May 31: Q & A on the Potential Sale of the St. Louis Rams
Good morning.
I’ve been receiving lots of “tweets” and e-mails in response to my newsy column on the Rams being put up for sale by majority partner Chip Rosenbloom and his sister, Lucia Rodriguez. And I wanted to pass along some info and perspective that I couldn’t squeeze into my column.
As I write this it’s very late on Saturday night, so please excuse my typos. And if I don’t cover all of the ground here, but I’ll try my best for now. And we’ll be writing and talking a lot about this in the coming days. All of my comments here are relayed based on conversations I’ve had with sources close to Rosenbloom in the last 24 hours or so … as well as my knowledge of Rosenbloom’s thinking based on our many conversations over the past 15, 16 months.
Warning: this will be a lot longer than a 5-minute read. But I hope it serves as a basic primer on the issues.
1. WHY SELL NOW? A few reasons, in no particular order. (A) Rosenbloom and Rodgriguez have resolved estate-tax issues stemming from the death of their mother, late Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. But cash flow for the family is a problem; the tax rate of 45 percent on Frontiere’s estate, which includes the Rams, is a strain, and both Rosenbloom and Rodriguez want to do what’s best for their respective families. They want to sell now, but don’t have to do it ASAP, as we’ll explain later. This isn’t an emergency. (B) The Rams will be the only NFL team available for sale, so they should attract plenty of interest. (C) Rosenbloom is concerned over the likelihood of an unpleasant outcome in negotiations to fix up the Edward Jones Dome in a way that would satisfy the team’s needs into the distant future. He doesn’t believe he’s the best person to lead this fight. He thinks a St. Louisan or St. Louis-based person would be in better position to network here locally and reach a happy ending with St. Louis and regional politicians and the St. Louis CVC, which operates the Edward Jones Dome. With his film career on hold, the last thing Rosenbloom wants is to get embroiled in a lengthy battle over stadium issues. Moreover, Rosenbloom doesn’t have the personal capital necessary to invest in the private financing of a new St. Louis stadium, or a privately funded extensive renovation of the Edward Jones Dome.
2. DIDN’T ROSENBLOOM SAY HE WOULD ONLY SELL TO A ST. LOUIS PERSON/GROUP? Yes. And he waited for more than a year for someone, or a consortium, to come forward from the St. Louis community. And it hasn’t happened. He hasn’t received any offers. He hasn’t fielded any serious inquiries from a poential St. Louis-based owner. So, looking at it from his point of view, how can you sell your controlling share of the team to St. Louis interests when no one from St. Louis makes a move to acquire the team? Rosenbloom figures he has no choice at this point but to open up the sale to all interested parties, no matter where they live. Here’s how it was put to me: instead of waiting for someone to approach and ring the door bell — and turning them away unless they’re willing to keep the Rams in the STL — Rosenbloom is going to open the doors and let anyone have a look. Yes, even if the potential owner is based in Los Angeles, which is angling for the return of NFL football
3. BUT ISN’T ROSENBLOOM BEING A PHONY? IF HE CARES FOR ST. LOUIS, AS HE CLAIMS, THEN WHY WOULD HE PUT THE RAMS IN THE HANDS OF HOSTILE INTERESTS? That’s a good question. I put it to one Rosenbloom confidant, who supplied this answer, and I will paraphrase: Rosenbloom and Rodriguez are selling 60 percent of the team; that’s their share. Billionaire Stan Kroenke owns the other 40 percent and wants to keep it. So if no one from St. Louis has a desire to buy 60 percent of the team to guarantee its future in the city, then what does that tell you? Finding an individual or a group to fund the purchase of 60 percent of the Rams shouldn’t be a mission impossible. Having Kroenke on board as 40 percent partner makes the enterprise a lot easier; a lot less money is required to purchase 60 percent, compared to 100 percent. But if no one in St. Louis cares enough to make a pitch for the team, then what is Rosenbloom supposed to do — put a loaded gun to someone’s head and force a St. Louisan to make an offer?
It should also be noted that all three of our local franchies are owned by those who reside in other cities. Rosenbloom is in LA, Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt lives in Cincinnati, and Blues chairman Dave Checketts spends most of his days in Salt Lake City or Connecticut.
4. DOES ROSENBLOOM WANT THE RAMS TO REMAIN IN ST. LOUIS? Yes. His best-case scenario would be to make a quick deal with an individual or a group that moves aggressively to secure the Rams and ensure that St. Louis will remain the team’s long-term home. While he will listen to offers from beyond St. Louis, potential suitors from the outside will need time to sort through details, get up to speed on the stadium issues, and study the comprehensive financial aspects of the deal. He believes a St. Louis group or individual can move more quickly. And that is his hope.
5. COULD ROSENBLOOM TAKE A PROACTIVE ROLE IN ALLEVIATING A POTENTIAL STADIUM CONFLICT? Come to think of it, yes he could. As one wise man suggested to me, and I will quote: “If Rosenbloom really wants to avoid ‘conflict’ he can simply back off of the top-tier stadium requirement. Seriously. That is not a standard part of NFL team agreements. Let him void it. The team will still sell.” Any thoughts, Chip? (I doubt that any owner of an NFL team in STL, local or not, would want to give up that kind of leverage on the stadium issue — including the person who buys the team. Because the stadium issue will have to be resolved at some point.)
6. WHY BRING IN GOLDMAN SACHS TO HELP WITH THE SALE OF THE TEAM? Goldman Sachs has facilitated the sale of other sports franchises. It maintains a file of individuals who have expressed the desire to own NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL franchises if the right opportunity arises. Even though the economy remains at a low ebb, and the credit industry is tight, there are still a lot of wealthy people out there who want to own an NFL team. And Goldman Sachs can be an effective matchmaker.
7. CAN’T ROSENBLOOM AND RODRIGUEZ SELL THEIR 60 PERCENT TO KROENKE? Yes … in fact, he has the right to match any outside offer made for that 60 percent. But there’s a huge obstacle in the way. Kroenke owns the NBA Denver Nuggets and the NHL Colorado Avalanche. He would have to sell them, or the NFL would prohibit him from purchasing control of the Rams. The NFL is firm about its cross-ownership rules. If Kroenke owned an NBA and/or NHL team in St. Louis, then the NFL would allow him to own the Rams, because he wouldn’t be competing against another NFL owner. But the way the NFL sees it, the profits generated by Kroenke in St. Louis as the majority Rams owner could be put to use in Denver, where Kroenke could take the revenue and enhance the Nuggets and Avalanche, who compete with the NFL Broncos for the sports dollar. The NFL doesn’t want that to happen. Some of you may be wondering: well, what about Paul Allen? He owns the NBA team in Portland, and the NFL allowed him to buy the Seattle Seahawks. So what’s the difference? There is no NFL team in Portland, so Allen isn’t using his NBA Trailblazers to compete against a fellow NFL owner in Portland. That’s the difference. Personally, I think it’s a silly rule, but …
8. WOULD KROENKE BE WILLING TO SELL THE NUGGETS AND THE AVALANCHE? Unfortunately, I haven’t spoken to Kroenke in months, so I don’t know what he thinks about all of that. But he certainly enjoys owning the Nuggets and the Avs. And he’s reportedly wary of the stadium issues in St. Louis.
9. WOULD THE NFL BE WILLING TO WAIVE THE CROSS-OWNERSHIP RULE TO ACCOMODATE KROENKE? Possible, but doubtful. I’m told that Kroenke has been networking behind the scenes, to line up support from his fellow NFL owners. One influential NFL owner told me several months ago that the league would be crazy to push Kroenke away, because he has everything that the NFL covets in an owner. I’m told that he has probably 8 or 9 owners firmly on his side — but he needs a lot more than that to get NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to bend the rules.
10. COULDN’T ANN KROENKE BUY THE RAMS? AFTER ALL, SHE’S WORTH MORE THAN 2 BILLION DOLLARS. I’ve chatted with Mrs. Kroenke on several occasions and she has a lot of class. But I have no idea if she’d be interested. I have no idea if the NFL would allow such an end-run around the cross-ownership rules, but I doubt it would fly with the league.
11. WHAT ARE THE RAMS BEING SOLD FOR: Forbes gave the Rams an estimated value of $929 million, which may be a bit high. A source told me that Rosenbloom had been willing to sell (previously) for $850 million to a St. Louis group (which never emerged) … but I cannot confirm that. But would he give a discount to a St. Louis-based buyer? No. That’s what I was told. Now that he’s made the decision to sell, unconditionally, he’ll strive to get fair market value for the Rams. So the price tag (based on 100 percent ownership, not 60) is is probably around $900 million. That’s just a guess.
12. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT CHIP AND LUCIA WILL HOLD ONTO THE RAMS FOR A WHILE? Yes. I’m told that unless they receive the price they want, they are under no immediate pressure to sell at a lower price, and can wait for a few more years if necessary. Perhaps this thing will move more slowly than Rosenbloom and Rodriguez anticipate. The enconomy is bad, and there’s also a potential NFL lockout on the horizon that could wipe out the 2011 season. In theory, more buyers could surface once the labor strife is settled. I am also told that, even if brother and sister do sell, they would like to retain a small ownership stake in the franchise.
13. ONCE AGAIN, WHAT ARE THE STADIUM ISSUES? I covered this in the column, but let’s break it down again. The Rams’ lease with the St. Louis CVC requires that the Dome be rated among the top 25 percent of NFL Stadiums by 2015. That means the Dome must be considered one of the top 8 stadiums in the 32-team league by 2015. And even with some renovations — like the $30 million improvement project that’s being executed now — there’s no way that “The Ed” will qualify as one of the league’s top eight stadiums by 2015. The Dome opened in 1995, and since that time more than 20 new stadiums have been built or completely renovated throughout the NFL. There is no way that The Ed can match those newer, more lucrative stadiums that generate a huge revenue flow for the team owners. As hard as it is to believe, The Ed already is one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL. It’s crazy but true. In 2012, the Rams and the CVC will exchange proposals on what should be done to get the Dome up to standard. If the two sides can’t agree, then the disagreement will head to arbitration. And if the arbitrator decides that the Ed fails to reach the top-eight standard, the Rams can terminate the lease after the 2014 season. In other words, they’ll be free to go.
14. IS THERE ROOM FOR MIDDLE GROUND? A COMPROMISE? Yes. But it depends on who buys the Rams from Rosenbloom-Rodriguez. If an out-of-town owner is set on moving the team to Los Angeles, then why compromise? The escape hatch will open after the 2014 season. But if a St. Louis-based owner steps in, then obviously it would enhance the possibility of a truce between the Rams and the CVC. A local owner would be connected in the St. Louis community. A local owner would likely have an exisiting relationship with some of the more powerful figures in town. A local owner would be more trusted. A local owner knows how St. Louis works, and would have a better chance of getting something done here.The two sides could reach some type of interim agreement to spruce up the Dome and make it more viable until a long-term plan is put in place. In other words, a St. Louis owner and the CVC could buy some time and put off the inevitable, hardcore discussions about a new stadium for at least a few more seasons beyond 2014.
15. WILL THE NEW OWNER PUSH FOR A NEW STADIUM? Probably so … again, it depends on the owner. I’m not going to lobby for a new stadium. And I don’t believe the climate exists to use public money to build a new stadium for the Rams. And there are more worthwhile uses for public dollars. But take a look at Indianapolis. It lured the Colts from Baltimore to play in the RCA Dome, which opened in 1984. The Colts moved into a new stadium last season. In other words, the RCA Dome — which was similar to the Edward Jones Dome — lasted 24 seasons. By 2015, The Ed will be 20 years old.
16. ARE THE RAMS THE ONLY POTENTIAL CANDIDATE TO MOVE TO THE OPEN LOS ANGELES MARKET? No. First of all, the NFL controls the LA market and will have authority over any proposed move. But there are problems in Jacksonville, Minnesota and San Diego. St. Louis isn’t the only city with potential NFL stadium or market issues.
17. IF THE RAMS MOVE, WILL ST. LOUIS GET ANOTHER NFL TEAM? Let me answer that by asking another question: after seeing St. Louis lose two teams, the Cardinals and the Rams, within a 30-year period, why would the NFL want to put a third team here? And would the city/region have the stomach (and the money) to go through a long, painful, protracted struggle of attracting another franchise? And what franchise would that be? The NFL has no plans to expand. Prognosis: grim.
18. BOTTOM LINE, ARE THE RAMS GOING TO MOVE? Hard to say. But unless local ownership emerges, the franchise’s future in St. Louis will be on shaky ground. Now that Rosenbloom and Rodriguez have enlisted Goldman Sachs to find a buyer, it’s obvious they’re serious about selling the team. But that realization should be helpful to the St. Louis cause. With the Rams on the block, I believe it will motivate a local buyer (or group) to mobilize and come forward to save the team.
I hope I have covered most of the relevant ground.
Thanks for reading …
-Bernie
It would be devastating to lose the Rams to another city. I hope Chip will sell the team to a St. Louisan
As I see it Chip and his sister need 540 million for their share of ownership according to Wikipedia there are 3 million residents in the StL metro area that comes to 180.00 dollars per resident for a share ow ownership. Lets for a consortium to purchase shares and then we as a group can own the Rams. Look at Green Bay it sure seems to work there. I realize not everyone would buy a share but if the fans rallied around and bought what they could I am sure we would have enough to purchase the Rams from Chip and his sister.
Thanks for all the info Bernie. I guess the question now is who in the STL area has the jack to buy the team, and would they demand a new stadium as part of the deal.
This is the only response I have that won’t be deleted for obscenities.
I don’t think anyone can blame Chip here. It seems he’s bending over backward to find a St. Louis owner. If no one steps up, that’s not his fault.
Is there an NFL rule against a Green Bay style IPO?
if the rams move out of stl, we are 2 time losers & out of the nfl for good. that would really stink.
Bernie, A few months back, didn’t you have Dave Checketts (sp?) on your radio show and didn’t he say he may be interested in trying to get something together if the Rams went on the market? Wouldn’t that satisfy cross-ownership rules since his other team (the Blues) is already in St. Louis? LET’S HOPE SO!!!
With tax rates expected to skyrocket (especially on income from this sale), it is no wonder Chip is ready to pull the chute. I wonder if a 2009 sale may occur? 2010 may get ugly from a tax perspective.
The Top 25% stadium clause is ridiculous. Who agreed to that? That basicially paved the way for a new stadium in 20 years back in 1994.
With that said, St. Louis needs to play the cards that are dealt. The Ed Jones dome cost $280 Mil to build and will be 20 years in old in 2015. Did St Louis get the return on this investment? 20 years of NFL football (with 2 Super Bowls), a final four, and the other events. I would say yes.
Times are tough, but losing another NFL team would be another step back for the STL community. I hope a STL friendly buyer emerges….and a fair compromise between our leaders can be reached for a long-term solution, which I agree should include stretching the life of the dome out beyond 20 years with the eventual development of a new stadium.
Bernie, I remember when the Cardinals were trying to angle for a new stadium East St Louis became a bargaining chip. The had the supposed interest in offering public funding and tax breaks for an MLB team and stadium. Obviously we’re in a different financial climate now and those were just reports and nothing substantiated. What is your take? Would there be a spot across the river to build a new stadium for the Rams? Could we start drumming up support for a public works project there to entice owners wary of the CVC situation?
Who ever heard of a top ten facility rule? And when they built the stadium who could have foreseen so many new fields being built. If Chip really wants the team to stay he should void that stipulation - that will certainly create good will with a fan base that clearly doesn’t trust ownership groups.
Thanks for all the information Bernie. Like one person posted above, Dave Checketts had crossed my mind too. Someone has got to step up for St. Louis. Get the pot stirring Bernie and please keep it stirring. We need someone to step up. Thanks - Have a good week!
“Is there an NFL rule against a Green Bay style IPO?”
I could be wrong — and I hope that I am — but I thought I read before the ‘08 season that Buffalo was trying to do just that in an effort to keep the Bills out of Toronto. I could be wrong.
Anywhere but St. Louis would be an improvement for morale. It is truly a pathetic town, if not the most depressing and out of touch football town in the entire country. Enjoy your baseball, or better yet, kill yourselves… All of you.
1. The NFL no longer allows teams to “IPO” a la Green Bay. Last I heard, it had something to do with the collective bargaining exemption from Congress, and an IPO would cause the NFL to lose that exemption; something to do with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) as well.
2. In this economic climate, most all local governments are running deficits, so there will be no public financing. Secondly, as DerekM states, taxes are going up, Up, UP! Money will be taken from those who work (wealthy) and given to those who won’t (poor). It’s called socialism, and the wealthy are going to do everything they can to minimize such taxes and keep as much of their earnings as they can. That’s what their accountants get paid to do.
With the promise, and it appears a willing and qualified builder, in L.A., that’s what I expect to happen. Fred Dryer may even be part of an L.A. consortium. He is on record as saying “We should have never let the Rams, even if in name only (Browns/Ravens), move to St. Louis”. He went on to say they should be brought back and he would help! So, there you go.
Just to clarify for some of the more outraged people out there who are starting to fling accusations: I’m not pimping for a new stadium. It’s way too early for that. This one has fallen behind by modern NFL standards, but right now there’s no way that the state and city can or should build a new stadium. One day, yes, it will have to happen. And private money will have to be a big part of it.
-B
So we basically have 4 years for Coach Spags to turn things around and field us another winner before its possibly gone…depressing thought…
This is great! Soon the Rams will move to Carnation, WA (across the lake from Seattle) and we’ll have two teams here in the Pacific Northwest. It works for the SF Bay area; it’ll work even better here. Loud stadiums and great fans are a strong tradition for us. We’ll show all you folks in StLouis how to cheer for and keep a team.
5 years from now, it doesn’t matter whether the Ed ranks in the top 8 of NFL stadiums; the only thing that will matter is whether there is an available stadium in another market that will likely generate more revenue and profit than the Ed. The good news is that there currently isn’t an available stadium anywhere in the country that would likely generate more profit for a team than the Ed. The bad news is that LA’s stadium project is in the works.
One additional point of clarificaiton — If the Rams don’t have a top 8 stadium five years from now, their lease doesn’t automatically terminate and the Rams won’t automatically leave. However, they are no longer contractually obligated to stay.
could some leader of a consortium of smaller investors in the community come up with the sixty percent…..It wouldn’t be owned by the city( Green Bay was grandfathered in), which is not allowed by the NFL…..but ….could allow a bunch of smaller investors to help keep the team here…..It would need a leader/CEO, and could be run as a corporation with shareholders having voting rights based on percentage of ownership….Why not allow a public solicitation of the current ticket holders to have the option to participate in this, keeping the ownership local….Is something the NFL would allow?
The day the Ed Shed opened, it was the worst venue in the NFL. How could you ever renovate it enough to put it in the top fourth? It’s a sow’s ear, folks, plain and simple.
If the league voted to block Ann Kroenke from buying the Rams, there would be a lawsuit filed that would dwarf Al Davis vs. the NFL et. al. And we all know the NFL’s success in court - lower than the Rams’ win total last year.
While I really want to Rams to stay in St. Louis, this whole fiasco started when the monumentally ridiculous decision was made to house the Rams in an undersized, mausoleum with no retractable roof, no parking lots for tailgating, up against an interstate highway in downtown St. Louis!!!
Fundamentally, the entire RAMS experience has been flawed from the outset!! Had the stadium been built as a 75,000 seat outdoor facility with 40 acres of surrounding parking, (remember St. Charles?), the sale would probably have buyers lining up in short order.
As it is, what businessman in his right mind would want to get involved in the dead-end fiasco that the Rams physical facilities now represent?
Obviously, a new outdoor stadium will have to be build,(as should have been done in the first place), to placate any new owner to keep the team in St. Louis.
The “soon to be” controversial question will be, Who’s going to pay for it?
Sadly, there is no chance this ends well for St Louis. But what I can’t figure out is why someone with a pot of $$’s hasn’t jumped in. The NFL is a rigged game, a license to print money for the owners. Why someone local hasn’t expressed an interest is a mystery. The Busch family should buy it….it’s not like baseball where you have to work at it to make money. The NFL is a guaranteed jackpot. If the Rams go there will not be football in St Louis again….too bad.
And for all the charm Frontiere and Rosenbloom have exuded it should never be forgotten that this was a business move engineered brilliantly by John Shaw. St Louis was a desparate suitor and the Rams ownership knew it….and leveraged it beautifully. Shaw may not know a wide receiver from a tackle but he could smell blood in the water and knew how to exploit it.
How about replacing the Chrysler plant with a new stadium in Fenton? Probably enough room for a stadium and parking
I hope the Rams come back to southern Califonia. That would be great. No one goes to the Rams games in St Louis. Los Angeles would love a football team. I am willing to bet there are more Rams fans in Los Angeles than St Louis. St Louis is a Cardinals town not Rams.
Time out. If Rosenbloom and Rodriguez have an equal split of Georgia’s 60% share, don’t they each have just 30%, meaning Kroenke has controlling interest? The reason I bring this up is because apparently controlling interest is not defined by largest share holder. If that is the case, what stops Kroenke from buying more, but having another chief investor who runs the team.
In other words, maybe Kroenke or his wife, puts up another 20% to get to 60%. And maybe Checketts buys 20%, but he is the controlling partner. Then the remaining 20% come from a group like Taylor, Busch IV, Limbaugh, etc.
1. Owner’s are interested in making money. The Rams will stay if the future for making money in St. Louis looks brighter than somewhere else. The problem is that the Rams were in the top 5 in terms of team revenue before they moved to St. Louis. Because of all the new stadiums that have been built, they are now close to the bottome. The NFL subsidizes them because of their fall in revenue. Forbes reported in 2007 that they subsidy was $5M. The team has not been selling out home games so it is safe to assume the subsidy continues.
2. Tom Eagleton negotiated the Rams deal. The political pressure to bring a team to St. Louis was so great that lease terms did not matter. The City bought into the idea that if it built a stadium, they would come. They found out that they needed to sweeten the deal a lot for the Rams to move to St. Louis. Tom got credit for the getting them here but I’m sure he will take the hit for the deal along with others who are dead or out of office.
3. The NFL is still bitter about the move out of the LA market.(See 1 above). The only team that makes sense for LA now are the Rams. Sports dollars have moved to other venues in LA in the years since their move to St. Louis. The NFL wants back in that market and the Rams are a product that still has some fan base in LA. Look for the NFL to subsidize a move back to LA with TV revenue and a required kick in from all other teams.
4. The NFL will not accomodate Kronke. See 3 above.
5. Name 3 people in St. Louis who would want to own the Rams — and are able to afford it. Remember, it has to be private ownership. Only the Packers have an exception to this rule. (See 3 above again) There may be super rich people in St. Louis and there may be sports people in St. Louis but are there any super rich sports people willing to take on the Rams? We don’t even have local ownership of the Cardinals so I think the answer is “NO”.
6. Name one political leader willing to take on this problem and make it his or hers.
Are there any offers outside of St Louis to purchase the Rams that you are aware of? Do you feel that
the NFL owners would encourage a move or seek to prevent a move to Los Angeles.
St. Louis native living in Denver now. Great post, Bernie. Haven’t read your stuff in a long time, but had this linked to me from a third source (deadspin.com) and it was a good read.
I want to make a point about Stan Kreonke selling the Avalanche and Nuggets to become the sole-owner of the Rams. I don’t see that happening. While Kroenke’s long-term sports interest is football, it is not American football in which he’s interested. In addition to owning the Avalanche and Nuggets (and the building in which they play, the Pepsi Center), Kroenke owns Denver’s MLS franchise, the Colorado Rapids as well as their stadium.
Over the last two years, Kroenke has been buying public shares of Arsenal Football Club (they’re a HUGE team based in London) as well as creating a professional link with the club where there’s now an Arsenal academy in Denver (Arsenal coaches and scouts are involved). Kronke owns 28% of the club; if he can push that to 30% he is required to make a formal offer to buy the remaining shares and become the sole-owner of Arsenal. His most recent share purchase was around May 1st.
Compounding the issue is a Russian oligarch (Alisher Usmanov) whose also trying to buy the club. The Russian is not well liked by the board or fans; while fans generally aren’t excited about being owned by an American (look at what the Glazer family and Tom Hicks and George Gillet have done, debt wise particularly, to Manchester United and Liverpool respectfully) unhappy board members are much more apt to sell to Kronke than Usmanov. And there are board members prepared to sell shares right now because of some backroom issues with the club - reportedly, some caused by Usmanov’s hostile takeover bid.
I know that’s a lot, but it’s a pretty convoluted situation. But EVERY indication is that Kroenke is 100% behind purchasing Arsenal, despite what he said in July 2008. In May, he paid 6,750 British Pounds (over $11,000 US) for each share. If he’s gobbling up shares in Arsenal at that cost - and he’ll probably have to offer a premium to buy the team outright - I don’t see the financial investment to divest out of the Nuggets and Avalanche and into the Rams. Especially given how beloved the Avalanche are here (think of the Cardinals) and the Nuggets recent phenomenon (although, they’re not as well supported as the Avalanche).
That said, if you DO talk to Kroenke at some point about this, ask him about Arsenal and how that potential move might affect his situation with the Rams. Have you considered Kroenke being bought out by a new majority shareholder? If it’s understood - maybe not publicly stated - that Kroenke will sell his stake, it might sweeten the deal for a investor or consortium interested in moving the team. Although now I read Checketts might be interested in buying the Rams
ccorrie makes some good points but here are 3 people who could buy the team tomorrow….
1. August Busch (pick the generation)
2. Andy Taylor
3. Sam Fox
I’m sure there are others. Anyone who wants to make money could buy it….it’s the surest investment there is.
One other person who could write a check out of petty cash….Doc Sweet.
He knows who he is…..spend some of that cash El Cheapo Grande.