NFL Owners Unanimously Approve Stan Kroenke As Majority Owner Of Rams

Stan Kroenke has been in the process of purchasing majority ownership of the St. Louis Rams from the Rosenbloom family.

There have been some complications along the way -- mainly the NFL’s cross-ownership rules -- but those have been resolved.

Stan Kroenke owns the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. Because of the NFL’s cross-ownership rules, he wouldn’t be able to own both those teams and the Rams. It was presumed that he would transfer the Colorado teams to his wife but he recently made public statements indicating his son could be the one.

Josh works in the Nuggets front office. He’s got at least one fan if he were to become an owner:

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke to reporters on Tuesday and gave a quick update to the ongoing process of Stan Kroenke attempting to purchase the remaining shares of the Rams.

When we last talked about this story, Kroenke had exercised his first right of refusal to buy the remaining 60% of the team. He also owns pro franchises in Denver, which would violate the NFL’s cross-ownership rules, so the rumor was that he would transfer ownership of either the Denver franchises or the Rams to his wife.

In his first on-the-record interview since declaring his intentions to purchase a 100% share of the St. Louis Rams, Stan Kroenke has begun reassuring fans that football in St. Louis is here to stay, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Some were worried because Kroenke had connections to a group that was trying to build a stadium in Los Angeles.

For several years, LA businessman Ed Roski has been pushing for a stadium in Los Angeles. The goal is to eventually bring a NFL team to the area.

More recently, another group has popped up proposing a LA stadium. The group, led by two businessman, includes a familiar name.

In our last update we mentioned that the NFL wouldn’t relax their rules regarding cross-ownership for Stan Kroenke and his bid to purchase the Rams.

Now we find out why Kroenke was still willing to go through with the deal.

There was some speculation that Stan Kroenke was only going through with his bid to purchase the Rams because the NFL would lax their cross-ownership rules for him. As ESPN’s Mike Sando pointed out on Monday, surely Kroenke wouldn’t make this move unless he knew it would go through, right?

Apparently there will be no special rules for Kroenke.

On Monday we passed along a report from Mike Sando of ESPN.com suggesting that Stan Kroenke should expect to receive approval from the NFL to purchase the Rams despite the NFL’s cross-ownership rules.

On Tuesday, another ESPN writer says Kroenke’s bid is “unlikely” to be successful.

In our last update we said that Shahid Khan would be willing to purchase the Rams should Stan Kroenke’s bid fail to pass the NFL’s cross-ownership rules. As recently as last month’s owners’ meetings, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated a Kroenke approval would be unlikely.

But something must have changed.

Shahid Khan entered into an agreement in February with the Rosenbloom family to purchase the controlling interest in the Rams. He did this knowing minority owner Stan Kroenke could exercise his right of first refusal and purchase the remaining 60% of the team.

Khan has released a statement after the news has come down that, indeed, Kroenke is exercising that right:

The Rams are currently owned by the Rosenbloom family. if Stan Kroenke has his way, that won’t be the case for much longer.

As Kroenke officially announced on Monday evening he intends to buy the remaining 60% share of the Rams, the current owner, Chip Rosenbloom, has released a statement acknowledging Kroenke’s plans.

Stan Kroenke, currently the Rams minority owner, has released a statement regarding his decision to exercise his right of first refusal and purchase the remaining 60% of the Rams.

What Kroenke didn’t address is how exactly this is supposed to happen. The NFL has rules regulating cross-ownership and since Kroenke owns the NBA’s Nuggets and NHL’s Avalanche, it would appear purchasing the Rams would be in violation of those rules.

Shahid Khan, president of an auto-parts manufacturer, reportedly agreed to purchase the Rams from the Rosenbloom family several months back.

This left partial owner, Stan Kroenke, with a decision to make: