By Rory Carroll
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (Reuters) – Rams owner Stan Kroenke on Sunday praised his team’s fighting spirit after they battled back to win the Super Bowl on their home field, and said the $5.5 billion stadium he funded seemed to be working out just fine.
The billionaire businessman, who is sometimes called “Silent Stan” because of his reluctance to talk to the press, was effusive in his praise of the team, its coaches and its managers during a brief on-field interview.
“It’s amazing,” Kroenke said while holding the Lombardi trophy after the come-from-behind, 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. The win marked the second championship for the franchise and first since returning to LA six years ago.
“I’m just really proud of this group,” he said. “Sean (McVay) and Les (Snead), Kevin (Demoff) and all the guys. So happy for them.
“And we talk about these players, Matthew (Stafford), Andrew (Whitworth), Von (Miller) – they’re unbelievable and they just hung in there. It was a tough game. I’m just so proud of them for executing like they did there at the end.”
The Rams had the good fortune of playing the title game on their home field – the massive, state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
“As far as building this stadium, I think it turned out all right,” he said.
The stadium will host World Cup matches in 2026 and the Olympic opening ceremony in 2028 along with other major concerts and events in the coming years.
Kroenke also owns the Premier League’s Arsenal FC, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, among other teams.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles)
