St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and his attempt to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers came up yesterday at the NFL owners meeting in Palm Beach. If Kroenke beats out the other two remaining bidders for the MLB franchise, the Stl. Rams could become the L.A. Rams once again.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the matter of the league’s cross ownership rules and Kroenke’s bid to be a baseball owner.
“I have told Commissioner Selig this, if he [Kroenke] is ultimately the winning bid, then we would immediately move with our committees and our membership to have the discussion. So we would move as quickly as possible knowing that it is an important issue for baseball,” Goodell said.
Goodell said the league does consider LA an NFL market, even without a team, and that Kroenke owning the Dodgers would be an issue.
“We have often said that is an extraordinary stadium site up at Dodgers Stadium, and it is something we were interested in going back to the 1990s.”
The Commish also reiterated that the NFL would move swiftly on whatever transpires, and work with MLB commissioner Bud Selig, for quick decisive action. Kroenke is not considered the favorite to obtain the Dodgers, but Frank McCourt will pick a bidder April 1st. If it’s Kroenke, then St. Louis will probably not have a football team. Dodger Stadium will become the new home of the Rams.
That’s a big if though.
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