Sports Teams’ Owner and Real Estate Billionaire Stan Kroenke: New Largest Single U.S. Landowner

There is a new number one on the list of the nation’s leading landowners in the United States. If you don’t recognize the name, Stan Kroenke, you are probably at least familiar with some of the sports teams he owns: the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.

The sports and entertainment mogul now owns 2.7 million acres of private land, consisting mostly of cattle ranches, according to the new Land Report 100 list.

Kroenke was number four on last year’s list. But after completing the single-largest land purchase in the U.S. in more than a decade just last month, he has moved to the top spot.

The property that propelled him there includes more than 937,000 deeded acres of ranchland in New Mexico that previously belonged to the heirs of Teledyne founder Henry Singleton.

Eric O’Keefe, editor of The Land Report, announced the new Land Report 100 list at this year’s Land Investment Expo, held earlier this week in Des Moines, Iowa. O’Keefe said Kroenke’s collection of iconic ranches mirrors his penchant for acquiring sports teams.

“I believe it’s a top-tier portfolio that mirrors the excellence—or vice versa—that you see at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment,” O’Keefe said, describing the sports magnate’s growing list of legacy properties.

RELATED: Here is another massive cattle ranch that changed hands in New Mexico last year. O’Keefe explains why multi-million-dollar legacy ranches often sell in such a short amount of time. 

Kroenke Owns Largest Ranch in Rocky Mountains

Kroenke’s growing grazing ground is located primarily in the West and extends into Canada. According to The Land Report, he owns ranches in several states. In Wyoming, he owns the largest single ranch in the Rocky Mountains, the 560,000-acre Q Creek Ranch. The 124,000-acre Broken O Ranch in Montana, the W.T. Waggoner Estate in Texas, and Nevada’s Gamble Ranch are among his other notable properties.

At the Land Investment Expo, O’Keefe also shared some of Kroenke’s priorities for the land.

He noted, “In addition to job one, which would be running cattle, he’s been looking at diversification. On the Waggoner Ranch, he partnered with Ørsted, a Danish renewables company, to put in a wind farm that can power more than 100,000 homes.”

RELATED: This Oklahoma ranch sold to new owners, and the broker involved in the deal said it could transition to something different. 

O’Keefe said sharing the stories behind some of these major land sales is important for a variety of reasons.

“Each and every landowner has their own story. It could revolve around a generational heritage. It might just as easily be a brand-new path being forged,” he said. “Hopefully, by focusing on a variety of landowners in different settings coast to coast, The Land Report creates interest, shows possibilities, and affirms legacies.”

Here are the individuals and families who rounded out the top 10 on this year’s list:

• Stan Kroenke / Owner, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment / 2,700,000 acres

• Emmerson Family / Owners, Sierra Pacific Industries / 2,440,000 acres

• John Malone / Businessman and Liberty Media Chairman Emeritus / 2,200,000 acres

• Ted Turner / CNN founder and businessman / 2,000,000 acres

• Reed Family / Forestry business owners / 1,615,000 acres

• Buck Family / Peter Buck, Subway co-founder / 1,320,000 acres

• Irving Family / Irving Woodlands forestry business / 1,267,000 acres

• King Ranch / King Ranch family / 911,000 acres

• Pingree Heirs / Seven Islands Land Company / 830,000 acres

• Cullen Heirs / Quintana Minerals Corporation / 800,000 acres