So, as a TLDR warning, basically all these tweets are from today regarding rulings in St. Louis' lawsuit vs the NFL regarding the Rams relocation
Basically, the judge ruled heavily in the city's favor to continue moving forward in the legal process and it looks like this case will go to a jury trial at some point, meaning a bunch of dirty laundry concerning the league is about to be aired.
Tid-bit regarding the Chiefs is that it looks like Clark Hunt's financial information, as well as some other owners aside from Kroenke, will be shared with the city.
At STL City court...STL vs. NFL protective order to asess punitive damages. STL wants discovery of NFL assets, says the legal standard is straightforward.
STL claims NFL kept discovery confidential. Email from Eric Gruman-"I'm trying to get some terrific L.A. opportunities to fruition under cover of darkness."
In deposition, Goodell held relocation guidelines in his hand. Was asked "are these mandatory?" (to abide by) Replied "Counselor, it says right here, (they are).
2014 Email from Demoff to NFL says L.A. land story is coming out. League responds "what should we say." Demoff provides talking points that Goodell uses in Super Bowl press conference, denying he knows land purchase by Kroenke is for stadium.
Peacock e-mail to Demoff telling him about National Car Rental naming rights deal. Demoff responds with link to YouTube video that screams "F it, I'm out."
STL has record of 2013 phone call with Kroenke, Goodell, Mara (Giants) and Rooney (Steelers). Kroenke says "I'm going to buy 2 parcels of land and build a stadium in L.A." Says we're trying very hard to stay under the radar screen and keep it hidden." Goodell: "We will respect
Judge says he needs clear and convincing evidence that about 25 defendants operated in a fraudulent manner, and says he hasn't seen that. Says evidence is necessary to delve into individuals' finances.
Judge says preponderance of evidence exists against Mara, Kraft, Jones, Rooney...one other...for damages. Most NFL owners spared discovery of finances.
2 other nuggets: Jerry Jones admitted he urged Kroenke to move. Day after relocation vote, Rams signed contract w/ Jones Legends corp to sell PSL's and luxury boxes.
One quick correction: STL has the ability to investigate net worth of NFL, Goodell, Kroenke, Jones, Kraft, Mara, Richardson. They have 10 days to ask for right to investigate other owners. Apparently it's rare for a judge to rule from the bench, as he did for STL here.
In today's more than 2-hour hearing that was not publicly docketed, Judge Chris McGraugh said St. Louis plaintiffs showed sufficient evidence to get financials from NFL, Kroenke, Rams, Commissioner Goodell and team owners Jones, Mara, Kraft and Richardson. Story TK @stltodayhttps://t.co/sDJG6LMNgV
Correction. The judge did not list Goodell among those from whom St. Louis plaintiffs may get financial information. He mentioned Clark Hunt, owner of the KC Chiefs. @Ben_Fredhttps://t.co/bTnjbh9prn
"Mara said that Kroenke's change in position was ridiculous and that if Kroenke had not agreed to indemnify the league, the owners wouldn't have voted for him to move. He said anyone who was in the room in Houston when the vote was taken would know that."
Originally Posted by comochiefsfan:
Between this and the WFT email shit, this is gonna be an interesting couple months for NFL owners.
It should be quite the show.
Hopefully it finally is the nail in the coffin for Goodell.
The Daniel Snyder debacle is a classic example of what's wrong with sports. Even before the scandal how can an owner this bad have such little accountability. Having money shouldn't be the only pre req.
Don't forget to add McNair taking Rasputin advice from a preacher. And the spanos bullshit with the chargers still stings too. Remember when dad McNair talked about criminals running the asylum? Wonder what he'd have to say about the incompetent owners actually running the asylum. [Reply]
It really is all about money and that's it. How many fanbases and local businesses in cities have been fucked over by the relocation process and then have to "fall in love" with an expansion or new relocation team or if you are a small local business, start anew? I personally hope the NFL loses a billion on this lawsuit and it scares them out of the relocation process in the future. [Reply]
St. Louis may get an expansion team...
With the Rams relocation litigation moving to trial, the period for conducting discovery has ended. That makes recent developments a little confusing, on the surface.
According to Daniel Wallach, the St. Louis plaintiffs have filed formal notices to take the depositions of Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.
Nothing prevents a party from filing the notice of deposition. If the NFL wants to block the deposition, it must file a motion for a protective order with the presiding judge.
Usually, a witness may be deposed only once in a given case, for discovery purposes. The league will be inclined to resist this effort, if it can.
Sometimes, the trial testimony of a given witness is taken before trial, with the testimony recorded and played for the jury. It’s hard to imagine the St. Louis plaintiffs agreeing to proceed in this manner when it comes to key witnesses like owners, particularly Kroenke.
Another explanation could be that testimony is needed to understand fully and completely the financial information disclosed by Kroenke and Hunt, based on the finding that they could be responsible for punitive damages.
It’s also possible that Seth Wickersham’s recent fly-on-the-wall reporting from the ownership meeting in New York has sparked the renewed interest in questioning Kroenke, given than he reportedly intends to not honor his promise to cover the full costs of the litigation. On the surface, that issue has no obvious relevance to the Rams relocation case. To the extent, however, that the St. Louis plaintiffs can prove that Kroenke has engaged in a pattern of broken promises, the fact that he’s breaking promises to his partners could be relevant to the claim that he defrauded St. Louis.
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
Hopefully it finally is the nail in the coffin for Goodell.
The Daniel Snyder debacle is a classic example of what's wrong with sports. Even before the scandal how can an owner this bad have such little accountability. Having money shouldn't be the only pre req.
I was pleasantly impressed when the NBA's commissioner, Adam Silver, forced a change in ownership of the Clippers in such a relatively quick manner when that debacle finally blew up. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rams Fan:
Florio/ProFootballTalk has actually covered it pretty well.
ESPN hasn't really covered it consistently (Wickersham wrote the piece this week, though, and they've had some articles here and there).
CBS/Fox haven't either.
Assuming this continues moving forward, it's about to get a lot of attention, especially if/when St. Louis wins.
I'd say they're not wanting to jump to conclusions before the process plays out. This is a huge embarrassment to the NFL with not only the fraud but also the infighting between Stan and the other owners. If STL wins big then this will be everywhere, a landmark case. The NFL really believed at the time they were untouchable. [Reply]
There is no convincing data that pro sports teams have a substantially positive net economic impact on a city. There's no reason why they should settle for an expansion team when they can win a multi-billion dollar settlement that they could use for a tremendous amount of revitalization of the city. [Reply]
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
There is no convincing data that pro sports teams have a substantially positive net economic impact on a city. There's no reason why they should settle for an expansion team when they can win a multi-billion dollar settlement that they could use for a tremendous amount of revitalization of the city.
The only clear and convincing argument that can be made for a pro sports team having net positive economic impact on a city is if the team was publicly owned and a stadium was paid for by the NFL(with all the benefits etc. going to the city, which won't happen).
Also, court date is officially happening:
Breaking: MO court of appeals denies NFL writ requesting trial be moved out of city of St. Louis. Trial will be held at Carnahan courthouse starting Jan. 10.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke offered $100 million to settle relocation lawsuit with St. Louis, per report
Here's why the city turned it down
By John Breech
With the NFL facing a major lawsuit in St. Louis and things starting to heat up from a legal perspective, it appears that Rams owner Stan Kroenke recently tried to put an end to the four-year lawsuit by offering a huge sum of money to settle the case.
According Front Office Sports, Kroenke made an offer of $100 million to the three entities that originally filed the lawsuit back in 2017: the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority.
Although that's a lot of money, it wasn't enough to settle the case.
The plaintiffs decided to turn the offer down, which now sets the stage for the case to go to court with the trial expected to begin on Jan. 10. The lawsuit, which was originally filed back in April 2017, lists all 32 NFL teams and their owners as defendants. However, Kroenke has become the face of the lawsuit for the NFL because the only reason it was filed was due to the fact that he decided to move the Rams out of St. Louis. The Rams played their final season in the city back in 2015 and then moved to Los Angeles for the 2016 season.
The lawsuit was filed because the plaintiffs feel the Rams "violated the obligations and standards governing team relocations" by moving the franchise. Basically, St. Louis feels that the Rams broke the NFL's relocation guidelines when they left and the other teams are at fault because they voted to let the Rams move.
The NFL has been taking hit after hit in this case, which is likely one reason why Kroenke made a settlement offer. For one, the plaintiffs were granted access to the financial records of several prominent people in the NFL, including league commissioner Roger Goodell; owners Kroenke, Jerry Jones (Cowboys), Robert Kraft (Patriots) and John Mara (Giants); and former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. The NFL also got shot down recently when trying to get the case moved out of St. Louis.
The fact that Kroenke offered $100 million to settle likely isn't a coincidence since the offered number just happens to match the amount of money the city of St. Louis said it lost after the Rams left.
From the lawsuit:
"The move to Los Angeles harmed Plaintiffs. The City of St. Louis has lost an estimated $1.85 - $3.5 million each year in amusement and ticket tax collections. It has lost approximately $7.5 million in property tax. It has lost approximately $1.4 million in sales tax. It has lost millions in earnings taxes. The City of St. Louis will have lost over $100 million in net proceeds."
If the plaintiffs turned down $100 million, they likely did it because they feel they can get more. One reason St. Louis is likely so optimistic is because they might have Richardson on their side. The former Panthers owner said in 2015 that the St. Louis stadium proposal met the guidelines for keeping the team. According to Front Office Sports, the other owners are worried about what Richardson might say in his testimony. Although he's a defendant, he might not necessarily feel compelled to protect the NFL since the league forced him to sell the Panthers back in 2017 after the team was hit with allegations of workplace misconduct and sexual harassment.
According to ESPN, if the NFL loses the case, some owners fear that the judgement against them might end up being more than a billion dollars. Kroenke seems to be well aware that the number could get that high, which is another reason why he likely offered a $100 million settlement.
The downside for the NFL is that if it the judgement does get into the billions, we could see total chaos among ownership. A report from ESPN has suggested that Kroenke is trying to renege on his promise to pay millions of dollars related to the lawsuit. Kroenke has been covering the legal fees in the case, but he doesn't believe he's responsible for paying the settlement if the NFL loses the case. Kroenke is reportedly thinking about suing the league to get out of the indemnification agreement he signed when the Rams moved out of St. Louis following the 2015 season.
Basically, if this starts to look like a case the NFL isn't going to win -- and it's inching in that direction each day -- the situation could get ugly for Kroenke, the league and every other defendant named in the lawsuit. [Reply]