Jan. 18, 2008 — Owner Georgia Frontiere dies after a long battle with breast cancer. Her children, Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, inherit her 60 percent share of the team.
May 20, 2008 — Rosenbloom confirms he has been approached about selling the team but reiterates the family's interest in keeping the Rams in St. Louis.
July 14, 2008 — The Rams hire Moag & Co., a Baltimore firm that specializes in sports investments, as a clearinghouse to field inquiries from parties interested in buying the team.
May 30, 2009 — In a sign that the team officially is for sale, the Rams hire the Goldman Sachs investment banking firm to evaluate bids and solicit potential buyers.
June 1, 2009 — Blues chairman Dave Checketts confirms his intention to put together a group to purchase the Rams.
Oct. 5, 2009 — Political commentator Rush Limbaugh joins forces with Checketts as one of the ownership group's investors.
Oct. 6, 2009 — League sources tell the Post-Dispatch there are at least a half-dozen bidders for the team.
Oct. 13, 2009 — Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay expresses opposition to Limbaugh's inclusion in the Checketts group; NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell distances himself from the Limbaugh candidacy.
Oct. 14, 2009 — In the face of mounting opposition, Checketts drops Limbaugh from his ownership group.
Jan. 20, 2010 — Rosenbloom and Rodriguez close in on decision to accept or reject three offers to sell the team.
Jan. 30, 2010 — The Post-Dispatch confirms that Texas billionaire Gerald J. Ford has joined the Checketts group as its lead — or 30 percent — investor.
Feb. 5, 2010 — Goodell says the league wants a franchise in St. Louis and wants the Rams to be successful there in the long term.
Feb. 10, 2010 — Shahid Khan, an auto-parts manufacturer from Urbana, Ill., enters into a sales agreement to purchase the 60 percent of the Rams held by Rosenbloom and Rodriguez.
April 12, 2010 — In a surprise move, Missouri native and 40 percent Rams owner Stan Kroenke exercises his right of first refusal to purchase the team, in essence matching Khan's bid.
April 20, 2010 — Kroenke says he will "attempt to do everything I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis" if his purchase is approved.
May 24, 2010 — In the first sign that Kroenke's bid could gain approval, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson tells the Post-Dispatch: "Everybody wants him to be an owner, I can tell you."
May 25, 2010 — In a presentation to the NFL's finance committee, Kroenke lays out his plan to buy the Rams and meet NFL cross-ownership guidelines with respect to his ownership of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche.
July 26, 2010 — NFL schedules special owners meeting for Aug. 25 in Atlanta for expected vote on Rams sale.
Aug. 1, 2010 — For the first time in the process, Rosenbloom expresses confidence that the Kroenke bid will be approved by league owners.
Mid-August, 2010 — Goodell notifies league owners that the finance committee has unanimously recommended the Kroenke purchase be approved Aug. 25.
Aug. 25, 2010 — Kroenke receives unanimous approval from league owners as new owner of Rams.
Jim Thomas
