Group of Ticket Holders File Suit to Halt Rams
While St. Louis appears well on its way toward clearing a major hurdle for securing the Rams, a Newport Beach attorney will attempt to fight the team’s move through the legal system.
Paul A. Wollam, who represents a group of season-ticket holders called “Fight for the Rams,” filed a class-action lawsuit against the Rams and the city of St. Louis on Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court.
Wollam said the Rams and St. Louis interfered with what he called an “implied contract” between the team and season-ticket holders. He said he represents a “small group of ticket holders . . . approximately six” in the suit.
“We’re dedicated to fighting to keep the Rams here . . . but if that fails, to seek damages,” he said. “We feel (Ram President) John Shaw had some kind of plan to move the team for that long, and if the season-ticket holders had been aware of that, they might not have renewed them.”
At least one legal expert believes the suit will have little or no impact on the move, which will be discussed at a special NFL owners meeting in Dallas Feb. 16. Owners are expected to vote on the move during the March 12-17 league meetings in Phoenix.
“My initial instinct is that the suit has absolutely no merit,” said Gary Roberts, vice dean of the Tulane Law School who represented the NFL in the Raiders antitrust suit in the early 1980s.
“I can’t imagine what sort of contractual rights Rams season-ticket holders would have. For decades, teams in every pro sport have moved, and these kinds of efforts have never succeeded. I can’t imagine they’d have any more claim on the Rams than Raider ticket holders in Oakland or Cardinal ticket holders in St. Louis.”
Roberts said he believes the only hope Wollam has is if the suit goes before a judge who is a big Ram fan. Because of the highly emotional nature of the situation, “if you get the right judge in the right court, anything could happen,” Roberts said.
In St. Louis, County Executive George (Buzz) Westfall told the Associated Press that about 12,000 applications for personal seat licenses, many presumably containing multiple requests, have been received.
The city has pledged to sell 30,000 licenses by the February owners meeting. The city must sell 40,000 by March or the Rams can void the deal. St. Louis is using the licenses to raise about $67 million to pay for the Rams’ moving costs.
“The numbers are coming in and our expectations are growing daily as to what a great success this will be,” Westfall said.
Times staff writer Lon Eubanks contributed to this story.
