The St. Louis Rams have a new owner. Well, almost. Illinois auto-parts magnate Shahid Khan has agreed to terms for the Rosenbloom's 60 percent share of the team. The deal is expected to be completed in a month or so.
There's not much to say about the matter at this point. To our LA fans, I'm sorry to say that all indications point to Khan, who has deep ties to St. Louis and the region, intends to keep the team here. As a St. Louis guy that makes me happy. St. Louis is a great American city and it deserves a football team. More importantly it deserves a winning football team, and it would seem at first glance that Khan intends to support the front office in making that happen. And that's good news. He is also reportedly willing to work out a deal to address the stadium issues that arise when the franchise reaches a key clause in its lease on the Dome in 2014 that allows them an out in the agreement if the Dome isn't among the top facilities in the league.
It also means that the ownership issue is settled, or will be. The Rams have enough to do without an ongoing sideshow, not to mention the uncertainty that creates for the front office guys who are making big financial decisions.
It remains to be seen how active and involved with running the day-to-day aspects of the Rams Khan intends to be, or how tightly he intends to control the purse strings as the Rams head into the uncharted territory of an uncapped year. He seems like a smart enough businessman to know that a winning team brings home the bacon.
Talk about the end of an era though. The Rosenblooms have owned this team for a long, long time. Carol Rosenbloom swapped his ownership of the Colts for the LA Rams in 1972.
There's still much to learn, but this seems like good news.