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St. Louis Rams owners weighing 3 offers
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/20/2010
St. Louis Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez are closing in on a decision to accept one of three offers to purchase the team or walk away from the bidders and keep the franchise, league sources told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday.
A decision could be reached before the NFL draft in late April, not because of any kind of firm deadline, but simply to avoid uncertainty surrounding the team and its future entering the 2010 season.
All three offers, described as "acceptable" by the sources, are comparable to what the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise recently sold for — which was in the range of total franchise value of $720 million to $800 million.
The only known bid for the team is from a group of investors headed by St. Louis Blues hockey chairman Dave Checketts. The identity of the other two bidders remains unknown, although one was a relative late-comer in the process.
The three bidders are committed in varying degrees to keeping the franchise in St. Louis, and that may have an impact on any sale decision.
Rosenbloom and Rodriguez own 60 percent of the franchise, which they inherited from their late mother, Georgia Frontiere. Frontiere died on Jan. 18, 2008 — two years ago Monday — after a long battle with breast cancer. It is that 60 percent of the team that is for sale.
Stan Kroenke owns the other 40 percent of the team.
But at least one of the bids is for the full 100 percent of the team, in which case Kroenke's share would be bought out as well. But if Rosenbloom and Rodriguez end up selling only their 60 percent of the team, Kroenke could potentially scuttle the deal by saying he wants to "cash out," or sell his share of the team as well. If that's the case, the 60 percent investor may not have enough money to buy the full franchise.
Those close to Rosenbloom say he has yet to get any indication from Kroenke on what he will do, although there have been signals from the Kroenke camp that he will simply hold his 40 percent share of the team if Rosenbloom and Rodriguez sell their 60 percent.
Kroenke also has matching rights on any outside offers for the team. But under current NFL cross-ownership rules, he would not be allowed to exercise that right as long as he owns majority shares of the Denver Nuggets NBA team and the Colorado Avalanche NHL franchise. Kroenke also owns 29.9 percent of the English soccer club Arsenal, a team valued at $1.2 billion.
Some clarity could be added to the issue this week. The Rams' brain trust is meeting in Los Angeles today and Thursday for the team's annual end-of-season summit meeting. Kroenke is expected to attend at least one day's worth of the meetings. If Kroenke indicates that he's on board with any sale decision by Rosenbloom and Rodriguez, an agreement with a buyer could be signed relatively quickly.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo, general manager Billy Devaney and executive vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff will be in attendance at the Los Angeles meetings as well, with much of the discussion dealing with on-the-field matters.
Confidentiality agreements between the Rams and potential bidders have led to very little news about the potential sale of the franchise, which has been in St. Louis since 1995. One of the few exceptions came in October when word leaked out that radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh had joined a group of investors headed by Checketts.
The outcry from within and outside the NFL was so strong against Limbaugh's inclusion that he was dropped from the group Oct. 14.
But Checketts' group has gone forward without Limbaugh, finding alternative investment, and remains one of the groups in contention to buy the team, although not necessarily the front-runner. Checketts, through a spokesman, declined to comment Tuesday.
Technically, the decision to sell is Rosenbloom's because he has the controlling vote with the team. But it's highly unlikely he will sell the team without his sister's consent.
There is some sentiment in the family toward holding on to the team despite a 1-15 season that was the worst won-lost record in franchise history.
The Rosenbloom-Frontiere family has owned an NFL franchise — first the Colts, and now the Rams — for nearly 60 years. Only a handful of NFL teams have been owned by the same group, or family, for a longer period.
The pressure to sell the team comes from estate taxes resulting from the death of Frontiere. By 2014, Rosenbloom and Rodriguez must start paying on the principal of those estate taxes rather than the interest, and that increased payment would severely cut into the team's profits.
Despite the favorable lease arrangement at the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams are in the bottom quarter of the league's 32 teams in terms of profitability.
Even if the team is sold to an owner or ownership group not interested in keeping the team in St. Louis, the earliest the Rams could get out of the dome lease is following the 2014 season.
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/20/2010
St. Louis Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez are closing in on a decision to accept one of three offers to purchase the team or walk away from the bidders and keep the franchise, league sources told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday.
A decision could be reached before the NFL draft in late April, not because of any kind of firm deadline, but simply to avoid uncertainty surrounding the team and its future entering the 2010 season.
All three offers, described as "acceptable" by the sources, are comparable to what the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise recently sold for — which was in the range of total franchise value of $720 million to $800 million.
The only known bid for the team is from a group of investors headed by St. Louis Blues hockey chairman Dave Checketts. The identity of the other two bidders remains unknown, although one was a relative late-comer in the process.
The three bidders are committed in varying degrees to keeping the franchise in St. Louis, and that may have an impact on any sale decision.
Rosenbloom and Rodriguez own 60 percent of the franchise, which they inherited from their late mother, Georgia Frontiere. Frontiere died on Jan. 18, 2008 — two years ago Monday — after a long battle with breast cancer. It is that 60 percent of the team that is for sale.
Stan Kroenke owns the other 40 percent of the team.
But at least one of the bids is for the full 100 percent of the team, in which case Kroenke's share would be bought out as well. But if Rosenbloom and Rodriguez end up selling only their 60 percent of the team, Kroenke could potentially scuttle the deal by saying he wants to "cash out," or sell his share of the team as well. If that's the case, the 60 percent investor may not have enough money to buy the full franchise.
Those close to Rosenbloom say he has yet to get any indication from Kroenke on what he will do, although there have been signals from the Kroenke camp that he will simply hold his 40 percent share of the team if Rosenbloom and Rodriguez sell their 60 percent.
Kroenke also has matching rights on any outside offers for the team. But under current NFL cross-ownership rules, he would not be allowed to exercise that right as long as he owns majority shares of the Denver Nuggets NBA team and the Colorado Avalanche NHL franchise. Kroenke also owns 29.9 percent of the English soccer club Arsenal, a team valued at $1.2 billion.
Some clarity could be added to the issue this week. The Rams' brain trust is meeting in Los Angeles today and Thursday for the team's annual end-of-season summit meeting. Kroenke is expected to attend at least one day's worth of the meetings. If Kroenke indicates that he's on board with any sale decision by Rosenbloom and Rodriguez, an agreement with a buyer could be signed relatively quickly.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo, general manager Billy Devaney and executive vice president of football operations Kevin Demoff will be in attendance at the Los Angeles meetings as well, with much of the discussion dealing with on-the-field matters.
Confidentiality agreements between the Rams and potential bidders have led to very little news about the potential sale of the franchise, which has been in St. Louis since 1995. One of the few exceptions came in October when word leaked out that radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh had joined a group of investors headed by Checketts.
The outcry from within and outside the NFL was so strong against Limbaugh's inclusion that he was dropped from the group Oct. 14.
But Checketts' group has gone forward without Limbaugh, finding alternative investment, and remains one of the groups in contention to buy the team, although not necessarily the front-runner. Checketts, through a spokesman, declined to comment Tuesday.
Technically, the decision to sell is Rosenbloom's because he has the controlling vote with the team. But it's highly unlikely he will sell the team without his sister's consent.
There is some sentiment in the family toward holding on to the team despite a 1-15 season that was the worst won-lost record in franchise history.
The Rosenbloom-Frontiere family has owned an NFL franchise — first the Colts, and now the Rams — for nearly 60 years. Only a handful of NFL teams have been owned by the same group, or family, for a longer period.
The pressure to sell the team comes from estate taxes resulting from the death of Frontiere. By 2014, Rosenbloom and Rodriguez must start paying on the principal of those estate taxes rather than the interest, and that increased payment would severely cut into the team's profits.
Despite the favorable lease arrangement at the Edward Jones Dome, the Rams are in the bottom quarter of the league's 32 teams in terms of profitability.
Even if the team is sold to an owner or ownership group not interested in keeping the team in St. Louis, the earliest the Rams could get out of the dome lease is following the 2014 season.
RAMMER
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