..or maybe not..from The Telegraph

I think hes just trying to win over more support than the other guy

Kroenke may not want to take over the club, but Usmanov sure does.

Maybe he has seen the way other single owners have gone, and realises that the way forward to make a profit is the Arsenal way of doin things. I think this boy has got a lot of experience to pass on to the club. He's invested heavilly in "Soccer" in the US, so what better place to invest than the best financially viable club in the uk?

that sounds really perfect; I hope it's true and things work out that way and Jabba suffers a massive coronary

and of course

:scarf: :clap: :scarf:


(Note that he apparently didn't mention American football. That gives me confidence in his judgment. If he said he thought soccer could be as popular as football in the States, I'd think he was naive. But baseball and basketball really are legitimate targets.)

Kroenke really has gone all about this the right way, the friendly way, the safe way, he's showing that he is not just a gung-ho businessman who only wants to squeeze the club for every penny it's got and the bugger off elsewhere, he sees this club as a classy investment that can be a part of his already growing empire of sport related ventures.

He is gaining the trust of the board and of the fans which is crucial in any kind of fan-based companies and has shown that his intentions are genuine and he wants to make this club as good as it can be in the future.

If he joins the board then he is eligible to put money into the club giving us a crucial financial boost to help pay off the stadium debt and compete better in the transfer market, if not that then to help keep players at the club with wage increases.

I for one am growing more and more confident about having Stan joining the club :good:

:goodpost:

Especially the 3rd paragraph

My finger slipped and hit reply by mistake before I finished typing :getoat:

But is it a fake character portrayed to us ? What if he takes over, then goes mad e.g. Thaksin style ?

Oats are nice this time of year

Did I miss something? That quote from the Telegraph does mention American Football.

All the more reason we shouldnt be taken over.

If you look at his track record with his other sporting businesses you will see that he is true to his word :good:






Cripps... Sod off :p

I'd be happy to have him on the board! but want to keep us english owned! if he fancies chucking an intrest free loan in here and there then what the hey! let him!

you're right. That quote's from PHW, of course, but now I realize that they're probably using PHW's assertion about what Kranky believes for the part of the article I quoted too.

Oh well.

Have to say I have my doubts too.

JF is there any indication that the general American populace is taking any more notice of 'soccer' than before? Are attendences increasing, is airtime or sponsporship increasing?

I was under the impression that the MLS is very much niche with the majority of fans being those of European or South American extraction.

I have no problems with him joining the board, he seems allright.
Dein wanted this guy to come in a few years ago and that was one of the main reasons why he lost his job in the end, PHW did not want his sort @ the club, now he is being welcomed in with open arms and Dein is now looking in from the outside, Life goes round in funny circles sometimes

There are four ways to answer that question. (And each ends up at "Yes.")

1. There is more interest in soccer from your typical adult American -- by which I mean someone whose family has been in the States for 3 generations. ESPN, our major sports channel, is showing CL games live whenever they're on. (But usually Manyoo; almost never the Arsenal. <_<) They showed all the Euro matches this summer. The MLS is shown regularly every Thursday night and on weekends. The Gold Cup (North American tournament) got higher ratings than the Stanley Cup (Hockey Championships) in the US. This is all a relatively recent development. It shows increasing popularity and interest from the sports entertainment industry.

In general, I think (I hope) that both the MLS and other parties interested in promoting soccer in the US are approaching it as niche marketing. The thing is now, with cable tv and the communications/entertainment revolution in general, everything is niche-marketing. So that's not necessarily an indication that soccer is small-time; everything is small time now, since there's such a bewildering diversity of entertainment options out there. Also you have to remember how massive the US market is: 300 million people. So even a small market share could be equivalent to the number of fans in even the large European countries.

Without having looked too closely -- or, heaven forbid, watched any games -- my impression is that the MLS is looking very sustainable and, long term, continues to show real growth potential among even your typical adult American.

2. Soccer also has privileged access to the female and family market: girls play soccer, so (it stands to reason) they'll want to watch it and go to matches.

Now the demographic stuff.

3. Soccer is more popular among younger viewers. This mainly down to the fact that so many kids play on youth soccer teams. So as that generation ages (and starts to make money), there should be more interest in and money to be made from soccer.

4. The hispanic population is growing much more rapidly in the US than any other demographic. By 2050, it's projected to be the largest ethnic group in the country. That bodes well for the future of soccer.

Good times!

Hmm...Thanks JF. Interesting stuff indeed.

If this is the case then Kroenke is being pretty astute in getting in early(ish) with a regular CL club. If the long term potential is there in the States - and Kroenke is likely to be seeing the same thing as you - then that's much more reassuring. Steady long-term investment for long-term gains should bring the kind of stabilty we're looking for.

And better that than the unknown intentions of the Uzbek.

I do wonder though whether Kroenke would have got his foot in the door if it weren't for the threat of Usmanov.

I'd agree with JF's assessment of the state of soccer here in the US. It's growing in popularity but I don't think we'll ever see it become a national obsession like it is in Europe.

A slippery slope the MLS is treading is the inception of the designated player rule AKA the David Beckham rule. This rules allows teams to designate one player as exempt from consideration in the teams salary cap which allows them to pay more competitive wages. This sounds good in theory since it should bring in more talented international players which will spark interest, but it also has the potential to turn the MLS into a footballers retirement home. As of now the youngest designated player is 29 with the oldest being 35.

yeah, and just to add two more grounds for unhappiness with the designated player rule --

1. The rule has the potential to undermine the financial restraints that the MLS has instituted. These restraints are very important, in that they aim to prevent the MLS growing too much too fast and thus creating a bubble -- a situation where people overvalue the league and invest too much money in it, but then discover that there's not sufficient profitability to recoup their investment, and so pull out and the whole house of cards comes crashing down. I think this is part of what killed the NASL in the early 80s. The MLS should really just concentrate on growing within its means.

2. It creates a dangerous tendency of relying on past superstars, fat and faded, jaundiced and jaded. That'll bring short-term excitement but it won't build a lasting fanbase. We need to develop young Americans who can be stars. (Which we're doing to some extent.) Also, the demography works out here as well. We've got such a fricking large population, there have to be kids out there with potential world-class ability. If we keep looking, eventually we'll find a few gems.

Two more good points there and the second one I've been saying for quite sometime. We have a mass of Mexican, Central, and South American immigrants who have footballing in their blood so you'd think that out of all of them we'd be able to pull a reasonable amount of players (citizens or otherwise) that could bolster the league. The whole designated player thing is a good idea as a marketing stunt to spark interest, but it's nothing more than a stop gap effort in the face of a real problem.