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Rams owners may decide by March if they are going to sell
Sale could also include Stan Kroenke's 40 percent share of Rams
By Howard Balzer
Thursday, January 28, 2010
This year’s NFL draft is 84 days away and the Rams are on the clock. By the time of the draft, and potentially by the beginning of the NFL’s league year March 5, St. Louis could also be on the clock. If it isn’t already.
League sources have told Globe-Democrat.com that Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez are likely to decide by the start of the league year whether to accept an offer for not only their 60-percent share of the team, but also the 40 percent owned by Stan Kroenke. Should this be the case, it means Kroenke has agreed to sell his portion of the team. He currently holds a right of first refusal on any sale of the remaining 60 percent, but NFL cross ownership rules prohibit him from being the Rams' majority owner and managing partner.
According to reports on KTRS Radio, the potential buyer is not believed to be a group led by St. Louis Blues managing partner Dave Checketts, but instead has one unidentified person as the major lead investor. KFNS Radio has reported that Checketts' group places the value of the Rams at less than $600 million. KFNS also reported that the one investor is prepared to pay $725 million in cash for the franchise.
At an NFL meeting in October, Rams senior advisor and owners’ representative John Shaw told league owners he expected a decision to be made on the sale of the team by the end of the year. That was apparently a reference to the league year, not the calendar year.
The start of the league year is when player contracts expire for the previous season and new contracts take effect or players without contracts become free agents.
Even if a sale agreement is reached by that time, it could be months until the new owners gain control of the club.
Most important, however, is that according to sources, there would only be a short-term commitment for the new owner to keep the team in St. Louis. That dovetails with the clause in the team’s lease with the CVC (Convention and Visitor’s Commission) that mandates the Edward Jones Dome be within the top 25 percent of the league’s stadiums by March, 2015.
While that is five years away, the agreement between the Rams and the CVC that resulted in $30 million of upgrades for the dome included a time-frame for the next round of negotiations.
By Feb. 1, 2012, just two years from now, the CVC is required to have a plan for improvements to the dome. The Rams must reply by March 1 in either accepting or not accepting that proposal.
If the Rams don’t like the proposal, the club has until May 1 to respond with their own plan. It’s not out of the question that could include a new stadium, since financial experts believe it will take at least $300 million and perhaps twice that to upgrade the dome to bring it to that top 25 percent of the league's stadiums.
Once the Rams submit their plan, the CVC has until June 1 to respond with acceptance or rejection. Should they not accept it, arbitration is next, which would begin on June 15. That process must be concluded by the end of the 2012 calendar year.
Should the CVC elect not to abide by the arbitrator’s decision, the Rams would be free to move after the 2014 season. It would also be likely the team would seek to leave sooner, rather than be in a lame-duck situation for two seasons.
In reality, the clock is already ticking on the Rams’ future in St. Louis and on the CVC, to determine how serious the CVC is about keeping pro football
Sale could also include Stan Kroenke's 40 percent share of Rams
By Howard Balzer
Thursday, January 28, 2010
This year’s NFL draft is 84 days away and the Rams are on the clock. By the time of the draft, and potentially by the beginning of the NFL’s league year March 5, St. Louis could also be on the clock. If it isn’t already.
League sources have told Globe-Democrat.com that Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez are likely to decide by the start of the league year whether to accept an offer for not only their 60-percent share of the team, but also the 40 percent owned by Stan Kroenke. Should this be the case, it means Kroenke has agreed to sell his portion of the team. He currently holds a right of first refusal on any sale of the remaining 60 percent, but NFL cross ownership rules prohibit him from being the Rams' majority owner and managing partner.
According to reports on KTRS Radio, the potential buyer is not believed to be a group led by St. Louis Blues managing partner Dave Checketts, but instead has one unidentified person as the major lead investor. KFNS Radio has reported that Checketts' group places the value of the Rams at less than $600 million. KFNS also reported that the one investor is prepared to pay $725 million in cash for the franchise.
At an NFL meeting in October, Rams senior advisor and owners’ representative John Shaw told league owners he expected a decision to be made on the sale of the team by the end of the year. That was apparently a reference to the league year, not the calendar year.
The start of the league year is when player contracts expire for the previous season and new contracts take effect or players without contracts become free agents.
Even if a sale agreement is reached by that time, it could be months until the new owners gain control of the club.
Most important, however, is that according to sources, there would only be a short-term commitment for the new owner to keep the team in St. Louis. That dovetails with the clause in the team’s lease with the CVC (Convention and Visitor’s Commission) that mandates the Edward Jones Dome be within the top 25 percent of the league’s stadiums by March, 2015.
While that is five years away, the agreement between the Rams and the CVC that resulted in $30 million of upgrades for the dome included a time-frame for the next round of negotiations.
By Feb. 1, 2012, just two years from now, the CVC is required to have a plan for improvements to the dome. The Rams must reply by March 1 in either accepting or not accepting that proposal.
If the Rams don’t like the proposal, the club has until May 1 to respond with their own plan. It’s not out of the question that could include a new stadium, since financial experts believe it will take at least $300 million and perhaps twice that to upgrade the dome to bring it to that top 25 percent of the league's stadiums.
Once the Rams submit their plan, the CVC has until June 1 to respond with acceptance or rejection. Should they not accept it, arbitration is next, which would begin on June 15. That process must be concluded by the end of the 2012 calendar year.
Should the CVC elect not to abide by the arbitrator’s decision, the Rams would be free to move after the 2014 season. It would also be likely the team would seek to leave sooner, rather than be in a lame-duck situation for two seasons.
In reality, the clock is already ticking on the Rams’ future in St. Louis and on the CVC, to determine how serious the CVC is about keeping pro football
RAMMER
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