Why Arsenal fans protesting for new ownership is a huge deal
One of the most popular soccer clubs in the world, Arsenal, may be under new ownership in a short amount of time. The current owner, Stan Kroenke, has been under heavy fire from fans and those around the sport for being one of 12 teams to sign up for the European Super League (ESL).
For those that aren’t aware, the European Super League was a European club breakaway tournament, that was set to release a couple of weeks ago. However, after immense outrage, teams began to leave the project, one of them being Arsenal.
The European Super League
The original agreement to the European Super League was not taken well by fans, and the subsequent exit from the new league lead to further rage. Not because people were fans of the new Super League, but just ashamed that their club would be one of the teams involved.
Earlier this week fans protested around Arsenal’s stadium concourse lighting flares and chanting “We Want Kroenke Out.”
This rage led to Spotify Co-Founder Daniel Ek tweeting that “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.”
This tweet then turned into what seems to be an actual bid.
New ownership for historic club Arsenal?
Daniel Ek, also along with Arsenal legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Patrick Vieira is planning a bid that will be significant.
Forbes estimates Arsenal to be worth about £2.8 billion. Fans can only expect the bid to be higher than that number. So now the question at hand is if Stan Kroenke is willing to walk away from this team?
Kroenke is not just the owner of the Los Angeles Rams and other U.S. sports teams. He is an American businessman, where still the bottom line is always money. Arsenal supporters rightly see him as an outsider, caring more about profits than the history and sanctity of the club.
Stan’s son, Josh Kroenke, said “I am not willing to answer that question because we have no intention of selling.” Kroenke Sports Entertainment has also said adamantly they are “not selling.”
This whole situation seems to be coming to a head very soon, as a bid is expected to be placed in the next two weeks.
#Kroenkeout?
From an outsider’s point of view it seems that Kroenke will not walk away from this team.
It also seems that Kroenke has a lot of pride and is not willing to have his reputation with Arsenal fans be as negative as it is right now. He wants to right the ship, and he wants that to happen under his command. With that being said, money does talk.
All we can do is wait for the offer to be made, and see what is more important to Kroenke: money or reputation.