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May 22, 2008
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Frontiere's Estate Tax Bills Could Force Children To Sell Rams

Late Mother's Estate Tax Could Force
Rams Co-Owners To Sell Team
Rams co-Owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez are not "in any hurry to sell, but tax-related issues" pertaining to the estate of their mother, late Rams Owner Georgia Frontiere, are "complicated, and selling the Rams may be the one sure way of settling everything," according to Bernie Miklasz of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Rosenbloom and Rodriguez, who own 60% of the team, "will listen ... if a credible figure expresses interest in buying" the Rams, and if the potential buyer is "an excellent fit, they'll be inclined to sell." Rosenbloom and Rodriguez indicated that they "would like a St. Louis-buyer to emerge" in order to consider selling the franchise. Under NFL cross ownership rules, Rams minority Owner Stan Kroenke, who owns the other 40% of the team, is prohibited from buying the team unless he sells either the Avalanche or Nuggets. Kroenke's friends said that he is "reluctant to sell those Denver teams." But Miklasz writes regardless of who owns the team, an "impasse over the condition of the Edward Jones Dome could jeopardize the franchise's long-term future in St. Louis." Under the Rams' current lease agreement, the dome "must rank among the top eight stadiums in the NFL by 2015," which Miklasz notes is a "real long shot given the 20 new stadiums (by 2010) built in the NFL since the Dome opened in 1995." If the Edward Jones Dome does not meet the required standards, the Rams "have the right to leave after the 2014 season" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/22).

WHY SELLING MAKES SENSE: In St. Louis, Bill Coats wrote Rosenbloom and Rodriguez have "some strong reasons to eventually sell." Both are "longtime Southern Californians," and "heirs of other former owners have found themselves with no choice but to divest themselves of the team to avoid huge estate-tax bills." Coats wrote it will be "virtually impossible to bring the dome up to grade" by 2015, and as a result, if the Rams are to "fulfill their lease, which expires in 2025, a new stadium almost surely will have to be built" (STLTODAY.com, 5/21).




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