Stan Kroenke

Ever since sports tycoon Enos Stanley Kroenke decided to bring the Rams back to Los Angeles in 2016, he has become one of the biggest names in Southern California commercial real estate.

In a short time, the 70,000-seat SoFi Stadium and surrounding 300-acre Hollywood Park — one of the largest privately financed real estate projects in the country — has already hosted 2022’s Super Bowl LVI (which the Rams won), the 2023 NCAA national football championship, and hundreds of NFL games and concerts. It is also locked in to host some of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl XLI in 2027, and the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2028 Summer Olympics, as well as Olympic swimming and track and field competitions. 

In addition to the stadium, Hollywood Park features 900,000 square feet of retail, 800,000 square feet of office, 2,500 residential units and a 300-room hotel. It also hosts a 227,000-square-foot performing arts center that seats 6,000. And it has led to an incredible surge in investment in the historically underserved city of Inglewood. That includes landmark projects like the adjacent $2 billion Intuit Dome, the NFL moving its corporate headquarters to Hollywood Park, and a flock of other developers planning large hotels and multifamily projects nearby. 

In 1983, Kroenke started the Kroenke Group, a development firm that builds retail shopping centers, apartment buildings and warehouses throughout North America and in Europe. 

But he’s much better known for starting Kroenke Sports & Entertainment in 1999, through which he became perhaps the most prolific American sports mogul ever. Kroenke owns the legendary Arsenal Football Club of the Premier League, the L.A. Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids and all of their venues. (Under Kroenke, those teams have won two Super Bowls, two Stanley Cups, and one NBA championship.)

Next, he’s helping remake the heart of L.A.’s San Fernando Valley with a massive headquarters complex for the Rams. His company bought the Promenade development site for $150 million, which will make way for a new practice facility. It’s adjacent to The Village, a 600,000-square-foot outdoor shopping mall in the Warner Center area, which Kroenke bought for $325 million in 2022. A 13-story office tower that Kroenke bought for $175 million is also across the way.

Spectators anticipate Kroenke to add another district of retail, hotels and residences, which should attract another flock of developers building around it.