What’s at stake for NFL and St. Louis
Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald #99 leads the defense onto the field to play the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, October 3, 2021.
Terry Pierson | MediaNews Group | Getty Images
The National Football League still can’t quite escape St. Louis.
Lawyers representing the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams and team owner Stan Kroenke filed an appeal to move their January 2022 trial out of St. Louis. The trial stems from a lawsuit regarding the Rams’ relocation in 2016.
The appeal was filed on Oct. 1. It cites “prejudicial effects of extensive pretrial publicity” as a cause for the venue change. The filing was first reported by Conduct Detrimental, a website that covers sports law.
Beneath all of that legalese lies a pivotal fight for the NFL.
St. Louis officials are seeking financial damages they claim they suffered when the Rams moved to Los Angeles in 2016. The move left St. Louis with debt on the team’s former stadium, which built with public funds. A judge in August already denied a Rams request for change of venue. And sensitive documents about NFL owners’ finances could become public during the trial, which has already been postponed.
The St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, City of St. Louis, and the County of St. Louis claim the NFL didn’t honor its relocation policy and hold good faith negotiations to prevent the Rams’ departure. The 2017 lawsuit is listed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City under case No.1722-CC00976.
The suit claims Kroenke and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones allegedly conspired “to develop a plan to relocate the Rams to Los Angeles and convincing the other member-teams to approve the relocation.” The suit also alleges Kroenke and Jones discussed SoFi Stadium site plans in Inglewood, California, as far back as 2013.
City officials blame the NFL and its owners for lost revenue. Documents about NFL owners’ finances could become public.
Attorneys for St. Louis officials did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. An NFL spokesperson declined to comment.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, left, with Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kronke prior to a NFL playoff football game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, January 12, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.
Keith Birmingham | MediaNews Group | Getty Images
Understating the lawsuit
To understand this lawsuit, flashback to 2010. Then, Kroenke, who also ran the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche under Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, was approved as the majority owner of the Rams. Kronke was involved with the Rams since the move to the city in 1995 and increased his stake to 40% in 1997.
Kroenke said one of the reasons for taking over was the treatment the Rams received in stadium negotiations. “I knew it was something I couldn’t ignore because my 31 partners would not allow us to continue to play in a non-first-class facility,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2016.
With complete control and language in the stadium…
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