Rams Class Action Lawsuit Tossed Back to Missouri State Court

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The soon-to-be Los Angeles Rams already have one loss on the scoreboard as a federal judge tossed back a proposed class action lawsuit to Missouri state court.

The complaint was brought by presumably former fans who claimed that they were misled by Rams officials that the NFL team would not leave St. Louis.

The Rams motioned a second time to remove the case from state to federal court. This can be granted if there is diversity of citizenship, with an argument hinging on whether or not the Rams owner is a citizen of Missouri or another state. Rams owner Stan Kroenke claims he resides in Wyoming.

U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White was not impressed with this claim: “Other than Defendants’ bald assertion that Mr. Kroenke is a citizen of Wyoming, there is no evidence that controverts that he is a citizen of Missouri. In contrast, Plaintiffs have provided evidence that Mr. Kroenke resides in Missouri, including his voter registration and Missouri driver’s license.”

The court further ruled that even though the team’s LLCs were registered in Delaware, the key factor was where Kroenke – the person in charge of the team and its corporation resides.

Fans of the former St. Louis Rams filed the putative class action lawsuit in January against the organization, claiming that the team’s owner made false and misleading statements regarding the team’s relocation plans.

The fans argue that Kroenke and other top team officials purposely misled Missouri fans who purchased game tickets, team merchandise, and concessions upon the belief that the team would remain in St. Louis, Missouri, where it had been since 1995, all in violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA).  The MMPA bars misrepresentation and false promises in selling merchandise.

“In marketing and selling the subject tickets and merchandise … defendants made false promises in that they made statements or representations … that they would not lead the charge out of St. Louis, that their entire focus was on building a winner in and for St. Louis, that they would attempt to do everything they could to keep the team in St. Louis,” the suit said.

According to the class action lawsuit, the fans were induced into spending money on the Rams based on false statements that the team would stay in St. Louis.

“Named plaintiffs and class plaintiffs have suffered a loss equal to the cost of the tickets and/or merchandise purchased from defendants during the applicable time period,” the lawsuit states.

In early February, the Rams successfully had the case remanded to Missouri federal court from St. Louis Circuit Court on diversity grounds, claiming that the amount in controversy exceeded $5 million, far greater than the $75,000 minimum requirement for diversity jurisdiction and that Kroenke was a Wyoming resident.

Additionally, the defendants argued that another one of the named parties in the class action lawsuit was based in Colorado and that the proposed Class would include fans who have since moved from Missouri.

However, the fans motioned to block the team’s play to move to federal court and were able to quarterback the case to Missouri state court, referencing numerous declarations over the years by Kroenke and Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff, in which he allegedly promised that there was no “desire to ever lead the charge out of St. Louis.”

“Defendants did in fact ‘lead the charge’ out of St. Louis, yet defendants never informed their ticket and merchandise buyers or corrected their previous statements,” the fans claim.

In January, NFL owners voted in favor of a proposal to relocate the Rams to Inglewood. Fans assert that that by filing the application to relocate “demonstrates their desire to ‘lead the charge’ out of St. Louis.”

The Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers had all filed applications with the NFL in January to relocate to Los Angeles beginning in the 2016 season. The city has been without a professional football team since 1995, when the Rams and Raiders both left the city.

California owners voted in favor of moving the Rams, while the Chargers were given the option to join the Rams in a stadium-sharing deal. If the Chargers do not exercise the option by January 2017, the Raiders will be given the opportunity to relocate to Inglewood.

The NFL said that the team who opts not to relocate to Los Angeles will be eligible for financial support from the NFL in the amount of $100 million to be used towards constructing a new stadium in their current city.

Plaintiffs in the Rams class action lawsuit are seeking to represent all Missouri state residents who purchased tickets, merchandise or concessions from the NFL team between April 2010 and January 2016.

The fans are represented by Steven J. Stolze of Holland Law Firm.

The Rams Class Action Lawsuit is Pudlowski, et al. v. St. Louis Rams LLC, et al., Case No. 1622-CC00083, in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, 22nd Judicial Circuit.

UPDATE: January 2020, the Rams tickets and merchandise class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.