Super Stan: Rams Owner Cashes In On Franchise’s Good Fortunes

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke is worth $12.5 billion. And about $4.7 billion of that massive chunk of change comes from the Rams franchise. 

Kroenke took ownership of the team in 2010 when it was worth $750 million, and since then, he’s seen his football team’s literal fortune explode by more than 600%.

In that time, Kroenke moved the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles and built a massive, state-of-the-art stadium that will be the site of this year’s Super Bowl. 

How big of a deal is $4.7 billion? It makes the Rams one of the five most valuable franchises in the league, and, as of 2021, it’s more than twice the value of the Cincinnati Bengals franchise.

How Kroenke turned a small fortune into a superpower

Kroenke bought the Rams in 2010 when the team was in St. Louis. At that time, the team was putrid; an absolute doormat.

From 2007 to 2009, the team won a total of five games. It went 1-15 in 2009. Gone were the days of the Greatest Show on Turf, when superstars like Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk won and went to the Super Bowl twice from 1999 to 2001 and won the championship in 1999. 

Kroenke’s first two years as owner were the definition of up and down. In 2010, the team went 7-9 and the following year it went 2-14.

After four more losing seasons, Kroenke announced he was moving the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles. It was a contentious move. On the one hand, the move was a homecoming for L.A., where the Rams played from 1946 to 1994.

On the other hand, it was a heartbreaker for St. Louis. Kroenke’s decision was not a popular one, and drew the city’s ire, as evidenced by the 2016 Letter to the Editor sent to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“Kroenke had the choice to side with kind and kin and help build the city he claimed to love, but instead deserted it and in turn made the decisions to become a traitor and one of the most hated people in the history of St. Louis.” 

The move turned out to be a smart one for Kroenke, a Missouri native who said the decision wasn’t an easy one. The team is now one of the most valuable ones in the league and the Rams are in the Super Bowl for the second time in four years. 

Since moving to Los Angeles six years ago, the team has had as many seasons with double-digit wins–four–as the Rams had in the 26 years leading up to the move. 

DraftKings odds say the Rams are the favorite to win Super Bowl LVI

Kroenke would likely say that his $4.7 franchise is worth nothing if he can’t bring the Lombardi Trophy to Los Angeles. 

If the oddsmakers at DraftKings are any indication, Kroenke won’t’ be disappointed. The Rams are the Super Bowl favorite on at -200 odds. The spread is 4.5 points, and the over-under is at 48.5. 

DraftKings is running a pair of boosted bets ahead of the Big Game: 

• +600: Bengals win, Joe Burrow throws for more than 260 yards, and Ja’Marr Chase catches a touchdown
• +500: Rams win, Matthew Stafford, throws for more than 290 yards, and Odell Beckham Jr. scores a touchdown

DK is offering hundred of bets ranging from simple moneyline wagers to multi-player prop bets, single-player props, and cross-sport props, where bettors can wager on an outcome in the Super Bowl and an NBA player’s performance.