louis Rams — which subsequently moved to L.A.
"40,000 ROWDY XFL FANS IN ST. LOUIS CHANT 'KROENKE SUCKS,'" reads the headline of a March 2023 OutKick article.
“The three biggest sports in St. Louis are the Cardinals, the Blues and Kroenke-hating,” blasted KNWS radio host and sports columnist Bernie Miklasz in a February 2022 interview with the New York Post. “It borders on obsession with a lot of people here, and sometimes beyond obsession. It’s almost become a weird loyalty oath of sorts."
Another major topic of contention has been Kroenke's role in the Comcast and Altitude blackout saga, with many fans feeling he could be doing more to get Avalanche and Nuggets games shown to the masses through Denver's major carriers.
Over the years, Kroenke's ownership of the Altitude Sports network has prompted fans and media outlets alike to call out the mega-mogul on ways he could be smoothing things over with Comcast to get more eyes on Colorado's two best products right now — the Avs and Nuggets.
The entire fiasco stems from the 2019 decision to drop Altitude from both the DISH Network and Comcast on the grounds that KSE was demanding unfair price increases. Kroenke and his team were able to work things out with DirecTV, but not the other big carriers.
Another controversial topic for Kroenke has been his widely panned efforts to break the Arsenal away from Europe's classic football system and create a European Super League, much to the chagrin of soccer traditionalists.
"Arsenal fans are out in their masses to protest against billionaire owner Stan Kroenke, due to the proposed European Super League," tweeted the popular soccer account @101greatgoals in April 2021. According to Newsweek, protesters were demonstrating in London, demanding that Kroenke sell Arsenal F.C. and stay out of European soccer for good.
Winning, however, is a hell of a drug in the United States.
Should he be crowned "the best sports owner in the world" if the Nuggets get the job done and win their first NBA championship in fifty years under his ownership? Maybe not according to people from St. Louis or across the pond, but he'll definitely have the most bragging rights.
Another major topic of contention has been Kroenke's role in the Comcast and Altitude blackout saga, with many fans feeling he could be doing more to get Avalanche and Nuggets games shown to the masses through Denver's major carriers.
Screw Kroenke!!!! he is the reason we are loosing out on a whole generation being able to watch the nugs and the avs!! Kroenke and Comcast are both hot trash piles
— craiger (@Justincraiger) May 23, 2023
Avalanche fans lose again, thanks to Altitude, Kroenke, Comcast and Dish. https://t.co/xPaovoC1vL
— Gary Murphy (@gmurphy801) April 14, 2021
The entire fiasco stems from the 2019 decision to drop Altitude from both the DISH Network and Comcast on the grounds that KSE was demanding unfair price increases. Kroenke and his team were able to work things out with DirecTV, but not the other big carriers.
Another controversial topic for Kroenke has been his widely panned efforts to break the Arsenal away from Europe's classic football system and create a European Super League, much to the chagrin of soccer traditionalists.
"Arsenal fans are out in their masses to protest against billionaire owner Stan Kroenke, due to the proposed European Super League," tweeted the popular soccer account @101greatgoals in April 2021. According to Newsweek, protesters were demonstrating in London, demanding that Kroenke sell Arsenal F.C. and stay out of European soccer for good.
Winning, however, is a hell of a drug in the United States.
With a championship in the offing, it's easy to look past all the drama that's surrounded Kroenke over the years.Incredible story if #Nuggets win the title.
— Eric Goodman (@EricGoodman) May 21, 2023
I understand the venom at Stan Kroenke during this Comcast dispute, but you cannot dispute what his teams have done, potentially, over the last three years.
3 potential titles in 3 years in 3 different sports: Rams, #GoavsGo, Nuggets.
Should he be crowned "the best sports owner in the world" if the Nuggets get the job done and win their first NBA championship in fifty years under his ownership? Maybe not according to people from St. Louis or across the pond, but he'll definitely have the most bragging rights.
