Maybe the Rams will be moving back to St. Louis.
I’m kidding. (I think.) For now, the recent 10-year anniversary of the return of the Rams to L.A. has been undermined by a legal battle between team owner Stan Kroenke and the City of Inglewood.
As explained by Bloomberg.com, the fight began over the city’s placement of billboards in and around the vicinity of SoFi Stadium. After Kroenke and company lost that round, the battle morphed into a claim that Inglewood owes Kroenke $400 million spent on road, sewers, other infrastructure, and police and fire protection. The city claims there is no binding agreement requiring any such amounts to be paid.
At first blush, it feels like a spite lawsuit, something Kroenke cooked up after he lost the billboard case. Which is what the ultra-rich tend to do when they don’t get their way, happily paying hourly legal fees in the name of proving a point.
Kroenke moved the Rams to the privately-financed stadium in California from Missouri, sparking litigation that ultimately resulted in the Rams and the rest of the NFL paying $790 million to settle the claims.
For now, Kroenke and Inglewood have no choice but to find a way to coexist. Unless Kroenke plans to sell the stadium and surrounding developments to the Chargers or someone else, he won’t be pulling up the stakes and leaving town.
Again.
