Here's why NFL franchises are not happy with Rams owner Stan Kroenke
Stan Kroenke is a man of many businesses who owns the Los Angeles Rams and the Arsenal Football Club from the English Premier League. It looks like people from both circles might be furious at him.
It's comprehensible if you consider Arsenal. The club has seen a sensible decline since Kroenke took over in 2011, not winning the league ever since and missing out on the UEFA Champions League spots a number of times.
It looks like patience from his fellow NFL owners might be close to ending, too, and this time it has nothing to do with the on-field product in one of his franchises.
I’m not suggesting WFT probe/email leaks aren’t important, but @SethWickersham report about several powerful owners lining up in a contentious stance vs. #Rams Stan Kroenke (and by extension, his #Cowboys ally Jerry Jones) — THAT is the biggest bomb at the #NFL owners meetings.
Why are NFL owners unhappy with Stan Kroenke? Rams owner might back off on his promise about relocation
When the NFL oversaw the Rams relocate from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016, the league had to be happy with one of the biggest TV markets getting a team back for the first time since 1994.
But taking the Rams away from St. Louis wasn't easy, and involved a lot of lawsuits. When the league accepted Kroenke's proposal to relocate, the billionaire owner promised to cover the tens of millions of dollars regarding lawsuits that they knew would come.
Sure enough, the lawsuits came. But Kroenke seems to have changed his mind regarding the indemnification agreement he signed as part of the relocation process. Based on what NFL general counsel Jeff Pash told league owners during a Tuesday meeting, the Rams owner is challenging the indemnification agreement that he signed back in 2016.
New York Giants owner John Mara was unhappy with Kroenke's position to challenge the agreement, stating: "If Kroenke had not agreed to indemnify the league, the owners wouldn't have voted for him to move. He said anyone who was in the room in Houston when the vote was taken would know that."
Owners Deposed in the St. Louis Lawsuit:
* Art Rooney II (Steelers)
* John Mara (Giants)
* Robert Kraft (Patriots)
* Clark Hunt (Kansas City)
* Jerry Jones (Cowboys)
* Stan Kroenke (Rams)
* Jerry Richardson (former owner of the Panthers)
What happens if Kroenke doesn't pay the indemnification?
Well, if Kroenke wins the dispute, the fees regarding the lawsuit with the city of St. Louis would be divided among all 32 teams. Yes, NFL owners are billionaires, but they also hate to lose money, even a tiny amount of it.
Kroenke has tried to settle the lawsuit with St. Louis, and while the figures are unknown, reports say it's close to a billion dollars. If so, it's understandable why he doesn't want to pay the entire amount, even if he made a promise to do so. NFL owners are unhappy with the situation, and this is the worst possible time for any incident to happen as the league is under scrutiny regarding the release of more than 650,000 emails about the toxic work culture in Washington.