Court Nixes Bid to Send Suit Over Rams’ Move to Arbitration

A Missouri court has turned down an effort by Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL to send a lawsuit over the team’s relocation from St. Louis to Los Angeles into arbitration.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a three-judge panel of the Missouri Appeals Court’s Eastern District ruled Tuesday that the Rams can’t force the lawsuit to be ironed out behind closed doors.

The Rams cited language in a 1995 lease agreement when the franchise moved to St. Louis from LA. Kroenke moved the team back to LA in 2016.

The court said rules governing arbitration weren’t in place until eight years after the 1995 contract.

The suit by St. Louis city and county and the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority alleges breach of contract and fraud, among other things.