ST. LOUIS — The Los Angeles Rams, owner Stan Kroenke, and the NFL have lost another bid to move the lawsuit filed over the team's 2016 relocation out of St. Louis.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied an appeal that sought to overturn a circuit judge's Aug. 31 ruling that keeps the trial in St. Louis. The trial is expected to begin in January.
Kroenke, the Rams and the NFL had argued that keeping the trial in St. Louis gives St. Louis, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority "undue influence" over prospective jurors. They also cited "extensive and continuing prejudicial pretrial publicity" in St. Louis.
It wasn't immediately clear if the appeals court ruling would be appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.
The lawsuit claims the NFL broke its own relocation rules by allowing the Rams to leave St. Louis after the 2015 season and misled the public about its intentions. Plaintiffs claim the departure cost the city millions in amusement, ticket and earnings tax revenue.
