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While there's lots of talk about who's going to quarterback the Rams next season, there's also speculation on who will succeed Georgia Frontiere as majority owner of the team.
Rams President John Shaw said the 75-year-old Frontiere has no plans to sell her 60 percent stake in the team — worth an estimated $326 million.
But Frontiere's age is fueling speculation that a change may be in the works. Stan Kroenke holds a 40 percent stake in the team and has first right of refusal should Frontiere decide to sell, but one family member said the original plan was to keep ownership in the family.
Frontiere's stepson, Steve Rosenbloom, said his late father, Carroll Rosenbloom, who owned the Rams and left the team to Frontiere, would not want her to sell.
"In my father's mind, he thought the Rams had the opportunity to stay in the family for several generations," said Steve, 58, who was reached at his home in Covington, La. "His idea was that I'd take ownership, then pass it down to Chip, (his stepbrother) who would then pass it down to my son, and so forth."
Instead, Frontiere inherited the team after Carroll Rosenbloom's death in 1979 and has been majority owner ever since. "Since there is direct lineage, I think the team should go to one of her children," Steve said. "If Chip were interested in it, that would be great. That may be as close as I get to the team, but I think it's important the owner of the team has the last name Rosenbloom."
Frontiere, who has been married seven times, has only two children — both of whom were fathered by Carroll Rosenbloom.
Dale "Chip" Rosenbloom, Frontiere's 38-year-old son, works as a screenwriter and director in Los Angeles. He declined to comment on any plans his mother has for the future ownership of the team. As for the role he or his sister, 41-year-old Lucia Rodriguez (also a resident of Los Angeles), might play in the future ownership of the team, Chip declined to speculate.
"I have a fan's interest in the team, and that's all for now," he said. Yet, Chip has attended a few of the league owners' meetings on behalf of his mother.
Chip said while Frontiere no longer has the last name Rosenbloom (she takes her name from her seventh husband, Dominic Frontiere, whom she divorced in 1988) the team is still technically in the Rosenbloom family.
"My mother is a Rosenbloom," Chip said. "People don't realize that my parents were together for 22 years, and my mother was the love of my father's life. He wanted her to have the team, and she's done a tremendous job as an owner."
Chip said he believes Frontiere and Kroenke have a great relationship as owners and there are no plans to change the dynamic of the ownership.
Kroenke paid $60 million for a 30 percent stake in the team in 1995, the year Frontiere moved the team from Los Angeles to St. Louis, and another $20 million in 1998 to increase his stake in the team to 40 percent.
