According to St. Louis Post- Dispatch 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.”
The suit details work the plaintiffs did, “in reliance” on such statements on St. Louis’ riverfront stadium project on the north side of downtown. Included was the assembly of land for the stadium site, hiring of architects, consultants and lawyers.
Those costs totaled more than $16 million after the NFL approved the Rams’ relocation on Jan. 12, 2016, according to Post-Dispatch reports.
Further, the suit cites a Demoff interview given to Los Angeles media during which he said he “always dreamed that he could pe part of bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles” and said Kroenke told him in the summer of 2013 that he had found “an unbelievable site” for a football stadium in the Los Angeles area. Namely, the Inglewood site.
The suit was filed Wednesday by the Clayton law firm of Blitz, Bardgett and Deutsch and has been in the works for about two years. Even before the relocation vote, information was being gathered for a potential suit. Attorney Bob Blitz was part of the effort to build the north riverfront stadium and keep the Rams in St. Louis.
After 21 seasons with the Rams in St. Louis, Kroenke received approval from the league to return the team to southern California, using a first-tier provision in the stadium lease at the former Edward Jones Dome as his escape clause. The clause required the state of Missouri, city of St. Louis and St. Louis County to renovate the Dome — at a cost of about $700 million — up to the league’s “first tier,” or top eight stadia. Local officials declined, and, as prescribed in the lease, the Rams went year-to-year at the Dome.
The team played its first season back in Los Angeles in 2016 at Memorial Coliseum, finishing with a 4-12 record. The new Inglewood stadium, scheduled to cost $2.6 billion, is scheduled to open in 2019.
Wednesday’s suit is just the latest in a series of legal actions taken by various parties in St. Louis against the Rams since relocation was approved.
Three separate lawsuits regarding PSLs, or personal seat licenses, have been consolidated into one in which fans are seeking either refunds on PSL deposits or the right to buy season tickets in Los Angeles.
Another suit stems from fans claims the Rams violated the Merchandise Practices Act by selling tickets and team merchandise while planning a move to a new market.
And in yet another, the Regional Convention and Sports Authority seeks to block the Rams from purchasing the former practice facility in Earth City — once known as Rams Park — for $1 in 2024, as set forth in the team’s original stadium lease.
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