Rams Likely To Hit Market Soon As Owners Begin Sales Process
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Timetable For Sale Of Rams Has Moved Up,
Team Could Be Moved Out Of St. Louis |
The Rams are "likely to hit the open market in the near future," as co-Owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez have retained the services of Goldman Sachs to "help facilitate the sale" of the team, according to sources cited by Bernie Miklasz of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. As Rosenbloom and Rodriguez have made "substantial progress" on reorganizing the team's football operation and "complex estate-tax issues in the aftermath" of the death of their mother, late Rams Owner Georgia Frontiere, the timetable for a sale "has moved up." There will be "no preconditions attached to the sale of the Rams," which means the team "could be scooped up by out-of-town buyers." A source said that Rosenbloom's "strong preference is to sell to St. Louis representatives," but added that Rosenbloom is "discouraged by the apparent lack of local ownership interest." Miklasz noted Kroenke Sports Enterprises Owner and Rams investor Stan Kroenke "wants to retain his 40[%] piece of the Rams," but he is "prohibited from being the majority owner of the Rams unless he first sells" the Nuggets and Avalanche. Meanwhile, the Rams' lease agreement with the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (SLCVC) "stipulates that the Edwards Jones Dome must be a 'top-tier' facility that ranks among the top eight stadiums in terms of quality in the 32-team NFL by 2015," and if that "top-level status is not met, the Rams would be able to opt out of the stadium lease following the 2014 season." The Edward Jones Dome, even with a $30M upgrade currently underway, "will be one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL by 2015," and a source said that Rosenbloom is "reluctant to get into an extended and nasty battle" with the SLCVC (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/31). ESPN.com's Mike Sando noted Miklasz first reported on Twitter that the Rams "retained Goldman Sachs to help find a buyer for the team" (ESPN.com, 5/31).
SUPPORT SYSTEM: ESPN's John Clayton said there is "no investor surfacing in St. Louis, and so the likelihood is whoever buys the team the would be an out-of-town person." Clayton: "There's going to be every effort to try to keep the team in (St. Louis) and starting around 2014, 2015, that's where the troubles exists as far as having some lease problems for trying to keep the team in St. Louis" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 6/1). The POST-DISPATCH's Miklasz writes if the Rams move from St. Louis, it "won't be because of the fans," and there is "no reason for fans to get mad or to boycott" because Rosenbloom and Rodriguez have decided to sell. Rosenbloom was "always straightforward about his vision," and he and Rodriguez "took time to reorganize the Rams' front office and football operations ... rather than sell immediately after Frontiere's death." If no local interest materializes, the decision "has been made for Rosenbloom," and if no investors from the St. Louis area "think it's worthwhile to buy 60[%] of the Rams to preserve the team for St. Louis -- well, there's not much to say, is there?" Miklasz: "Why is it that the owners of St. Louis professional sports are based in other cities and regions? ... With St. Louis thriving as a sports town ... why can't we get a St. Louisian to actually own one of the teams?" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/1).
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Wilson Has Said He Will Not
Leave Bills To His Children |
IMPLICATIONS FOR BILLS: In Toronto, Garth Woolsey writes a potential sale of the Rams has implications for the Bills, "who will be faced with all sorts of similarly knotty problems when owner Ralph Wilson, 90, passes." Wilson has said that he will "not leave the team to his children -- avoiding estate-tax issues -- meaning it will go up for sale," and Toronto interests, "already in cahoots with the team and the league as games are being played at the Rogers Centre, would be among the obvious suitors." Meanwhile, Woolsey notes NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the league "would do all it can to keep the Rams in St. Louis, noting there's an effective league-wide revenue-sharing plan in place." But Goodell has "hardly been as defensive and strident" as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who "vows he is committed to do anything and everything to keep all of his franchises in place, Phoenix especially" (TORONTO STAR, 6/1).
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