Court rules Rams lawsuit can be heard in St. Louis courtroom

[Riverumbbq]

JIM SALTER (Associated Press),The Associated Press 3 hours ago

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2016, file photo, championship banners are removed from the Edward Jones Dome, former home of the St. Louis Rams football team, in St. Louis.

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit filed over the Rams' departure from St. Louis will be heard in a St. Louis courtroom, a defeat for the NFL team's owner who sought to send the case to arbitration. The court issued its ruling Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, in a lawsuit filed by St. Louis city and county and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, which owns the domed stadium where the Rams formerly played. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit filed over the Rams' departure from St. Louis will be heard in a St. Louis courtroom, a defeat for the NFL team's owner who sought to send the case to arbitration.
The court issued its ruling Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by St. Louis city and county and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, which owns the domed stadium where the Rams formerly played. It named Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who moved the team to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, the NFL and league owners.
It wasn't immediately clear if an appeal was planned. Messages left Wednesday with the Rams, Kroenke's attorney and the NFL were not immediately returned.
The lawsuit alleged that the Rams' departure violated a 1984 league guideline that was established after the Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles. The league, the Rams and Kroenke have argued that the disagreements should be settled behind closed doors in arbitration.
The suit seeks financial damages, but a win for the city, county and dome authority would not return the team to St. Louis.
The Rams' departure left a bitter taste in St. Louis, which lost an NFL team for the second time in 30 years - the Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1987.
Last month, a judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement of a separate suit filed on behalf of fans who bought St. Louis Rams tickets and team merchandise. The settlement could be worth up to $25 million. The lawsuit claimed fans would not have purchased the tickets and goods if they knew about the impending move.
The Rams scored a victory in yet another suit. An April ruling determined that an option in the lease for the now-vacant training facility in St. Louis County gives the Rams the option to buy it for just $1. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the facility is worth at least $12.7 million.

Court rules Rams lawsuit can be heard in St. Louis courtroom

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a lawsuit filed over the Rams' departure from St. Louis will be heard in a St. Louis courtroom, a defeat for the NFL team's owner who sought to send the case to arbitration. The court issued its ruling Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by St. Louis city and...

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[Loyal]

*spurned lover syndrome. Time to get behind your XFL team and move forward... or continue to love the Rams from afar, like I do. Kroenke blows his nose on $25 million cash for kleenex, but will make you fight to the bitter end for it and have St Louis/ex-fans spent lots of money trying to win.

Life is short.

 

[EastRam]

*spurned lover syndrome. Time to get behind your XFL team and move forward... or continue to love the Rams from afar, like I do. Kroenke blows his nose on $25 million cash for kleenex, but will make you fight to the bitter end for it and have St Louis/ex-fans spent lots of money trying to win.

Life is short.

Na. The NFL broke their rules. That much is clear.

Still a Rams fan always will be. But the lawsuit has merit.

 

[IE Rams]

To anyone who's not involved in this suit, it looks alot like what the Ain'ts fans are doing. And as someone who grew up with the Rams since the late Blue and White years, then watching them move away, I do feel St. Louis's pain (in fact, I never had an issue with St.L or their fans, just Georgia).

St.L may be awarded some cash, but it's over. The Rams are back in LA.

 

[Memento]

Let's tread carefully around this topic. I'm a St. Louisan myself, and while I'm admittedly not Kroenke's biggest fan, I respect the work he's done to make the Rams competitive. I definitely prefer him as an owner, especially considering that we could have, say, Jones, Davis, Snyder, or Ross, who meddle in all decisions with their teams.

My point is that I don't want another spat between Los Angeles and St. Louis.

 

[oldnotdead]

Some people just can't let it go. People in ST Louis and New Orleans need to get lives. Quit crying over things that simply don't really matter.

 

[Loyal]

Na. The NFL broke their rules. That much is clear.

Still a Rams fan always will be. But the lawsuit has merit.

Sometimes being right, isn't enough. My family had a friend who was a fellow salesman with my Dad in the same company. The company was legitimately wrong in not giving him a bonus. Our friend didn't take shyte from anyone. His brother was a lawyer and sued the company for him, pro bono (for free), and he won.
Company paid and all was silent for a year and they waited their chance and found way to fire him with cause (meaning a gray area for which no one else was ever fired, previously.)

It was for a company called Prince Matchebelli that dealt with women's fragrances aziza lipstick, etc.) In any case, his former company torpedoed him with possible future employers, and never worked in that type of industry again.

Not the same thing of course as an NFL owner finding a pretext to skirt the rules to move the team. You can be right and still lose in the end. Life is not fair. *shrugs

 

[dang]

Admittedly I am a Rams fan period. I wasn’t happy when they moved to St Louis but as a Rams fan I accepted it in hopes it would be good for the Rams. After several piss poor years it was. I wasn’t convinced moving back to LA was a good idea but as a Rams fan I accepted it in hopes it would be good for the Rams. After a piss pour year it was and the future looks great. My point is change is hard but many times it for the better. I sympathize with St Louis sports fans but I have to ask Rams fans where would you prefer the Rams be? Still struggling in St Louis or building a dynasty in LA LA land?

 

[Loyal]

I want to tell a story about the only Rams forum that I knew on the internet in 2002. I had been an anonymous guest there before that. It was, of course, Rams Talk at the St Louis Post dispatch. The Edward JonesTWA Dome was selling out for years in a row and the Rams had been to two Super Bowls in three years. The Rams were on top of the World. I was an LA fan living in Kansas and I was a curiousity to the good folks of the Lou.

I had no other team and another LA Rams fan there said "Loyalty over Location," and I stole that! I had no other team. The Rams had won its first Super Bowl in franchise history after just 5 years in St Louis. It was LOUD in the Ed. Although it was strange for them that a fan could back the team that had bugged out of LA for St Louis, but they were ok with it. It only got wierd when Khan was supplanted by minority owner, Stan Kroenke at the VERY last moment. Everyone was stunned by the turnaround. I noticed at that very time, the defunct Los Angeles Rams name had a phone number associated with it in Los Angeles, well before the initial parcel of Hollywood Park property was purchaed by Stan Kroenke. I knew at that time, the Rams were going back to LA, well before the Arbitrators decided what they did.

I said all of this because a lot of innocent folks were sandbagged in St Louis, just as a lot of folks were sandbagged in LA when Georgia stole the team moved it. Please don't shoot the wounded. The Rams are back and are doing better than at anytime in its history (except for 1999!). We are a blended family here.

Be kind.

 

[bluecoconuts]

I feel for the fans, I'm not an expert at law, but to me I don't really see how this is even still a thing. Maybe it's just me though, again I'm not an expert.

Regardless, I expect him to challenge everything and anything to get it dismissed.

 

[IE Rams]

My point is that I don't want another spat between Los Angeles and St. Louis.

With you 100%. We don't need any of that. Never have had an issue with St.L peeps. Have always respected the Cards and Blues fans and organizations--good fans in St.L. fo sho.

Now, if we were talking about Frisco or Iggles fans . . .

 

[I like Rams]

The only thing i want to see out of this is for the NFL to keep its word from now on. They told St Louis and Stan that they could only move if they ""exhausted" all options and still could not get a stadium. While the city of STL surely procrastinated til the last minute, they got a stadium proposal and funding, only to find out that moving was in the works for years. These shady business practices need to end.

Other than that, I cheer for the players on the field, and as LoyalRam said, "loyalty over location".

 

[SuperMan28]

I do believe believe STL was done dirty and is entitled to significant financial damages.

But as far as my fandom goes, I've moved on. Fond memories are the GSOT and Steven Jackson. Always dear to my heart.

 

[Debacled]

Lots of people missing the point in the thread. This isn't about getting over it, this is about spent money and lost revenue due to bad faith negotiations on the Rams and NFL's part.

The league and Kronke would love to keep all of this behind closed doors (arbitration) to brush it all under the rug whereas the county, city, and other interested parties want to keep it in the public eye to help force their hand via even more bad PR.

 

[FaulkSF]

At least the fans will earn some sort of "anticipated" settlement for the loss of the PSL. I have empathy for the middle class who made an investment to support their hobby and team. It would set a bad precedence if they were not fairly (to be determined) for their loss.

I have zero sympathy for the St Louis Conventions Center. They did not make timely good faith efforts to make the necessary investments and improvements to meet the contractual agreements to keep the Rams in town. As a result of their stubborn incompetence, they also ruined Marshall's career by failing to make appropriate betterments to enhance the playing field that ruined Faulk's knees.

 

[Zaphod]

They never should have subsidized the move in the first place.

Having spent OPM through municipal bonds and subsequent taxes, they never should have procrastinated with the renovations necessary to keep the team in St. Louis.

Of course it became obvious that the team was eventually moving back to LA because of the larger market and so it became a cost vs. return of investment to keep the team for what limited time that contract had to offer, hence the trepidation for further investment.

If the team was worth the investment into a shiny new stadium in St. Louis, the owners should have put their own money into it. Holding the city’s tax payers hostage in the owners perpetual building measurement contest gets a hard no from me.

That should tell you how much value the LA market has over St. Louis, and it should have been a huge red flag when they moved here in the first place. Just another failed effort of fighting supply reaching demand. That is why I applaud Stan for investing into his own stadium even though the outcome meant the team moving away from my city.

If the NFL or Stan made a move knowingly against the good of that contract, then you would think that they took that risk preparing for that.

This isn’t about St. Louis getting over it, that ship sailed. This is about money.

 

[LesBaker]

The suit seeks financial damages, but a win for the city, county and dome authority would not return the team to St. Louis.

Last month, a judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement of a separate suit filed on behalf of fans who bought St. Louis Rams tickets and team merchandise. The settlement could be worth up to $25 million. The lawsuit claimed fans would not have purchased the tickets and goods if they knew about the impending move.

Some people just can't let it go. People in ST Louis and New Orleans need to get lives. Quit crying over things that simply don't really matter.

I feel for the fans, I'm not an expert at law, but to me I don't really see how this is even still a thing. Maybe it's just me though, again I'm not an expert.

Regardless, I expect him to challenge everything and anything to get it dismissed.

I do believe believe STL was done dirty and is entitled to significant financial damages.

Having spent OPM through municipal bonds and subsequent taxes, they never should have procrastinated with the renovations necessary to keep the team in St. Louis.

I'll address these quotes in one ramble LOL. This has nothing to do with "moving on" it's all about recovering the tens of millions spent by the city and the fans. Mostly the city obviously.

Kreonke bought the land for the stadium years ago, and had been planning on moving the team when he bought it. So for 6 years he had been planning to move the team back to the city he helped Georgia move out of. The reason he bought the team and the land was to leave STL.

So for 6 years he was selling PSL's knowing he was not going to deliver the contractual obligation of being able to provide seats for the fans that purchased them.

Kroenke settled for 24MIL to get that suit wrapped up.

This was seriously premeditated, and the NFL was complicit. This is why the want it behind closed doors. It's a big fat black eye for the NFL and Kroenke.

As far as the city they did what they could all the while being told by Kroenke, Demoff and Goodell to make good faith efforts which were expensive and time consuming when in fact they knew the city was wasting their time/effort/money. They lied up until the end. And when it came out that they were moving no matter what the city did that's when the shit hit the fan. Things began leaking out and the city decided to file suit.

Had the Rams and NFL said "don't bother the Rams are going to LA" they wouldn't have any opportunity to do anything in court. But the fact is they spent piles of money and should get that money back.

No secret that I dislike Kroenke, and have since before the move, and even before he became the sole owner. My message to those who praise him for bringing the Rams back to LA is this. He was involved (heavily) with the team moving to STL. So don't assume he did this for the fans. If there was more money moving to another city he would have done that.

There is already precedent in this area and Kreonke will be paying back the city just like he paid back the fans. He'll let it go to arbitration just like with the PSL suit, they will arrive at a settlement and he will cut the check. He has no leverage and the city does.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Rams owner Stan Kroenke Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Rams, NFL to appeal relocation lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court
Originally posted on Sportsnaut | By Vincent Frank | Last updated 9/5/19

Owner Stan Kroenke and the Los Angeles Rams are going to great lengths to make sure a current lawsuit surrounding their relocation from St. Louis back in 2016 isn’t made public.
Joel Currier of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday that the Rams and the NFL will appeal a lower-court decision all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
This stems from the Missouri Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that settlement negotiations between the team and plaintiffs would be heard in a St. Louis courtroom rather than through arbitration.

“Kroenke’s lawyers said the Missouri high court’s ruling will cause ‘irreparable harm’ to the Rams by denying the team’s ‘bargained-for right to resolve this case outside of court in an efficient and cost-saving manner.'”

The money aspect of this will be laughed off by the nation’s biggest court. Though, there is an argument that can be made that the NFL and its teams as well as the host cities are bound by collective bargaining. The report noted:

“The lawsuit — the biggest of four filed by fans and government entities after the team’s exodus — was filed 15 months after the Rams left. The dome authority, St. Louis and St. Louis County sued the Rams, the NFL and 31 other NFL teams and owners alleging breach of contract, fraud, illegal enrichment and interference in business by the Rams and the NFL, causing significant public financial loss.”

Based on the details of the lawsuit, a strong argument exists that this should be decided in arbitration. Even then, one has to wonder what both the league and the Rams are trying to hide.

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[coconut]

He and the NFL want arbitration but that won't rectify the BS he said about the viability of St. Louis as an NFL town. Courtroom gets it all on the record. St. Louis is trying to attract other teams from other sports. Showing them that it was all a premeditated lie will help.

 

[Dxmissile]

Some people just can't let it go. People in ST Louis and New Orleans need to get lives. Quit crying over things that simply don't really matter.

This is about much more than a missed call and if you don’t understand the situation maybe it’s best you just watch this thread instead of my insulting comparisons about something you clearly have no interest in