Rams owner threatens NFL over St. Louis and the tournament could make billions of dollars if he follows through

Rams owner Stan Kroenke probably won’t be a very popular person at the next NFL owners meeting, and that’s because he’s basically made a threat that could make the 31 owners another has to pay billions of dollars if he follows it.

NS NFL and its 32 owners are now defendants in a lawsuit surrounding its decision to leave St. Louis of the Rams. The lawsuit, originally filed by the city of St. Louis, County of St. Louis and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority from 2017, is now scheduled to go to trial on January 10, 2022.

With the NFL facing the fact that the trial date is less than two months away, Kroenke is now doing everything he can to try to settle the case. According to an email taken by Sports Business Magazine, Kroenke’s representative believes that the lawsuit can be settled for between $500 million and $750 million (Kroenke offered a payment of 100 million dollars, but was rejected).

From a legal standpoint, other NFL owners seem to feel that Kroenke should take full responsibility for the settlement due to the compensation agreement he signed when the Rams moved out of St. Louis after the 2015 season, Kroenke doesn’t feel the same way, however.

According to the email he sent, Kroenke had threatened to settle the case involving only him, meaning the other 31 teams would still have to go to court on January 10. The only way Kroenke wouldn’t go. through this threat is if the other 31 teams agree to split the cost of any final settlement numbers.

“If we continue to not receive any assurance from the federation regarding the (damage) allocation, we will have no choice but to attempt to resolve the case on behalf of the Rams and Mr. Kroenke.” “, the email reads, via SBJ. “We don’t want to do that. We want everyone’s participation – or some assurance from the union that a settlement will be distributed fairly. But we haven’t received that assurance until now. now, as well as any hint that the union will attempt to resolve case and address allocations later.”

End of October report from ESPN suggested that Kroenke was trying to back off his promise to pay the full payment because he didn’t think he was legally required to transfer the money. Kroenke paid the legal fees in the case, but he doesn’t believe the language in the settlement requires him to pay a settlement if the NFL loses or settles the case (Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk) stated here why Kroenke actually has a pretty solid legal leg to stand on).

According to the same ESPN story, some owners are fearing that judgments against them could run into the billions of dollars if the NFL loses the case. If the NFL doesn’t agree to split the settlement with Kroenke, it’s easy to see a situation where the Rams owner walks into the mediation room and offers a figure under $500 million to settle the case while also telling the attorneys general. claim that they could get billions of dollars. more as the lawsuit proceeds against the rest of the NFL. For example, if Kroenke settles for $200 million, the plaintiffs can use that as a deduction for potential damages from each team at trial (If all 32 teams pay $200 million, that would be $6.2 billion for the plaintiffs).

The lawsuit lists all 32 NFL team (and their owners) as defendants. The suit was filed because the plaintiffs felt the Rams “breached the obligations and standards governing group relocation” by transferring the franchise. Basically, St. Louis felt that the Rams broke NFL relocation guidelines when they left and that the other teams were at fault because they voted to let the Rams move.

The NFL was hit after the hit in this case, which is likely one reason why Kroenke wants to make sure the case doesn’t go to trial. Among the access cases: Plaintiffs were given access to the financial records of several famous people in the NFL, including league commissioner Roger Goodell; Kroenke owner, Jerry Jones (Cowboys), Robert Kraft (Patriots) and John Mara (Giant); and before Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. The NFL was also shot down recently trying to move the case out of St. Louis.

Unfortunately for the NFL, there won’t be much time to decide whether to accept Kroenke’s terms. The Rams have a settlement on November 23, meaning league owners will likely need to decide before then if they’re willing to split the cost of any potential settlement.

Whatever happens, it’s safe to say that Kroenke won’t become the most popular player in the league for the next few years.