You knew it couldn't be so simple. You knew it couldn't be as simple as Shahid Khan riding into St. Louis, becoming majority owner of the Rams, keeping the team here and saving NFL football in the city.
NO. This is St. Louis football. Nothing can ever be simple. E. Stanley Kroenke, owner of 40% of the team, has piped in on the 60th, and final, day he could claim his right of first refusal, and done just that, blocking Khan's bid. Kroenke wants to become 100% owner of the team.
Just one problem, as we all know: because he owns major sports teams in another NFL city's (Denver) market, Kroenke isn't allowed by the NFL to own the Rams and those teams at the same time. I assume he's now going to try to convince the league to revoke that cross-ownership rule.
Quoted from the St. Louis Business Journal, Khan to his credit isn't telling Kroenke to go pound sand, and remains committed to becoming the Rams' owner:
“I entered into that agreement knowing that Mr. Kroenke could attempt to purchase that interest on the same terms,” Khan said in a statement Monday night. “Earlier this evening, Stan advised me that he was going to pursue that opportunity.
“While the decision about ownership now rests in the hands of the NFL and its owners, my dedication to the league, the Rams, their fans and the St. Louis community is as strong as ever. Accordingly, I have advised Chip and Lucia that I intend to remain bound by our agreement and to conclude the purchase if the opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, I look forward to learning of Billy Devaney’s pick on the evening of April 22.”
St. Louis had a metaphorical 20-yard FG to hit to win the game of keeping the Rams in town. Now Kroenke has turned it into a 35-yarder. And Kroenke's frozen the kicker. I'm not opposed to Kroenke as the owner. Maybe it would inspire him to be less of a hermit around here. "Everyone" seems to think he'd be a fine owner. (Of course, that's the same group who all expected him to welcome Khan warmly as the new majority owner.) I am opposed that he's drug this process out, we don't know when it's going to end or how long the team's going to be in limbo. And as long as the team's in limbo, it will be hard-pressed to get back on the road to winning.
And the longer it takes to resolve ownership, the longer the possibility remains in play of outsiders coming in and moving the team. They're waiting in the end zone now, hoping that 35-yard FG duckhooks to one of them to return for a touchdown.
Top photo: St. Louis Business Journal
Bottom photo: STLToday
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