Rams Finding There’s a Fare to St. Louis : Pro football: Though Tagliabue apparently will recommend against the move, owners are open to receiving a ransom.
Despite a negative recommendation from their commissioner, NFL owners admitted Sunday the Rams can buy their way to St. Louis.
A source on the NFL’s Finance Committee said the Rams will receive a list of demands, and if team owner Georgia Frontiere agrees to them, the committee will urge team owners to approve the proposed move to St. Louis.
“It’s a doable deal,” said Bud Adams, committee chairman and Oilers’ owner. “I think we will work something out. Anything as big as this takes a lot of time, but it’s definitely a doable deal.”
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue informed owners last week that he could not endorse the Rams’ move. If Tagliabue maintains his position, and the Rams fail to reach a financial accord with league owners this week, they expect to fall short of gaining the 23 needed votes for NFL approval.
In that event, the team is expected to join with FANS Inc. and file a lawsuit in St. Louis. The NFL is prohibited from suing the Rams, by written agreement, before March 31, thereby allowing the team to seek legal action on friendly turf in St. Louis.
If that happens, the Rams are expected to play the 1995 season in California, although not in Anaheim Stadium.
“If we’re voted down I think the chances of playing in L.A. are very good,” Shaw said. “Where? We haven’t even addressed that issue yet.”
The Rams could seek an injunction to allow for an immediate move to St. Louis, but that would be risky. It could result in huge losses for the Rams if they failed in their legal efforts. At the same time, by remaining in California, they would enhance their opportunity to gain more money in damages should they win a legal fight.
Joseph Alioto, a lawyer who successfully represented the Raiders and Al Davis in their court fight with the NFL to move from Oakland, said last week that the Rams could gain “$300 to $400 million in damages” if they sued the league for blocking their move.
The way the Rams figure it, they can’t lose. They would like to win approval, move on and begin to realize the more than $20 million in anticipated profit in St. Louis. Should they fight, however, they believe they will ultimately move to St. Louis and receive damages.
NFL owners don’t want a legal fight, but they claim one-third of the more than $70 million raised in the sale of personal seat licenses and club seats for the domed St. Louis stadium is ticket revenue and is owed to them under league rules.
“The NFL has to look at what money is not being factored (into revenue sharing),” said Dan Rooney, Pittsburgh Steeler owner.
The Rams disagree. They say the money belongs to FANS Inc. and has nothing to do with NFL revenue sharing. The Rams say they stand to gain only $13 million from the sale of PSLs, with the remainder going to pay off Anaheim Stadium bonds, FANS Inc. expenses and improvements in the St. Louis stadium.
The league’s demand for a large share of the PSL money took Shaw by surprise. In earlier discussions with NFL officials, he said, he understood that the money was not to be shared.
The Carolina Panthers raised $140 million in the sale of PSLs to build a stadium, and the league asked for none of it. The league said that Carolina asked for owners’ approval before raising the money, which makes its situation different than the Rams.
While willing to fight, Shaw admitted he is open to compromise and parting with some of the $13 million realized in the sale of PSLs, if it’s needed to buy the team’s ticket to St. Louis.
“Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has indicated that our proposal to move to St. Louis is not acceptable,” Shaw said. “I’d like to know what terms are acceptable, but I’m not going to start by putting things out there. It’s just a question of what they want.”
There has also been talk that the Rams’ move to St. Louis will adversely affect the salary cap. The Fox network has indicated it will ask for a rebate of $500,000 per team if it loses the No. 2 television market. The Rams have also been criticized for running their team into the ground to keep down attendance, and there have been reports that they made huge profits, despite reporting losses.
