We’ve seen a lot of supporter protests against the clubs that tried to breakaway and form the European Super League, but the scenes outside the Emirates yesterday might have been the biggest and boldest. There is certainly a lot of backlash from Manchester United supporters against the Glazer family right now.
There was another demonstration of that today. Lots of Liverpool supporters have no love for Fenway Sports Group. But wow the Gooners are really out in full force against Kroenke Sports Entertainment. Take a look:
Amazing scenes here at Emirates Stadium as Arsenal fans continue their protest against KSE #KroenkeOut pic.twitter.com/I1e2diPWKs
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley) April 23, 2021
#KroenkeOut is a movement that’s as strong as it’s ever been, and it is amidst this environment that Swedish billionaire has signaled his interest in buying Arsenal football club. The Kroenkes have essentially dug in, they have not expressed any interest in selling, but as this past week just reminded us, these are crazy times and anything can happen with big money football.
Ek, the co-founder and chief executive of music streaming service Spotify, has a reported net worth of about $4.7 billion, and he took to Twitter to express his interest in purchasing the north London outfit.
As a kid growing up, I’ve cheered for @Arsenal as long as I can remember. If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I'd be happy to throw my hat in the ring.
— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) April 23, 2021
Arsenal was recently ranked by Forbes as the 8th most valuable club in the world, with a valuation of $2.8 billion, so Ek can certainly afford it. The Kroenkes, led by the man very appropriately nicknamed Silent Stan, have a massive portfolio of sports franchise holdings.
The Missouri based enterprise KSE also owns the L.A. Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalance and Colorado Rapids. Of course, being the owner of Arsenal is a very different experience from owning that quartet of American teams.
Daniel Ek is just throwing his hat in the ring at this point, but it will be interesting to see what happens as the calls for Kroenke to exit ramp up.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.