Good stuff here from my St. Louis Post-Dispatch colleague Jim Thomas about some of the obstacles that could get in the way of an eventual deal between St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos.
According to Thomas:
back in 2013 Spanos approached Kroenke about pairing up on the Inglewood/Hollywood Park site according to league sources speaking on the condition of anonymity. It’s the same general area the Oakland Raiders and even the NFL itself had previously considered as a stadium site and the same site Kroenke now has control over and hopes to build a new Rams’ stadium on.
Initially, Kroenke was not aware the 60-acre tract owned by Wal-Mart was available, according to sources. In any event, Spanos didn’t hear back from Kroenke for weeks. Spanos later learned that Kroenke had excluded Spanos and purchased the land himself.
With that in mind, it’s difficult to imagine Spanos wishing to now join forces with Kroenke in Inglewood.
Thomas’ account jives with what I’ve been told as well. Essentially, Spanos and Kroenke met over dinner and talked over some future Los Angeles scenarios. The conversation was somewhat vague and broad stroked as opposed to direct and specific.
The two parted ways after dinner, and that was the last Spanos heard about it until Kroenke’s Inglewood land purchase became public.
The chain of events certainly left a bad taste in Spanos’ mouth. And one can certainly see why he might have reservations about doing a deal with Kroenke.
But if I may, here are two quick observations.
Keep in mind there is absolutely no motivation at the moment for Spanos to even hint at being open to a deal. He and Raiders owner Mark Davis haven’t just forged a tight bond in their pursuit of a shared stadium in Carson, they truly believe they are positioned strongly to win the bid over Kroenke’s Inglewood proposal.
As they should. They didn’t get into this race to simply break apart and make a deal with Kroenke. They did so with the intention of winning. They will not consider anything less until it’s made abundantly clear that there isn’t sufficient support for Carson and that they should consider alternative plans. One of which might be making a deal with Kroenke to join him in Inglewood.
Until then – and there is no certainty it comes to that – expect Davis and Spanos to resist any notion of making a deal. It’s been made very clear to me they are in this to win.
On the other hand, should the NFL make it clear to the Raiders and Chargers support for Carson is waning, I would expect positions to change and soften. And if the NFL directs Kroenke and Spanos to make a deal, I don’t expect their past history to get in the way of a deal.
