The Rams' lease with the city of St. Louis may allow the team "to buy its practice facility ... for just $1," according to a front-page piece by David Hunn of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The public board that governs the Edward Jones Dome on Thursday sued "to block the team from buying Rams Park." The Jones Dome Authority owns the park and "leased the facility to the Rams for $25,000 a year." It now wants to "sell the land, once appraised ... for nearly $19 million." However, a clause in the Rams' lease "gives the team the option to buy the park -- for $1 -- after the dome's 29th anniversary in 2024." The JDA "can't sell the land if the Rams have such an option." It is unknown if Rams Owner Stan Kroenke has been asked "to give up the option." The Rams' lease on the stadium expires Thursday, and the lawsuit states the team's lease on Rams Park "was extended to April 30" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/25).
CHIEFS TAKE WAIT-AND-SEE APPROACH: In K.C., Terez Paylor reports the Chiefs are "now allowed to market in St. Louis" with the Rams having moved to L.A., but both Chiefs President Mark Donovan and Chair & CEO Clark Hunt have consistently maintained that the club is "not ready to aggressively market to Rams fans." Donovan said that the Chiefs "will be smart and respectful about marketing to fans that just lost their team, and that they have not set a timeline for when, or if, they will do so." He said, “We’re going to be very cautious, we’re going to be very respectful. They’ve been through a process, and their fans, they’ve been through a lot." Paylor notes some in St. Louis are "surely feeling sore" about the Rams moving. But Donovan said that "early indications are that some fans there have already pledged their allegiance to the Chiefs." Donovan: “The day (the move) was announced, we got phone calls from people in St. Louis saying, ‘I’m a Chiefs fan, and I’m here to buy season tickets.' We got calls, day one, from corporations in St. Louis saying, ‘The marketing dollars we used to send (to the Rams), we’d like to at least have a conversation about sending with you.'" Donovan said that the Chiefs "have not held conversations with corporations about the latter," though they are "willing to welcome any new fans who want to come aboard." Donovan added that the league "must also decide how to split up the preseason television rights among the four teams that still surround the market" -- K.C., Chicago, Tennessee and Indianapolis -- a process he "expects to be completed within the next few months" (K.C. STAR, 3/25).
