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ST. LOUIS • The city, the county and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority are suing the National Football League over the relocation of the Rams 15 months ago.
The 52-page suit filed Wednesday in St. Louis Circuit Court lists the National Football League and all 32 NFL clubs as defendants and seeks damages and restitution of profits.
"The Rams, the NFL, through its member teams, and the owners have violated the obligations and standards governing team relocations" because the Rams failed to meet league relocation rules, the suit claims. As such, the league has breached its contractual duties owed the plaintiffs, the suit says.
The Rams and the NFL made intentionally false statements, unjustly enriched themselves, the plaintiffs say, and interfered with business expectations.
The suit claims St. Louis has lost an estimated $1.85 million to $3.5 million a year in amusement and ticket tax revenue with the departure of the Rams. It says the city also has lost about $7.5 million in property tax and $1.4 million in sales tax revenue, plus "millions" in earning taxes.
Although it doesn't provide dollar amounts for St Louis County, the suit says the county has lost out on hotel tax, property tax, and sales tax revenue because of the departure of the Rams.
The suit contains five counts, or causes for action:
• Breach of contract (against all defendants).
• Unjust enrichment (against all defendants).
• Fraudulent misrepresentation (against the Rams and team owner Stan Kroenke).
• Fraudulent misrepresentation (against all defendants).
• Tortious interference with business expectancy (against all defendants except the Rams). This last count basically alleges that the NFL and the other 31 teams "intentionally interfered" with the business relationship between the St. Louis plaintiffs and the Rams by approving the relocation.
The league's relocation rules were established in 1984 in response to a court recommendation to the NFL to avoid antitrust liability. The rules call on teams to work diligently and in good faith to remain in their home community, stating that teams cannot relocate unless the relocation policy is satisfied.
The suit lists three pages of examples in which the Rams "made false statements regarding the team's intent to engage in good faith negotiations."
Included is part of a 2010 Post-Dispatch interview with Kroenke in which he said: "I'm going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis. I've always stepped up for pro football in St. Louis. . . . People in our state know me. People know I can be trusted."
Another example came in 2014 from Rams executive Kevin Demoff after Kroenke bought land in Inglewood, Calif., that became part of the eventual site of the LA Rams' proposed stadium: "I promise you, Stan is looking at lots of pieces of land around the world right now and none of them are for football stadiums."
(Continued)
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/st-louis-suing-nfl-over-rams-relocation/
The 52-page suit filed Wednesday in St. Louis Circuit Court lists the National Football League and all 32 NFL clubs as defendants and seeks damages and restitution of profits.
"The Rams, the NFL, through its member teams, and the owners have violated the obligations and standards governing team relocations" because the Rams failed to meet league relocation rules, the suit claims. As such, the league has breached its contractual duties owed the plaintiffs, the suit says.
The Rams and the NFL made intentionally false statements, unjustly enriched themselves, the plaintiffs say, and interfered with business expectations.
The suit claims St. Louis has lost an estimated $1.85 million to $3.5 million a year in amusement and ticket tax revenue with the departure of the Rams. It says the city also has lost about $7.5 million in property tax and $1.4 million in sales tax revenue, plus "millions" in earning taxes.
Although it doesn't provide dollar amounts for St Louis County, the suit says the county has lost out on hotel tax, property tax, and sales tax revenue because of the departure of the Rams.
The suit contains five counts, or causes for action:
• Breach of contract (against all defendants).
• Unjust enrichment (against all defendants).
• Fraudulent misrepresentation (against the Rams and team owner Stan Kroenke).
• Fraudulent misrepresentation (against all defendants).
• Tortious interference with business expectancy (against all defendants except the Rams). This last count basically alleges that the NFL and the other 31 teams "intentionally interfered" with the business relationship between the St. Louis plaintiffs and the Rams by approving the relocation.
The league's relocation rules were established in 1984 in response to a court recommendation to the NFL to avoid antitrust liability. The rules call on teams to work diligently and in good faith to remain in their home community, stating that teams cannot relocate unless the relocation policy is satisfied.
The suit lists three pages of examples in which the Rams "made false statements regarding the team's intent to engage in good faith negotiations."
Included is part of a 2010 Post-Dispatch interview with Kroenke in which he said: "I'm going to attempt to do everything that I can to keep the Rams in St. Louis. I've always stepped up for pro football in St. Louis. . . . People in our state know me. People know I can be trusted."
Another example came in 2014 from Rams executive Kevin Demoff after Kroenke bought land in Inglewood, Calif., that became part of the eventual site of the LA Rams' proposed stadium: "I promise you, Stan is looking at lots of pieces of land around the world right now and none of them are for football stadiums."
(Continued)
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/st-louis-suing-nfl-over-rams-relocation/
