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St. Louis sues NFL, owners over Rams departure

St. Louis officials attempted to keep the Rams from leaving for Los Angeles by coming up with plans for a new stadium downtown.
Courtesy HOK | 360 Architecture
St. Louis officials attempted to keep the Rams from leaving for Los Angeles by coming up with plans for a new stadium downtown.

The saga of the Rams' decision to leave St. Louis is not over. The city, St. Louis County and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority are suing the National Football League and all of its member teams over the Rams' move to Los Angeles.

The suit was filed Wednesday in St. Louis Circuit Court. It accuses the NFL and Rams' officials of violating the league's relocation guidelines. The relocation guidelines, according to the lawsuit, "bind the NFL, NFL team owners, and NFL teams to follow certain procedures before allowing them to relocate."

The legal action  also alleges the Rams allowed St. Louis officials to spend millions of dollars on a stadium proposal, even though the team’s owners always intended to relocate to California.

The suit includes five counts:

  • Breach of contract
  • Unjust enrichment
  • Fraudulent misrepresentation (against the Rams and Stan Kroenke)
  • Fraudulent misrepresentation (against all defendants)
  • Tortious interference with business expectancy


NFL owners approved the Rams' move to Los Angeles on Jan. 16, 2016. They began playing at Memorial Colosseum last fall.

The suit seeks payment of money spent by St. Louis officials and the recovery of potential revenue lost when the Rams moved last year.

Rams officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.  The NFL did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Follow Wayne on Twitter: @wayneradio

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Wayne Pratt is a veteran journalist who has made stops at radio stations, wire services and websites throughout North America. He comes to St. Louis Public Radio from Indianapolis, where he was assistant managing editor at Inside Indiana Business. Wayne also launched a local news operation at NPR member station WBAA in West Lafayette, Indiana, and spent time as a correspondent for a network of more than 800 stations. His career has included positions in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Toronto, Ontario and Phoenix, Arizona. Wayne grew up near Ottawa, Ontario and moved to the United States in the mid-90s on a dare. Soon after, he met his wife and has been in the U.S. ever since.
Raack has been in radio for over 20 years. After graduating with a degree in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1983, he worked at commercial radio stations in Kansas and then Illinois. He moved to public radio in 1990, joining the staff of WILL-AM/FM in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, as a host/reporter and then as news director in 1993. He returned to his hometown of St. Louis in 1995 as the local host of St. Louis Public Radio's