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Media & Entertainment Law

: Sports Biz

Kroenke's Bid for Rams Coming to a Vote August 25

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The tortuous path to full ownership of the St. Louis Rams by Stan Kroenke should come to a conclusion by August 25. A special meeting of the NFL owners has been called for that date to vote on his proposed purchase of the team pursuant to the exercise of his option to purchase the sixty percent of the club he didn't own once that was put up for sale. Chances are good that he will be approved at that meeting since it was called especially for the vote. "Everybody wants him as an owner, I can tell you," New Orleans owner Tom Benson said. Benson is chairman of the finance committee which first must approve his application.

Kroenke's purchase has run afoul of the league's cross-ownership rules which forbid an owner to have controlling interest in another major league franchise in North America. Kroenke owns the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and 93% of the Pepsi Center.

Kroenke has apparently asked the NFL to approve a plan to purchase the Rams' interest in two chunks, although it may be a tough fight to win approval for that. Several owners are known to be opposed as they believe they are already stretching the cross-ownership rules enough with his plan to dispose of his interest in the Nuggets and Avalanche. Originally, Kroenke planned to give his interest to his children but ran into opposition to that plan as he was going to have to guaranty any operating losses. His current plan is believed to involve a sale of the Nuggets and Avalanche to his wife, Ann Walton Kroenke. That should please the NFL; after all, she can certainly (note her maiden name) afford it, she is number 297 on the Forbes 400, he is merely number 342.

Should he end up with the Rams, Kroenke could also be the latest American with ownership of the both NFL and the English Premier League. He is the largest single shareholder of Arsenal and a fifty percent shareholder of Arsenal Broadband. He has indicated a willingness to purchase any shares in Arsenal that come on the market, believing, correctly, that Arsenal is a brand that has just begun to be exploited in a way that befits its global recognition.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on August 06, 2010 (boomark / email).