Arsenal Owner Stan Kroenke Angers Fans By Taking $5 Million Out Of Club

Arsenal's latest company accounts reveal that majority shareholder Stan Kroenke "has taken a payment" of £3M ($5M) out of the club, according to Amy Lawrence of the London GUARDIAN. Having never taken dividends from his American sports franchises, which include the NBA Denver Nuggets and the NFL St. Louis Rams, "this is a move that has gone down badly with Arsenal supporters." Coincidentally, the £3M figure "tallies with the amount the club raised from a 3% rise on season-ticket prices for this season." The money "has been paid to Kroenke’s company, KSE LLC" (GUARDIAN, 9/23). In London, Jeremy Wilson wrote Arsenal has stressed that employees of Kroenke Sports Enterprises -- the company that controls Kroenke’s sports teams in the U.S. -- "have worked with the club across a wide variety of sectors and initiatives since the takeover in 2011 and that the payment simply reflects this" (TELEGRAPH, 9/23).