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So long Shahid Khan and hello Stan Kroenke, well sort of. Kroenke owns 40% of the St. Louis Rams and had a contract clause for right of first refusal to refuse the sale of the other 60% of the team held by members of the Rosenbloom family. He has invoked that clause, and made this sale a real mess.
Kroenke already owns the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche and under the NFL’s cross ownership rules would not be allowed to own a NFL team outside of his home market of Denver. However the NFL finance committee can relax its rules and allow a bid for a team that 24 of the 32 owners would have to approve. The league did just that for Wayne Huizenga when he bought the Miami Dolphins.
Kroenke plans to transfer ownership of his two clubs to a family member, to clear the way for his take over of the Rams. While that seems like an easy solution that it just may work. However we have to wonder how Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos, would feel about having Kroenke own a NFL team and be based in his market.
It is not unusual for many sports owners to hail from one region of the country. Detroit, Michigan is the home to many sports team owners, and many of their business call that city their corporate home. Ralph Wilson owner of the Buffalo Bills lives in the area, Pete Karmanos is from the area and his Compuware Computer Company calls Detroit its home. Dan Gilbert has his corporate offices in the area and owns the Cleveland Cavaliers. That is besides the Detroit folks that own the Detroit sports teams.
There is a natural rivalry built up with owners of multiple teams being located so close to each other, but the Broncos and the Rams would have little opportunity to take advantage of that being in different division and conferences.
Ultimately the 32 NFL owners must decide what is best for the Rams as an organization. They will also have to keep in mind who would keep the team in St. Louis. It seems very likely a Kroenke purchase of the team means a relocation to Los Angeles. However, as a partial owner already, maybe he would keep the team in St. Louis. That one is hard to ferret out.
What we do know is Kroenke’s bid further complicated the sale of the team, and it will be many months until all this gets settled.
Related Links:
• St. Louis Rams news and notes
• The Business of the NFL
• MTR Football.com
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