NFL Sources Confirm Dave Checketts' Bid For Rams Is Serious

Checketts' Group Would Need $510M To Acquire 60% Of Rams

Blues Owner Dave Checketts' investment group looking to acquire the Rams "appears to be for real," and Checketts "has a line on a viable lead investor," according to NFL sources cited by Jim Thomas of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. However, things are "still very much in the preliminary stages." Assuming the Rams' value is about $850M, the Checketts group would need $510M to acquire the 60% stake for sale, from co-Owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. As a result, the lead investor would need at least $255M of that total to meet the NFL's requirement that one person in a majority ownership group must possess a minimum 30% stake. Since only a "portion of that money can be borrowed under league guidelines," the Checketts group could borrow up to $90M, and the rest of the $510M "would have to come in cold, hard cash" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/3).

SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS: In St. Louis, Bryan Burwell writes regardless of who acquires the Rams, the "odds are still fairly strong that St. Louis will remain the Rams' home." There "simply aren't a lot of cities to go dashing off to that have fancy state-of-the-art stadiums waiting for you." Wharton Sports Business Initiative Dir Ken Shropshire: "The markets that wanted teams and that can support teams have already been filled. Buffalo is kind of flirting with Toronto, but beyond that, Los Angeles is (the only viable city left). And it's not all that certain that Los Angeles wants or will support an NFL franchise anymore." Plus, the Rams' lease at Edward Jones Dome "keeps the franchise locked in St. Louis for at least five more years" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/3).