Sports mogul Stan Kroenke owns the teams, the venues they play in and the television network that airs the games.

Now he'll control the ticket sales, too.

Kroenke Sports Enterprises soon will begin selling game and event tickets at two sites, Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City and the Paramount Theatre in Denver, through an in-house system called TicketHorse.

Pepsi Center, home of the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, has a deal with Ticketmaster that's up in 2009. After that, Kroenke most likely will bring tickets for basketball, hockey and other events into its fold as well.

The billionaire businessman has basically all facets of the business under his wing. In addition to the teams and the arenas, his holdings include regional television network Altitude Sports & Entertainment and retail operation Altitude Authentics, which sells apparel and other gear online and at the arena.

Tickets are the next logical element.

"The vision is that if you're going to own this many teams and venues, it probably makes sense to entertain this as an option," said Paul Andrews, executive vice president of Kroenke Sports.

The company said the move will allow it to take control of customer service and build the relationship with fans.

Kroenke Sports also said the change should lower ticket service charges. Andrews couldn't estimate exactly how much lower those fees would be.

TicketHorse.com, box office operations and telephone sales are expected to be up and running March 10. Starting March 31, the company also plans to put touch-screen ticket kiosks at Dick's stores across metro Denver. The sports retailer has the naming rights for the new Commerce City stadium that will serve as home for the Colorado Rapids soccer team.

Tickets for the Rapids' upcoming season, which kicks off April 7, and for the Major League Soccer All-Star Game will be the first available through TicketHorse. The new computerized system, using technology from Dallas-based Vertical Alliance, will sell tickets for Paramount performances from July on.

For now, Ticketmaster will continue to handle sales at Pepsi Center and the CityLights Pavilion.

Kroenke Sports is not alone. Vertical Alliance and the Houston Rockets recently extended a ticket deal.

The Colorado Rockies have been in charge of their ticket sales for the past 10 years.

Andrews said between 70 percent and 90 percent of ticket sales for Kroenke's teams are made online, up sharply from several years ago.

patonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2544