The Denver Gazette sports business insider is a reader’s guide to understanding the influence of money, politics and power behind their favorite leagues, teams and players.

Sports business insider: Stan Kroenke has the most lucrative sports empire in 2025 with a team ownership portfolio valued at over $21 billion.

Short version: Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) owns the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and the Premier League’s Arsenal F.C.

CNBC reported Tuesday that KSE ranked as the most valuable sports empire in 2025.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the top five ownership groups:

1. KSE — $21.17 billion

2. The Jones family (Dallas Cowboys) — $15.53 billion

3. Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (Washington Commanders, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils) — $14.58 billion

4. Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, Liverpool) — $14.19 billion

5. Madison Square Garden Sports Corp (New York Rangers, New York Knicks) — $12.69 billion

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Your daily report on everything sports in Colorado – covering the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and columns from Woody Paige and Paul Klee.

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Long version: In explaining its calculations, the business TV news service included the valuations of only sports-related assets. CNBC said that a sports empire is “defined by its scale.”

So, it makes sense why Kroenke ranks above the rest.

Three KSE teams won recent championships between the Nuggets (2023), Avalanche (2022) and Rams (2022).

Arsenal is still searching for its first UEFA Champions League title. Business is still booming. Forbes valued the club at $3.4 billion in 2025 after generating $771 million in revenue last year. That ranks No. 8 overall among the world’s most valuable soccer teams.

Key context: There are two local sports team owners — the Walton-Penner ownership group (Broncos) and Dick Monfort — who did not make CNBC’s Top 20 list of most valuable sports empires in 2025.

The Walton-Penner group purchased the Broncos for $4.65 billion in 2022. They do not own any other sports teams. But the Waltons, owners of the global retailer Walmart, are considered the richest family in the world (per Forbes) at $267 billion.

The Rockies were valued at $1.62 billion in 2025 (per CNBC), which ranked No. 23 out of 30 MLB teams. Monfort’s net worth, as of 2020, was reportedly $700 million.

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What’s next: Kroenke will play a significant role in the future of downtown Denver.

Last month, KSE became the sole owner of multiple properties — including Elitch Gardens and Meow Wolf — along the proposed River Mile development. Denver City Council has approved the rezoning of 55 acres surrounding Ball Arena from parking lots into housing, parks and retail spaces. KSE has also agreed to keep the Avalanche and Nuggets in downtown Denver through 2050.