Shahid Khan Thwarted in Bid to Buy Rams

The National Football League’s Owner’s Committee this week voted to accept Stan Kroenke as majority owner of the St. Louis Rams, thus ending Pakistani-American Shahid Khan’s attempt to purchase a controlling share of the team. Khan had originally been named as the impending buyer of 60% of the team back in February, but Kroenke, as a minority owner, had a 30 day window to exercise a right to put together a bid for controlling ownership, which he subsequently did. Kroenke since spent the summer re-arranging his other assets, the National Basketball Association’s Denver Nuggets and the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche. The NFL stipulates that their owners cannot own other American professional sports franchises, so Kroenke transferred ownership of his two other teams to his wife and sons in order to be in compliance.

Khan released a conciliatory statement, “I have nothing but best wishes for Stan Kroenke as the new controlling owner of the St. Louis Rams… This adventure didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, but it was otherwise a worthwhile experience in every respect and I’ll always be a fan of the St. Louis Rams” Khan made his fortune in auto parts, as the owner of the billion-dollar company Flex-N-Gate in Urbana, Illinois. Let’s hope that Shahid gets another opportunity to make his mark on the American sports scene.

12-35