In St. Louis, Brian Feldt cited sources as saying that while the Rams' annual contracts with some employees and some advertisers "have run from May to May," they "have been changed, and now coincide" with the NFL's deadline to submit relocation bids. IT consulting firm Perficient Managing Dir of Marketing & Communications Bill Davis said that the company's sponsorship contract with the Rams "now runs" to the end of February '16. NFL teams have between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15 to "submit relocation bids." Davis said that Rams officials "told him the team was changing its contracts to coincide with the end of the playing season" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/3).
LEARN TO FLY: NBA.com's David Aldridge reported the Hawks' new ownership group, led by Ares Management co-Founder Tony Ressler, "should be formally approved by July 1, and it will have to quickly decide who's running the basketball side." Aldridge: "Will it be Grant Hill ... who's part of the Ressler group? Will it be [GM Danny Ferry], who put the bulk of the team and basketball operations staff in place, but who has been on a leave of absence since ... last year? Or will it be some either/or combination of [coach Mike Budenholzer] -- himself entering the final year of his coaching contract -- and assistant GM Wes Wilcox? Or, someone else from the outside?" (NBA.com, 6/1).
LIFE LESSONS: In L.A., Lisa Dillman noted NHL Kings President & GM Dean Lombardi on Tuesday "spoke about the steps the organization is taking to promote education and awareness" of domestic violence and drug abuse issues in the wake of incidents involving D Slava Voynov and C Jarrett Stoll, respectively. Team officials are planning to have former NBAer Chris Herren "meet with players to share his story of recovery" from drug and alcohol addiction. Front office execs also "have met with members of domestic violence groups and expect to have them talk to players" (L.A. TIMES, 6/3).
