I have been shocked at how little information has come across my desktop. Right now there is very little to report on this subject. A couple of weeks ago, several published reports indicated that Fred Smith of FedEx is not actually interested in buying the Rams. He never was. Sources close to Smith indicated that all reports of Smith wanting to buy the Rams were false. They were probably invented by individuals who knew he fit the profile of a man ready to graduate from a minority ownership position in one franchise (the Redskins) to full owner of another franchise. Smith never had an interest in doing the deal.
Given the fact that Smith's full net worth is just about $1 billion at last record, it is unlikely that he would be able to make the transaction happen. We are no longer living in the year 2006. Free and easy promiscuous junk leverage is not obtainable by anyone anymore... Except maybe the U.S. Federal Government. He would need to produce a total package of $500 million (if he bought at a nice discount) just to acquire Dale & Lucia's 60%. He might be able to find a bank that would give him $250m in loans, but then he would need to pay out $250m in pure cash. That is a lot of dry powder for any active entrepreneur to come up with these days. And then he would be partners with Stan Kroenke... Ergo, it does not surprise me that Fred Smith is not in it.
See, I told you so! I still say this comes down to Eddie DeBartolo vs. Stan Kroenke for the title. The two may even choose to partner together. It would be interesting.
Back on June 23, my boy Tim Kutsarits published an interesting piece indicating that a final sale was going to happen sooner rather than later... Although I don't know what that means. He references a Mike Silver piece on Yahoo which I just can't find. Accord to Silver's sources (hear-say evidence is inadmissible in a court of law) Kroenke is intent upon buying the Rams. He just isn't in a hurry, and he isn't going to get involved in a bidding war. He wants somebody else to negotiate a low price and then use his right of first refusal to claim-jump.
But what about the cross-ownership ban in the constitution? This is the real story. According to Klutsarits' reading of Mike Silver's sources (hearsay!) the NFL will waive its provision against cross-ownership. Kroenke will be allowed to purchase a controlling interest in the Rams. What about all the stock, as in 100%? Who knows... Klutsarits praises Kroenke as a model owner. I don't know about that. The Denver Nuggets have frequently been good. They have never made it to an NBA final yet in their history. The Lakers just played in their 30th and won their 15th. Jerry Buss just won his 9th. He is a model owner.
Surprisingly quite in all this is Eddie DeBartolo. I haven't heard a word from him since the original Mike Silver story on the Rams for sale. He claimed only marginal interest at the time. He said he was more interested in buying the Bucs, because he lives in Tampa. He reminisced about the wars between the Rams and 49ers. He claimed he would never be motivated by revenge on his evil sister or brother-in-law. He quoted many arguments against Los Angeles as an NFL city.
We'll see. Every smart buyer plays coy. As far as totally forgiving and forgetting about his sister stealing the apple of his eye from him... BULLSHIT! BULL FUCKING SHIT! I don't believe it. Further, there were a considerable number of rumors floating in the Los Angeles smog, shortly after that event, that DeBartolo was investigating the real estate where the old Los Angeles Forum sits (along with other locations in Hollywood Park) for the purpose of building a large structure that would not be a shopping mall. You go figure what that means. They also said that he approached Skip, er... Dale with a proposition immediately. He was rebuffed because Skip knew he would move the team. Dale wanted to make St. Louis a component of the deal. We know that constraint has been removed.
Silver himself does not believe the NFL wants to put a team in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is the best blackmail tool the NFL has ever had. Every time any team wants a concession or a better stadium, all they have to do is threaten to move to the 2nd largest market in North America. The Vikings have done this at least 6 times now.
We shall see. I stand by my basic business management 101 analysis. Anyone who lays down $557 million is going to want to recoup fast. That means going to the 2nd largest sports market in North America
