Stan Kroenke, the owner of Arsenal, has ordered his new TV streaming service to stop showing big-game hunting.
Kroenke has been heavily criticised after the UK launch of MyOutdoorTV, which is run by Outdoor Sportsman Group (OSG), part of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, because it shows videos of hunters with dead animals.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader and an Arsenal fan, said earlier this week he was disgusted that Kroenke was involved in such a “brutal, unethical and unnecessary activity” and “appalled at the glorification of killing wild and rare animals on this TV channel”.
MyOutdoorTV promised to show “thousands of hunting, fishing and shooting episodes featuring the biggest names in outdoor TV ... how-to videos and even wild game recipes”. It charges subscribers $9.99 (£7.60) a month and works in a similar way to Netflix.
But Jim Liberatore, OSG’s chief executive, said Kroenke has now asked for the service to remove content related to big-game animals “in light of the public interest”.
In a statement, Liberatore said: “In the past few days, there has been significant public attention to a small portion of programming on our MyOutdoorTV app that contains content associated with hunting certain big-game animals.
“While many on both sides of this issue have made their voices heard, and this content is only available through paid subscriptions, Stan Kroenke has directed us to remove all content related to those animals in light of the public interest.”
Kroenke, 70, owns two-thirds of Arsenal as well as controlling the Colorado Rapids football team and NFL franchise the Los Angeles Rams in the US.
Arsène Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, has been asked this week whether the controversy surrounding MyOutdoorTV has disrupted the Premier League team’s build-up to the new football season, which starts next week.
“We are professional football people and I think what it means to be professional is to focus on your job and the strength of professional people is not to be diverted by noises that are not their problem,” Wenger said.
Liberatore insisted that OSG and Arsenal operated completely independently.
“Arsenal football club has nothing to do with any of our media outlets,” he said. “It has nothing to do with our content or the editorial decisions we make. We deserve no credit when an Arsenal striker scores a goal. Arsenal deserves no criticism when we offer a programme with which some disagree.
“Second, we have made our content decisions independently of our parent company. Our parent had no input into these past decisions, and they have none now.
“All those who value the freedom of media outlets to set their own editorial courses should both recognise and respect this. We are grateful that our parent gives us this freedom.
“Even so, in this one instance, Mr Kroenke directed us to make the changes explained above.”
The OSG boss also defended Kroenke’s approach to animal rights. Liberatore said: “He has a decades-long track record of environmental stewardship, working with conservationists, hydrologists, microbiologists, and others to responsibly manage habitat and enhance wildlife preservation.
“We also take conservation seriously, and dedicate programming to this issue and to anti-poaching efforts specifically.”