NFL Owners To Seek $571M from Rams Owner

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke has a hefty legal bill coming his way.

During league meetings on Tuesday, NFL owners planned to charge Kroenke $571 million – the remainder of a settlement over the team’s relocation from St. Louis in 2016, sources confirmed to Front Office Sports. The league will raise the owner’s allowable debt limit to help him finance the charge.

• The city of St. Louis sued over the Rams’ departure, seeking more than $1 billion.
• The two sides eventually agreed on a $790 million settlement. 
• The NFL has reportedly paid off $219 million to help cover the settlement.
• In May, the league deducted about $7 million from the 31 other teams’ revenue-sharing payment, according to The Athletic.

Some owners expressed anger over having to pay anything toward the Rams relocation – Kroenke had previously agreed to cover legal fees, but later argued that the settlement fell outside that commitment.

NFL Pluses and Minuses

League officials also discussed their new streaming service, NFL+. Overall, the league is pleased with the product, sources familiar with the matter told FOS.

Technical issues and unmet fan expectations to watch out-of-market games marred its rollout. Users were able to watch preseason games, but are only able to listen to out-of-market regular-season radio broadcasts.

Also under discussion are the sales of a stake in NFL Media and NFL Sunday Ticket rights, the latter of which is complicated by restrictions on the product negotiated into the league’s contracts with CBS and Fox.