Last month, the Commissioner was preparing to conduct a hearing on the financial responsibility for last year’s massive $790 million settlement with St. Louis. Next week, the league’s owners will vote on who will pay the amount.
Daniel Kaplan of TheAthletic.com that the vote is set for Tuesday, during the quarterly meetings in New York.
Some contend that Rams owner Stan Kroenke is responsible for the full amount. The legal documents were written in a way that allows him to argue that he’s responsible only for the costs of defending the case over the relocation of the Rams, and not the ultimate payment to resolve the claims. Kroenke has tried to seize upon that language to spread the responsibility to all teams.
The issue has lingered for a year. If the owners will be voting on the matter, the question is whether enough owners will decide to do Kroenke a favor. He opted not to go beyond the internal procedures and pursue litigation. Although that strategy makes it easier to get along with his partners, he’s now stuck with whatever his partners decide.
At this point, why would any of them decide to let Kroenke off the hook? He wanted to move his team to L.A., and he got his wish. Billionaires didn’t get and stay that rich by giving money away without a damn good reason. It seems as if there’s no good reason for the owners to subsidize one of their richest business partner’s cost of doing business in Los Angeles.