He owns the Denver Nuggets basketball team and the Colorado Avalanche, an ice-hockey team.

He’s married to Ann Walton, the Wal-Mart billionairess, who was the guarantor of the deal when he bought Denver’s NBA and NHL teams and the Pepsi Centre arena where they play.

He also owns Colorado Rapids in the MLS, and he has done a marketing /coaching deal with Arsenal, and the Rapids are coming over in August for a 4-club tournament at the Emirates, which may include Boca Juniors.

He knows that Arsenal were European Cup Finalists in 2006, and he knows that they opened a Vietnamese academy this week, and he knows that Chelsea have stopped spending silly money, and knows that Manchester United, now owned by the Glazers, are the world’s biggest club.

In other words, Stan Kroenke is a very big sports tycoon.

Last night at 6.25 pm I got an email telling me ITV plc had announced that they’d sold their 9.99% shareholding interest in Arsenal Holdings plc to Stan Kroenke’s KSE UK Inc.Then I got five phone calls.

Kroenke has paid about £65 million for this stake, which will include 50% of the broadband rights.

Two weeks ago, I noted that Forbes, the American business magazine, had reported this on their website. One assumed that Forbes knows what America’s 400 wealthiest are doing, business-wise.

So Kroenke has set up a British corporation to hold his shares in Arsenal. Why do that unless you want to buy the whole club? Why would a seriously smart billionaire businessman want to own 9.9% of a football club 5,000 miles away? A club he has no control over ? What would be the point?

My guess is that Stan Kroenke bought that 1% from Danny Fiszman through Morgan Stanley, and he acquired other shares through Morgan Stanley, like the block of 65 shares that were sold on Thursday April 5 at £6,650 each.

Clearly, the present board lack the vision and dynamism to take the club to the next level. But they have put the components in place. Arsenal has begun to be a global brand with multiple revenue streams and a huge fanbase. But the club has made short-sighted deals on the naming rights, the Nike kit deal, and the catering deal. The Arsenal board always know their price but don’t always know their value.

The Emirates and Arsenal will have an exit clause their agreement, covering both sides in the event of a takeover. This is bog standard procedure. When you do an MBA, they teach you this stuff in your first year.

Looking at the bigger picture, London is Europe’s  biggest city and Arsenal is London’s biggest football club, and Brazil have made a deal for five games in London’s biggest club stadium, although only two have been played so far. An Italy-Argentina game is also likely.

So, for Kroenke, huge potential and healthy projected incomes, including the lucrative sale of the flats at Highbury Square. Buying the  whole club, including the debt, will cost him over £800 million. He will raise that capital. He will borrow it from one of a queue of banks who want to lend to him. He won’t invest his personal wealth.

Officially, Stan Kroenke  now owns 9.9 % of Arsenal, but unofficially he may already own 15%. He could soon become the second biggest shareholder.

Last night he said, “Because of our long-time involvement in major sports, we greatly admire Arsenal, its rich history and traditions. Arsenal is one of the most respected sports clubs in the world, and we’ve been very impressed with the commitment of its supporters.”

Its good that Kroenke is American because Americans think big. Their country is 3000 miles wide, so they have to think big. They also think long-term and internationally. Soccer on TV is a massive global business which makes money on every continent. The companies that advertise in and around Premiership matches in Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong are all blue chip companies.

English supporters, bogged down in day-to-day news and local rivalries, can’t really see how big their game has become right round the world.

Foreign fans lap up the Premiership because players invariable battle for every ball and the action is more intense than it is in Spain or Italy. That makes the action intense and compelling. If you are 2-0 up in Spain or Italy, the game is usually over. In England, that is rarely the case.

Arsenal has not realised it’s now a big club. The noises coming from the club, and the manager, are those we expect from a Highbury-sized Arsenal. Glasgow Rangers owner David Murray once said, “At a  big club, you have to change the menu.” He was talking about buying a star every summer because the fans of a big club expect ambitious actions as well as ambitious words.

In the USA, it hasn’t taken Kroenke long to realise that Arsenal is now a big club which can get a lot bigger in the next ten years.

In the 20th century, Manchester United was the biggest club in the world and they peaked with their legendary treble in 1999.

But Arsenal are well placed to become the Manchester United of the 21st century. All they need is a new owner.

However, no buyer wants to be left in a situation of having a large, even majority share-holding, but with one or two large shareholders who keep their holdings and retain seats on the board. That can be very disruptive and is looked on very unfavourably by the market, reducing the value of the company, due to the risk and inflexibility it tends to bring.

The existing family shareholders will be under enormous pressure to sell at the offer price, when it comes. These deals will be being done now behind closed doors, so that the public statement to the market will show unanimity and a clear strategic, financial and operational path forward under the new owner.

As I said the other day, Arsene Wenger and his future contract will be at the centre of the transaction.

On Saturday, Colorado Rapids kick off their new MLS season with a home game against DC United of Washington, in their new 18,000 capacity stadium.

The headline on today’s Forbes.com  homepage is Another Yank buys into English football.