Rams President John Shaw testified on behalf of the St.
Louis Convention and Visitors Commission in its antitrust
lawsuit against the NFL, according to Tim O'Neil of the ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Shaw said that the team "won a rich
financial deal" because the league's policy against franchise
relocations put St. Louis at a "huge disadvantage" in
bargaining. Shaw: "I felt St. Louis was at a huge
disadvantage. If they wanted a team, if they wanted the
Rams, they basically had to give in to our terms." Shaw
said that he told St. Louis officials that getting the Rams
would be "costly." Shaw: "For the Rams to move, the deal
would have to be incredibly lucrative for us." Shaw added
that at the time of the team's relocation from Anaheim, the
league "proposed charging the Rams as much" as $100M. He
said that NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue told him the $7.5M
relocation fee that the city of St. Louis was willing to pay
"wouldn't be enough ... because the NFL television contract
had more than doubled in value since 1988." Shaw also said
that "several other team owners told him they were afraid to
move because of league pressures." Shaw will continue to
testify today (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/31).
