Judge Christopher McGraugh in St. Louis has scheduled an Aug. 25 hearing on a request by Kroenke and the NFL to decide the case in their favor based on the evidence presented so far -- probably their last chance to escape a jury trial.
Meanwhile, McGraugh is allowing the plaintiffs to pursue financial information from Kroenke, the Rams and the NFL, as well as details about the net worth of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, New York Giants owner John Mara, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt. All 32 NFL owners are defendants in the case.
St. Louis is pursuing punitive damages against the league and has indicated in court filings that the financial information will help it determine how much to ask the jury to award.
Kroenke, who attended the University of Missouri, has noted that his first and middle names, Enos and Stanley, were after St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famers Enos “Country” Slaughter and Stan Musial. He is ranked 260th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with an estimated net worth of $9.7 billion. His wife, Ann, is a daughter of Walmart Inc. co-founder James “Bud” Walton and has an estimated net worth of $6.4 billion.
Bob Mirbaha, who was a Rams season-ticket holder for 21 years, said he’d be disappointed if Kroenke gets the lawsuit moved out of St. Louis. He said he still supports the team and plans to travel to Indianapolis and Phoenix this year to watch the blue-gold uniformed squad mix it up on the gridiron.
“Love the Rams,” Mirbaha said in an interview. “Hate Kroenke.”
The case is St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority v. National Football League, 1722-CC0976, Circuit Court of St. Louis City, Missouri, Twenty-Second Judicial District (St. Louis).
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.