Checketts Is Serious About The Rams?

by Brad Lee on Jun 2, 2009 10:04 AM CDT Comment 14 comments

"How much for your Rams? Your Cardinals? Are the Steamers still around? I want to buy them all."

The Post-Dispatch traded e-mails on Monday with Dave Checketts, you know the guy who owns the Blues as part of an investment firm based in New York. In the e-mail exhchange, Checketts renewed his interest in buying the St. Louis Rams.

"We have the ability to get this done and we have communicated this to the Rams," Checketts wrote in an e-mail. "We approached this with the Rams months ago and have since that time put together a partnership of both concerned St. Louisans and outside capital.

"Last week, we communicated to Chip Rosenbloom in no uncertain terms, that he now has a clear St. Louis buyer. We are that buyer.

"We have reason to believe the NFL would approve our group as we have carefully explored their ownership requirements."

In case you're not following the saga with the St. Louis NFL team, owner Georgia Frontiere died in January 2008 after a long battle with cancer. Her children Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez inherited the team. The problem is the inheritance tax on the team is close to 50 percent and the team is valued at more than $900 million (with Frontiere's portion about 60 percent and minority owner Stan Kroenke's portion at 40 percent). They can't afford to keep the team.

Apparently the franchise has been quietly available for purchase, but no legitimate offers have been made. Over the weekend Internet friend Bernie Miklasz wrote about the team being officially for sale and that bidders who wouldn't promise to keep the team in St. Louis would now be considered.

Checketts has quietly said in recent months that he was interested in exploring the possibility of acquiring the Rams, so his comments to the Post are not completely surprising. But the extent of his interest really hasn't been known until now. Checketts is a busy guy. He's overseen a great resurgence with the hockey club. He's spearheading an effort to renovate and reopen the neighboring Kiel Opera House. On Miklasz's radio show last week he said the Blues would like to host the NHL All-Star game in 2011. Now he wants to head up a group to buy the Rams.

As a Blues guy, it would worry me that Checketts and his group are over-extending themselves with an NFL team. Their seasons have a major overlap. There's a huge issue with the Edward Jones Dome and making it a viable stadium or the huge hurdle of even starting the conversation of a new building for the team. The Rams have been a mess, an even worse situation than the Blues were in when Checketts purchased the team a few years ago. I would hate to see what he's started at the Drinkscotch Center suffer because of the ambition to buy an NFL team, the pinnacle of sports ownership in North America.

But as a Rams fan too...I would love to pay my money to buy tickets from Checketts. I don't want the Rams to leave and I love NFL football. If the Rams found another home, St. Louis would be shut out of the NFL for decades, if not forever.The new Rams owner needs to get the football team to reconnect with the city and the fans and find a way for the team to get working in one direction and succeed. If anybody could do that, it's Checketts. With the Blues, he's put smart hockey people in charge and let them do their thing with a workable model that he has stuck with since he bought the team. I could imagine him doing the same for the Rams. In that case, he would put more of a face on the team and probably spend even more time in St. Louis, which would be good for the Blues as well.

Gallagher noticed that when the Blues made the playoffs this season, he had never heard so many fans saying they were thrilled for the ownership. I almost feel like Blues fans have such a good thing with Checketts, we don't want to share him.

I can see folks going either way. So I ask you, dear reader, how do you feel about Checketts wanting to buy the Rams? Vote and give your reasons in the comments.

Poll

What do you think of Dave Checketts wanting to buy the St. Louis Rams?

I'm fine with it. He could really help the Rams.

121 votes

I'm against it. I want him to focus on the Blues.

48 votes

Remind me, who are the Rams again?

40 votes

209 votes | Poll has closed

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Read More: St. Louis Blues, St. Louis Rams

Comments

I'm fine with it.

Although I’m actually a Chiefs fan, so I don’t give a shit if it helps the Rams. I just don’t see how it would hurt the Blues so it wouldn’t bother me.

by smashthesymbols on Jun 2, 2009 12:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm against it.

I want him to focus on the Blues. But I’m lucky… I don’t like the Rams. In the NFC I pull for the Niners. The Blues are my favorite team in any sport and I want them to succeed more than any other team.

I don’t want to share.

by DallyDrake on Jun 2, 2009 12:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

As a fan of both teams,

I am excited about the possibility. However, I have felt for some time that business conditions being what they have been and what they are now for the region, it is questionable whether the city could support both the Rams and the Blues in the long term, unless things get a lot better economically speaking.

That said, if anybody can pull this off, it would seem to be Checketts

by tbell61 on Jun 2, 2009 12:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd be thrilled with it

The moment you have a serious owner or group of owners that not only want to better the team but also the surrounding region is something special. I read today that Dave Checketts is also working on getting money to rennovate and reopen the old Kiel Opera House.

He is the kind of guy that will put the right people in the right positions, like JD being President of the Blues, and there’s no telling how much he can do for the Rams. He can be 2 for 2 in turning around last place teams in St. Louis, and quite possibly solidify a name for himself in this town for good.

Bernie said that the same type of nay-saying was going on when Checketts originally wanted to buy the Blues. So let him buy them and improve another franchise here in St. Louis.

Afterall, if you’re concerned with him not focusing on the Blues as much, you fail to see that he’s not having to babysit the organization on a daily basis. He put the right people in those right places so he wouldn’t have to be the one and only decision maker in the organization. And, he was on vacation this week and still managed to contact the St. Louis Post Dispatch to talk about this. If he’s working on vacation, he can certainly manage two sports franchises in the same city.

by Niemann on Jun 2, 2009 1:17 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm a fan of both teams and I'm all for this.

I’d also like to give Dave Checketts a hug.

I am The One Who Shall Remain Avatar-less.

by Classic17 on Jun 2, 2009 6:36 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Fuck The Rams

Yep, you read that right. I could give two shits about that team. Having them here in town absolutely takes away entertainment dollars available to the Blues. Having an NFL team here in town does help keep STL on the map to a degree but football sucks. Boring as shit to watch and the Rams can eat a bag of dicks for all I care.

Fuck football and hell toss MLB in there too. Fuck’em

Beating Me Is Tougher Then A Dog In A Bathtub. Confused? Check out this link for an explanation:

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by Answer Man on Jun 2, 2009 9:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m not sure of your position. Could you clarify?

I know you NorCo guys are used to keeping it all inside. It’s okay to let us know how you really feel. We’re all friends here…

Let's go Blues!!!

by Milo. on Jun 4, 2009 8:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dont know if Big Dave has the bank

When did he become rich enough to by the Rams … the reported value of the Club is 900 millie plus. Add in the shitty dome that will require upgrades, and the Rams are one expensive-ass team.

I don’t know if he has the friends with the deep pockets to get this done. Sure it would be great, but I would hate to see his budget spread so thin. If he’s got the money to buy the Rams, spend it on the team you already run. Spend the Blues up to the cap — in a smart way. Make Scottrade the best arena in the league, spend it on the Blues.

by averagejoe on Jun 2, 2009 11:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Couple responses

1. He wouldn’t be putting up all his own money. Other investors would be chipping in big bucks. He didn’t personally bankroll the purchase of the Blues.

2. There is some talk that Stan Kronke could increase his share up to 49.9 percent leaving Checkett’s group to purchase 50.1 percent.

3. The owner of the Rams doesn’t own the stadium. The Convention Authority does. The lease is a sweetheart deal for the owner. The millions of improvements going into the stadium now, the convention authority is paying for them all.

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by Brad Lee on Jun 3, 2009 9:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

all good points

50.1% of 900 mil is still 450 million. Is Dave really worth that much? If he is, kudos. Does he know people that are worth that much? Ok, sure he would have to have some help to get the team — they dont call it an ownership group for nothing — and I know he runs in different circles than me, but I find it hard to believe in this shitty economy that a bunch of rich dudes would be jumping on board to buy a team with … well not the best fan base. The rams have had trouble selling out when the team is not doing well. A lot of people in St. Louis my age (23) and older are fans of other teams since they didn’t have an NFL team for a while. add in the trouble brewing with the players union, ie a cap free year that will almost force teams that want to be good to spend, the rams wont be cheap.

i still dont think it’s the best idea. isn’t jerry reinsdorff the only multiple-league championship owner> a lot of guys that own multiple teams tend to have a shitty one, or a shitty spurt. for example, mr. kronke’s denver teams. the avs were good, the nuggets were shit. the nuggets are good, the avs are shit. in detroit, the wings are great while the tigers had 2006 in the past what, 20 years? hildy always complains about the thrashers owners just wanting the hawks.

its not my money, but id like him to just stick with the blues.

by averagejoe on Jun 3, 2009 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I picked option #3

since it pretty much encapsulates my feelings on the Rams overall. My formative years were mostly spent without a local football team, so . . . being a football fanatic . . . I chose another one.

I wouldn’t start immediately (or ever, probably) rooting for the Rams if he all-of-a-sudden were able to find enough lines of credit to actually get this done. Nor would I immediately care if he got it done (which would be a major upgrade to our previous ownership regime in terms of actually putting pen to paper in dealings outside the Blues).

Also of note . . . how many people here remember that Checketts also already owns Real Salt Lake, the MLS team in BEAUTIFUL shithole Utah? (Then again, the value of an MLS franchise is, what, 300,000% lower than the value of an NFL franchise? We’re talking apples-and-cantaloupes here in terms of difference.)

All I want from the owner of my favorite hockey franchise is a winner for said franchise. Can he do it while owning two other entities? Well, I’ve never doubted him before, but personally I’d rather him not try.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Jun 3, 2009 12:22 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Some parts of Utah aren't so bad...

Like Dinosaur National Monument, and the part between Marie Osmond’s chin and navel…

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://futurenotes.blogspot.com

by Tomorrows Blues on Jun 3, 2009 2:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

HAH!

More or less, I was going for a dig at Mormonism, but that wasn’t made too obvious.

You raise two very good points, though!

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on Jun 3, 2009 7:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't have a problem with it...

…not at all.

All I’d really like to see Mr. Checketts do with the Rams is to somehow get ’em into the NFC North so that they can play the Bears twice every year. Move the Lions elsewhere — they suck worse than the Rams ever thought about sucking, anyway — and have the Rams, Bears, Vikings and (Fudge) Packers all in one nice, compact division.

And what’s so wrong with the TWA Dome? It really cheeses me off that NFL and MLB “fans” have to have a new stadium every three years. There’s not a damn thing wrong with the Dome that some new turf, and removal of some of the slums nearby so there’s somewhere to park, won’t cure…

"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."

-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851

http://futurenotes.blogspot.com

by Tomorrows Blues on Jun 3, 2009 2:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs