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Rams owner buys $725 million ranch, continues to laugh in the faces of the people of St. Louis

On Tuesday Bloomberg reported that Rams owner Stan Kroenke had completed the deal to buy a 520,000-acre ranch in Texas. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the ranch had an asking price of $725 million.

This is doable, of course, for Kroenke, who is worth an estimated $6.2 billion.

But this purchase is also a stark reminder of how dirty Kroenke is doing the city of St. Louis. The city still has $36 million remaining on a loan it took out to finance a new stadium for Kroenke, one the Rams will no longer be playing in because Kroenke is moving the team to Los Angeles.

Let’s say Kroenke negotiated the price of the ranch down to, I don’t know, $500 million. Heck, say he got it at a bargain basement $360 million, half the asking price. That’s still ten times what it would cost to pay off the city of St. Louis and help them deal with a tax bill for a stadium that no longer has any practical use.

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File

I can see the Twitter eggs rushing to curse me for this article and point out that Kroenke is a business man and American Dream and his own money and he’s a hero and all such other nonsense. But come on. This is common sense. This is basic human decency. This is a city that could use that money toward schools and roads and police officers. And they’re using it to pay off a stadium they hoped would bring an economic boost to their city due to the presence of an NFL team.

The NFL team is gone. And while Kroenke has every right to move his team where he sees fit, he also has the right to be a human being and help out the city from which he just bolted.

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

I’m not saying Kroenke shouldn’t have bought the ranch in Texas, either. He already owns mega ranches in Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, and British Columbia, but you know, if looking upon that new 520,000 acres makes him feel special and validated in the morning, that’s his money. But to spend that amount on another ranch is a stark reminder to the people of St. Louis that it would be so, so easy for him to just write a check to the city of St. Louis and let them off the hook for the stadium that they built for him.

But no. This is America, and Kroenke is a businessman, and no handouts, whatever. I can read the talking points now. I look forward to muting some people on Twitter over this.

Stan Kroenke already took away St. Louis’ football team. The least he can do is take the sting off by paying the debt for the stadium they gave him.

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