Shahid Khan? It was nice knowing you.
Rams minority owner Stan Kroenke, who owns 40 percent of the team and reportedly had a strong interest in buying the rest, has exercised his right of first refusal as to the 60 percent owned by Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez.
“We are pleased to announce that we have exercised our right to purchase the remaining interest in the St. Louis Rams football team under the terms of our partnership agreement,” Kroenke said in a statement on Monday night, per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We have enjoyed our involvement in the National Football League since our original expansion efforts beginning in 1993 and our subsequent 15-year partnership with the Rams. We look forward to working with the Rosenbloom family and the NFL to complete this transaction. We will respect the league and its processes in our efforts to complete this transaction.”
The move means that Khan’s bid to buy controlling interest in the team will die, if Kroenke can secure approval for the transaction. Khan’s ultimate role in the process? Negotiating the purchase price for the 60 percent that Kroenke will buy.
Though Kroenke has more than enough money to purchase the balance of the team, he also owns the Colorado Avalance of the NHL and the Denver Nuggets of the NBA. He’ll be required either to sell the hockey and hoops teams, or he’ll have to persuade the NFL to scuttle the cross-ownership rule, which permits the purchase of teams in multiple sports as long as they all operate in the same market.
Three weeks ago, Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed whether the rules would be changed for Kronke. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said. “But I don’t think so. I think everyone understands we’re going to respect our policies and make sure we treat everyone the same. We have great respect for Stan and he has to make some choices. But he also understands the league wants to continue to have policies that we think are beneficial to the league in general and fair to all 32 clubs.”
In the 1990s, the league relaxed the rules to permit Wayne Huizenga to buy the Miami Dolphins. But there was no natural opposition to such a move in South Florida. In Denver, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen could have something to say about having one of his NFL brethren competing with Bowlen’s football team via two other major-league franchises.
Presumably, Kroenke’s decision to exercise his right to buy the rest of the Rams means that, if push comes to shove, he’ll let the Avs and Nuggets float.
Maybe Pat Bowlen would be interested in buying them.