Quick refresher on the sale of the Rams

I have been tweaking my new.google.com custom page lately to bring me information of fellows like Stan Kroenke, Eddie DeBartolo, and Fred Smith. I have also setup a custom alert for news about the Rams and the sale of the Rams.

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

Will Rush Limbaugh be the next owner of the Rams?

In short, I seriously doubt it.

So why are we even considering this? Because news.google.com is reporting 11 stories on the news wire alleging that Rush is trying to purchase the Rams. Some of these reports are just standard preseason news bits about the Rams, with footnotes referencing the main story.

So how the hell did this rumor even get started? Evidently it all began with a quote from Limbaugh in the St. Louis Business Journal. The quote is as follows: "The Rams would be a great team to have. I have a lot of friends in ownership of the NFL, and my desire to get involved has not been a secret."

The SLBJ writer covering this story speculates that Limbaugh is consorting with Dave Checkett of the Blues to make this deal happen. There is no confirmation, corroboration, or proof this speculation. We do not know that Limbaugh is working Checkett at all... not that such an alliance would matter much anyhow.

My reaction was simple: "Great, so their are now two figures--without money--supposedly teaming up to buy a controlling position they cannot afford to purchase. Why should I believe or be impressed by this speculation?"

Most of the other 'news' reports are just blog editorials full of emotional (pro or con) reaction to the 'news' that Rush Limbaugh wants to own the Rams. There are no new facts reported in these entries at all. They did not say anything like:

• Sources close to Limbaugh indicate that Rush can raise over $132 in immediate capital from his substantial personal wealth.
• Rush Limbaugh has acquired another $430 in financial backing from famed Republican Entrepreneur Daddy Warbucks John Johnson.
• Limbaugh has retained the services of Walter Vexa's famous real estate law firm to pass a formal purchase offer to Dale Rosenbloom via Goldman Sachs.
• Limbaugh is scheduled to meet with his future business partner Stan Kroenke later this week to establish good relations.
• Limbaugh is scheduled to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodel next week to schmooze and grease the wheels of progress so that he may enter the sacred club of NFL owners.

If any of these bullshit laden pieces said anything of this variety, I would be more inclined to take the Limbaugh story seriously. In the absence of any significant facts, I have no reason to take these 'reports' seriously.

So why has anyone written on this subject at all? Because it makes sensational copy. Because this is a slow news cycle. Because we are in the deep off-season for NFL Football. There is not much to say about the NFL right now. This worthless tidbit is as good an NFL story as we have in June of 2009. Rush is a divisive figure. Liberals & Democrats utterly hate him. You can stick a grain of sand in the Clam's mouth pretty quickly with this story.

The fact is Limbaugh doesn't have a lot of money. He is not a poor man or a middle-class citizen by any stretch. Yet he is a very far-cry from the billionaire status you must enjoy to buy and run an NFL franchise these days. Checkett is in the same category. I would love to own the Rams. The fact is that I cannot. I do not have the money. I wish I did. I would buy my team in a second.

There is no factual basis for the claim that Limbaugh is trying to buy the Rams. These reports are without legal or journalistic merit. These are trumped up reports of little or no significance.