St. Louis is acting like a jilted divorcée in presenting its Los Angeles Rams litigation.
The city is suing the Rams and the rest of the NFL over the team’s move to Los Angeles 15 months ago. St. Louis is seeking damages of more than $1 billion, according to Reuters.
The plaintiffs, the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County, are accusing the Rams and the NFL of violating team-relocation procedures and breaching its contract with the city, USA Today reports. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch obtained a copy of the lawsuit and reported that the suit claims the “Rams and the NFL made intentionally false statements, unjustly enriched themselves, the plaintiffs say, and interfered with business expectations.”
Rams executives and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “made false statements” about the team’s intent to enter good-faith negotiations with St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch added in another report.
What? Team executives lied? Transparency was lacking? Then, by all means, Rams litigation is not only just, it is necessary.
After all, no one makes false statements in sports. Not former Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban, who said in 2006, “I’m not going to be the Alabama coach.” Pete Rose never bet on baseball. Lance Armstrong never took performance-enhancing drugs while winning seven Tour de France races.
St. Louis alleges that it spent more than $16 million on plans for a waterfront stadium on the basis of the statements from the Rams and Goodell and now is saying the city has lost millions of dollars in various revenue streams because of the move.
“There is no legitimate basis for this litigation,” Brian McCarthy, NFL vice president of communications, said via email, according to the Post-Dispatch. “While we understand the disappointment of the St. Louis fans and the community, we worked diligently with local and state officials in a process that was honest and fair at all times.”
Perhaps if the city had upgraded the Edward Jones Dome previously (as was in the contract that the Rams used to escape, as the Post-Dispatch also pointed out), it might’ve had an argument. But it didn’t.
If the city wins the Rams litigation, wouldn’t that be wonderful? Teams would have to operate in complete transparency. They would have to tell the truth about who they wanted to draft, whether a new coach was their first choice, etc. …
And if St. Louis wins, would it want the Rams back?
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