New owner for the St. Louis Rams?

According the the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Rosenbloom family, current owners of the St. Louis Rams, have reached an agreement to sell the team to Illinois businessmen Shahid Khan.  Mr. Khan has agreed to buy the Rosenbloom's 60% share of the team and, if need be, the remaining 40% of the team from minority owner from Stan Kroenke.  All that remains is for the sale to be finalized and for Mr. Khan to be approved by 75% of the NFL owners.  Mr. Khan has made his money in the auto parts manufacturing business and his company is reported to have revenue of over $2 billion annually.

This is potentially wonderful news as Mr. Khan is said to be a Rams fan who has attended quite a few games and, more importantly, is committed to keeping the team in St. Louis.  There remains the issue of the stadium; the Rams' dome is becoming more outdated by the minute, even though it is only 15 years old.  There is an escape clause in the lease that says the lease can be voided if the stadium is not among the top 25% of the NFL's stadiums in 2015.  It is already in the bottom half of the stadiums and it is doubtful any sort of face lift could improve it enough.  But it is thought that the Rosenblooms have received assurances from Mr. Khan that he is willing to work through the issue.  The Rosenblooms were emphatic that they wanted to sell to an owner that was intent on keeping the team in St. Louis for the long haul and it looks like they were true to their word.  St. Louis fans should be very grateful to them and, it appears, to Mr. Khan.

Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz, one of the best sports columnists in the country, has been following this story for a long time and he broke the news today.  For more of his thoughts, check out his blog here.  Serious kudos to Mr. Miklasz for his fine work.