Link: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/140223923

All three offers, described as "acceptable" by the sources, are comparable to what the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise recently sold for -- which was in the range of total franchise value of $720 million to $800 million.

The only known bid for the team is from a group of investors headed by St. Louis Blues hockey chairman Dave Checketts. The identity of the other two bidders remains unknown, although one was a relative late-comer in the process.

The three bidders are committed in varying degrees to keeping the franchise in St. Louis, and that may have an impact on any sale decision.

Not sure if this is the right place.

Bernie saying they're sold to a local bidder not named Checketts.

Post subject: Rams have been sold....
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 11:09 pm
I just filed a story...

I'll provide details in a little while ...

But this is good news, I believe, for St. Louis.

The potential owner is committed to keeping the team here. He has roots in the region.

(It's not Checketts.)

"Mister X" was the man, after all.

(And no, it ain't Dr. Chaifetz either, as I told you.)

-B

http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/vie ... 60&start=0

Let's hope the Rams stay in St. Louis.

The new owner is in for 60 or 100 percent ... whatever it takes.

-B

No on Fred Smith. (of FedEx)

-B

not a st. louis guy.

-B

Here are the basic facts of what I reported for Thursday's Post-Dispatch:

Name: Shahid Khan.

Who is he: Khan, 55, is the president of Flex-N-Gate Corporation, an auto-parts manufacturer based in Urbana, Ill.

Where does he live: Khan has lived in the Champaign-Urbana area for more than 40 years and is married with two adult children. Khan is a graduate of the school of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois.

What is he buying: According to league sources Khan will purchase the 60 percent of the team owned by Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. But if Stan Kroenke wants to sell his 40 percent then Khan is prepared to buy that as well.

What are his thoughts on STL and the Rams: Multiple sources describe Khan as an enthusiastic Rams fan who has attended home games at The Edward Jones Dome. League sources say Khan is committed to keeping the team in St. Louis ... which was an important consideration to Rosenbloom and Rodriguez in making their decision to sell to him.

The sale is subject to approval of NFL owners. They can't vote on it until the closing of the sale which probably won't be finished until early April or so.

-B

http://interact.stltoday.com/forums/vie ... c&&start=0

Sounds good. Never heard of the guy until now.

This is sounding promising...

The new cheer at the dome: KHAAAAAAAAAAN!

Seriously, good to see someone with some local ties picking up the team.

Does this guy really have the money needed to buy and operate an NFL team? His business does about $2 billion in annual revenue (revenue, not profit); those aren't the kind of numbers that usually generate the really deep pockets required. Am I missing something?

TimeForGuinness wrote:1) Billionaire
2) Local(ish) Guy
3) Huge Rams fan
4) Keeping the team in St. Louis

I'm excited.

I'm not excited about the inbred comments on stltoday...but at least they are being moderated (so far).

I don't even know why I'm asking about STLtoday.com comments...mostly because I refuse to look at that slice of gutter culture these days...I suppose. Let me guess...the xenophobes are out in full force because of the guy's name?

Like you and many other Rams fans, I'm excited about the news.

This guy's mustache is going to make him a network favorite during those between-plays face-shots.

Seriously, assuming his finances are in order, Khan sounds like the perfect guy for the Rams and St. Louis.

I am not sure it will be obvious that the Edward Jones Dome is not in the top 25% of the stadiums in the NFL in 2014 -- top 8 of the 32. How should it be measured? Is that spelled out in the contract? It shouldn't just be that the press is unhappy that their press box is very high and far from the field.

Here is my criteria: To be in the top tier for me, a football stadium should at least have environment control. That requires a dome. Nine of the 32 stadiums in the NFL have some kind of dome/climate control -- St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, Indianapolis, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, and New Orleans. Four of these have domes that open, so I put those at the top -- Dallas, Indianapolis, Houston, and Phoenix. Of the other 5 domed stadiums that do not open, 3 are older than the Ted -- New Orleans, Minneapolis, and Atlanta, and two of those have translucent roofs and therefore cannot control the lighting part of the environment. Only the Detroit dome is newer.

So I could argue that the Edward Jones Dome ranks 6th or 7th of the NFL stadiums, behind Dallas, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Houston, Detroit, and arguably New Orleans.

Critics will say there is no way our dome is better than the the KC stadium. I was there for a pre-season game and the crowd was great, which is a big part of the atmosphere there. But it rained the entire game and most of the crowd that didn't move up under the upper deck were drenched.

I would love to see a few improvements in the dome - primarily, add a lot more lighting to make it brighter, and it will feel like daylight streaming in. But the dome has two layers of luxury sky boxes, club seats, lots of eating and drinking places indoors, and giant video boards. The echoing sound system has been significantly improved compared to the early years.

The seats are about as close to the field as any stadium in the league. Ballparks.com says: "Intimate Seating -- As a football stadium, the Edward Jones Dome features spectator seating for 67,000, with 125 private suites and club seating for 6,300. The stadium also has an enviably intimate seating configuration, providing every seat in the house with an "on top of the action" feel."

I look at some of those seats in the new Dallas stadium, and I can see why they need the giant hanging video screen, (which would work in our dome also). Many of the seats are a very long way from the field.

Outside our stadium, fans can choose tailgating, or they can walk to a downtown restaurant or bar before and after the game. Few football NFL stadiums are as close to downtown as the JoDo, or the Ed, or the Ted -- whatever we call it.

So, except for older concrete and occasionally comatose fans, what indisputable criteria puts the Edward Jones Dome out of the top 8 in the NFL?

Gary Kreie wrote:I am not sure it will be obvious that the Edward Jones Dome is not in the top 25% of the stadiums in the NFL in 2014 -- top 8 of the 32. How should it be measured? Is that spelled out in the contract? It shouldn't just be that the press is unhappy that their press box is very high and far from the field.

Here is my criteria: To be in the top tier for me, a football stadium should at least have environment control. That requires a dome. ....

Sorry, but you lost credibility with me as a football fan there and I couldn't finish reading.

Do you have a counter argument, or not? I contend that a jury might agree that what distinguishes the top stadiums from the rest is environment control -- a dome. St. Louis might only need to be in the top 8 of the 9 domed stadiums, and it is. Right?

lukethedrifter wrote:

Gary Kreie wrote: Here is my criteria: To be in the top tier for me, a football stadium should at least have environment control. That requires a dome. ....

Sorry, but you lost credibility with me as a football fan there and I couldn't finish reading.

Ouch, better not step foot in Dallas and say that. Considering they ARE football... you lost credibility with me as a football fan when you said Sorry.

Gary Kreie wrote:Do you have a counter argument, or not? I contend that a jury might agree that what distinguishes the top stadiums from the rest is environment control -- a dome. St. Louis might only need to be in the top 8 of the 9 domed stadiums, and it is. Right?

Warning: opinion to follow.
Playing football inside a warehouse does not make for a better football experience than playing out in the elements.

Now onto your hypothesis. Your assumption that simply having a thermostat puts The Ed into to the top tier of NFL stadia is sort of silly so when you began your argument with that as understood the rest of your argument, meritworthy or not, is on loose footing.

What the NFL requires per the stadium lease and what the new owner, be it Khan or anyone else, wants related to the lease are really what matters in this.
Below is a link to the current NFL stadiums for your perusal.
http://football.ballparks.com/

Framer wrote:Does this guy really have the money needed to buy and operate an NFL team? His business does about $2 billion in annual revenue (revenue, not profit); those aren't the kind of numbers that usually generate the really deep pockets required. Am I missing something?

I finally got my login fixed, so I'm a bit late responding to this one, but I had exactly the same reaction as Framer. I can't imagine that auto parts have terrific margins, and even if he still gets royalties on whatever bumper he invented, the numbers just don't add up. He's on the hook for like three-quarters of a billion dollars if Kroenke opts out -- and Kroenke and folks similar to him come from a family whose company now measures its sales in the hundreds of billions per year.

lukethedrifter wrote:Your assumption that simply having a thermostat puts The Ed into to the top tier of NFL stadia is sort of silly so when you began your argument with that as understood the rest of your argument, meritworthy or not, is on loose footing.

Below is a link to the current NFL stadiums for your perusal.
http://football.ballparks.com/

I am still looking for specifics and haven't seen any. Like I said, if there was a law suit, I am not sure a jury wouldn't look at fan physical comfort as a prime measure of best stadiums in a ranking. Ask Dallas and Arizona. And viewing sight lines are another big factor. While St. Louis does have a ton of seats in the end zones vs. the sides, it wouldn't surprise me if the fans in the Ed are, on average, closer to the action than in any other NFL stadium. The Ed has a giant video screen. Other than the subjective argument that a game indoors is inferior to a game outdoors, and fan noise, what do the top stadiums have that the Edward Jones stadium is missing that definitively puts it out of the top 8?

I referenced the same web site you provided -- ballparks.com. Even your site ranks the Ed in the top half of all NFL stadiums -- and they include non-stadium categories where the Rams rank low in their formula -- fan support, tailgating, and other things, that have nothing to do with the physical stadium.

I don't know what the lease says other than that the stadium is to remain the top whatever percent. Like I said, I simply can't imagine playing in a bland warehouse with a thermostat is enough. I have heard but have no direct link that the scoreboard, luxury boxes, the turf, the paint job, the sound system, et al factor in.

I can't imagine who thinks that The Ed is a better football venue than Heinz Field or Gillette Stadium save for those who simply want it to be warm when they watch a game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/ ... e-stadiums

St. Louis Rams (Edward Jones Dome, capacity 66,965)

The $30 million in offseason upgrades to the nearly 15-year-old facility do not change the bottom line. The place lacks distinct flavor. It's a big building with seats. Nothing about it screams St. Louis.

The Rams' lease agreement compels the stadium to remain a "top-tier" facility by 2015, meaning it must rank among the eight best in the league. Not going to happen. Two-thirds of the league has built new stadiums since the Rams' facility opened in 1995. Sorry, Ed, but this dome simply cannot measure up by NFL standards.

Wow factor: 0 wows

Please note that I am aware that this commentary is not based on the legal document that is the stadium lease.

That said, if Khan wants to keep the team here I imagine he can do so whatever the lease agreement says. Unless, as part of the approval process he is required to abide by the top tier stadium stipulation by the NFL.

I agree with you in general. I was looking for something measurable, and I can't think of anything that would stand up in court. Top eight stadiums seems very subjective -- I would think a good lawyer could convince a jury that it is equal or better to all but the top 4 stadiums, based on hard criteria vs. emotion.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... enDocument

Surprised, but not really. Silent Stan strikes again. I do not blame Stan for taking a run at 100% ownership. I just find it hard to believe he will be able to defeat the NFL and it's dumb cross ownership rules. I hope he does win for the following reasons. He is extremely rich, one of the richest men in America. Khan is rich, but not that rich. He is more of an unknown. Kroenke also has experience owning sports franchises. He owns the Rams, Nuggets, Av's and Arsenal. It would be cool for him to own an NFL and EPL team. I'd like to see him sell his stake in the Denver franchises and focus on the Rams and a new stadium here. I think if he prevails, if will need to be soon. I do not want this franchise in limbo much longer. It is only hurting the team, city and fans. I'd also love to see him keep the team in St. Louis City, not the County. If moving to the County means they stay, I am, of course, all for that.

^
It wouldn't surprise me if Stan had already been working behind the scenes to drum up support among the owners for making an exemption to the rule.

well it's not like they'll tear the EJ Dome down anytime soon even if the Rams move to a new facility. Not unless the taxes/upkeep on the additional exhibit space is through the roof.