Rams could have new owners by April

by Ryan Van Bibber on Jan 20, 2010 9:38 AM CST in St. Louis Rams sale

There's news on the "for sale" front for the St. Louis Rams. The Post-Dispatch is reporting that three serious bidders have emerged, and the current owners, Chip Rosenbloom and his sister Lucia Rodriguez, will make a decision to sell their share, 60 percent, of the team or hang on to it before the draft in April, probably. There's nothing hard and fast about the deadline; it's mostly about letting the team get on with life and out of for sale purgatory.

The only known bidder is St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts' group. Checketts has a stated desire to keep the team in St. Louis, something that will factor heavily into selecting a buyer. One of the bids, the article says, is for the full 100 percent ownership stake. That puts Stan Kroenke in play, who owns 40 percent of the team. Kroenke has to give the nod before a sale can be completed, and that could happen as soon as this week when the Rams leadership meets for their annual state of the team pow wow.

At one point in time, I thought for sure that Kroenke would be a buyer, but now I'm wondering if won't be looking to sell all or part of his share of the team. Why? In addition to his stake in the Rams and the NBA and NHL franchises he owns in Denver, Kroenke also owns part of a little professional soccer (football) team called Arsenal, part of the English Premier League and the third most valuable sports franchise in the world. There's talk that Kroenke wants to buy a controlling interest in Arsenal, for which he'd surely have to sell some of his U.S. owned teams to complete.

Who knows who will buy the Rams, if they end up being sold. What I do know is that it won't matter who owns the team if they don't start winning games and becoming a more profitable franchise. Fortunately, we seem to be headed in that direction thanks to the overhaul of the front office and coaching staff by Chip Rosenbloom. This offseason was already a crucial one for the next stage of the team, and with the ownership situation hanging overhead the offseason stakes just got a lot higher.

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stan kroenke worries me

my choice to purchase the team is by far dave checketts. however, if the rosenblooms decide they just want to sell their 60%, kroenke still has an option to “cash out” and make the owner buy all 100% of the team. if that happens, i don’t think checketts will come up with the cash, which would be a real bummer. if the sale gets larger than it already is, it becomes increasingly likely that someone from out of town will buy the team.

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by stlcardinalsfang on Jan 20, 2010 10:49 AM CST reply actions

There is also speculation

they could just shelve the whole “sell the team” idea altogether. The Rosenbloom/Fronterie family has been in ownership in the NFL for over 60 years and there are apparently some in the family that are pressuring them not to sell.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Jan 20, 2010 11:37 AM CST reply actions

I just hope the team stays in Saint Louis.

I’d love for Checketts to get it. I don’t watch hockey so I’m not sure how good he is an owner (he does seem to be getting the Blues going the right way) but if he buys the team, he MUST keep the team in Saint Louis as you cannot own 2 teams in separate markets in the 4 major sports (includes NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL).

As much as I hate Nebraska, I want Suh in Saint Lou.

by StopSpe on Jan 20, 2010 3:02 PM CST reply actions

Stay in St. Louis

LA don’t deserve a franchise!

by jlcdb70 on Jan 20, 2010 3:34 PM CST reply actions

Hey? WTF?

Based on what?

Geez dude. Are you a Rams’ fan or a STL sports fan? You can be both you know.

"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."

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by TrojanRam on Jan 20, 2010 6:32 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

STL or LA, it matters not to me. I'd just like us to get some real players and give up being the laughing stock of the league.

by edpjr on Jan 20, 2010 7:49 PM CST reply actions

+1

obviously i’m rooting for st. louis to i can go to the games every so often, but i’ll still be supporting them if they move to la.

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by stlcardinalsfang on Jan 20, 2010 9:30 PM CST up reply actions

lets start a fund and buy them as a community

Keith Null won't accept my friend requests.

by loyal2therams on Jan 20, 2010 7:58 PM CST reply actions

LA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they need to come to LA so we can get some good players think about it LAA or st.louis were would you go. ive seen the plans too its an amazing stadium!!!!

by gswarriors925 on Jan 21, 2010 10:03 PM CST reply actions

partial to LA

I wish they would come back to LA, but at the same time i am sorta thinking that we don’t deserve them because when the piece of shit raiders were here, not many of us Angelenos were still Rams fans….I for one fought (literally) and argued and railed for them not to leave and instead for the thugs of the NFL to go back to the gay area instead but alas my voice wasn’t heard and then the idiots going on bout the raiders mouths hit the floor when the waited a few years and then hightailed to where i had wanted to ship em earlier, i was never so disgusted in my life!!!

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by peteyweestro on Jan 24, 2010 1:23 PM CST reply actions