Rams owner Stan Kroenke has already caused some turmoil among other NFL owners after attempting to back out of his promise to pay tens of millions of dollars in legal expenses stemming from the ongoing lawsuit after the Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles. His next move wouldn’t make things any better.
According to Sports Business Journal’s Ben Fischer, Kroenke is threatening to settle the lawsuit on his own, separately from the NFL and the other 31 owners. That would force the rest of the league to go to trial in January without him and likely leaving owners with serious expenses.
SBJ acquired the email sent by Kroenke’s representatives to league officials and other owners and lawyers.
“If we continue to not get any assurances from the league regarding allocation (of damages), we will have no choice but to try to resolve the case on behalf of only the Rams and Mr. Kroenke,” the email reads. “We do not want to do that. We want everyone’s participation — or some assurance from the league that a settlement will be allocated fairly. But we have not gotten that assurance to date, nor any suggestion that the league will try to settle the case and address allocation later.”
The trial is set for Jan. 10 but it’s clear Kroenke is doing what he can to settle the suit before it goes to trial. According to SBJ, Kroenke and his representatives believe they can settle the case for $500-750 million.
The Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016, a move that needed to be approved by the rest of the NFL owners. The lawsuit filed by the city of St. Louis and the St. Louis Regional Convention & Sports Complex Authority has complicated things as they argue the league and the Rams were misleading about the move to Los Angeles and broke the relocation guidelines.