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.
ESPN Contradicts ESPN On Viability Of Kroenke’s Ownership Bid
On Tuesday, another ESPN writer says Kroenke’s bid is “unlikely” to be successful.
Bowlen could play a big role. If he gives his blessing, it could begin the process of letting Kroenke circumvent the rules. But it is unlikely Bowlen (or any NFL owner) would relent.
Even though Bowlen and Kroenke have a good working relationship as Denver sports owners, it would take a lot for Bowlen to allow a competing NFL owner to get more resources from Bowlen’s home-base city.
Kroenke owns the NBA and NHL franchises in Denver while Bowlen owns the Broncos.
And yet another ESPN reporter, Adam Schefter, reports a sale could be possible via other means:
Stan Kroenke could avoid cross ownership rules with relatives who have independent financial resources. Not proposed yet, but could happen.
So which one is it? We likely won’t find out for a while as the NFL sorts through it all. However, I’m going to make a bold prediction that ESPN will be right on this one way or another.
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