The Washington Redskins intervened as early as 1991 to prevent Baltimore from having an NFL team, telling the owners of the New England Patriots that the Redskins "would never permit" a team to relocate here, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
In his $450 million lawsuit, which could have implications for Baltimore's NFL hopes, former Patriots owner and electric razor magnate Victor Kiam alleges a complex
conspiracy by the league to keep him from moving the Patriots to Baltimore or a number of other cities.
Among other things, the league told cities competing for expansion franchises that they would jeopardize their chances of winning a team if they continued their conversations with New England, Kiam alleges in the suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Baltimore was among those cities. Kiam says he approached the Maryland Stadium Authority in 1991
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about moving his team to a new stadium to be built adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
At the time, Baltimore was seeking an expansion franchise, and Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke was publicly neutral on the competition. He since has expressed strong reservations about a team in Baltimore, but has not specified what he would do were one to move here.
The city is negotiating to have the Los Angeles Rams or Tampa Bay Buccaneers move here.
The stadium authority informed the NFL of its contact with the Patriots, and the NFL "informed the MSA that the NFL disapproved of the MSA or the Patriots engaging in any discussions about relocating the Patriots out of their home territory, directed the MSA to cease all such discussions, and told the MSA that the NFL would take steps to ensure that all such discussions would be terminated," according to the court documents.
In addition, a representative of the Redskins told Kiam in 1991 that the team "would never permit a team to relocate to Baltimore," the suit alleges.
NFL rules do not allow teams to prevent competing franchises from moving into their territories, but Cooke presumably could -- lobby other owners to keep a relocation from winning the necessary three-quarters votes.
Kiam's suit alleges a similar blocking maneuver by the NFL relative to his discussions with San Antonio; Jacksonville, Fla.; 00 and Memphis, Tenn.
Officials in Baltimore and Memphis suspended their talks with the Patriots to avoid endangering their expansion effort, Kiam alleges. Officials in Jacksonville agreed to drop their talks only on the condition they receive "favorable treatment" in the expansion competition, he alleges.
Jacksonville Jaguars officials were not available for comment.
Baltimore submitted an application for an expansion franchise in 1991 and twice was voted a finalist by NFL team owners in 1992.
Kiam's lawsuit also says Cooke "has made statements to a number of persons, including the governor of the state of Maryland, to the effect that he will not permit an NFL team in Baltimore, by expansion or relocation; and that he intends to maintain his monopoly position in the Baltimore-Washington area."
Stadium authority chairman Herbert J. Belgrad declined to comment on the case in the event he is called as a witness.
"I will say that from time to time I have received calls from both Victor Kiam and his attorneys with respect to communications ++ that took place," Belgrad said.
But Belgrad said he was unaware of opposition by Cooke to a Baltimore franchise until the two expansion franchises were awarded late last year to Charlotte, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla. Cooke notified his fellow owners just before the final vote that he intended to move to Laurel, less than 20 miles from Baltimore.
Cooke's application to build the stadium since has been denied and he says he is exploring other sites in addition to appealing the zoning decision.
A spokesman for Cooke did not respond to a request for comment yesterday. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello calls the suit "all rhetoric and no substance" and said it violated a no-lawsuit agreement Kiam signed when he sold the team.
Kiam claims that the actions by the NFL forced him to sell the team to Anheuser-Busch heir James Busch Orthwein for a "distress price" of $103 million.
The case could provide an important court test of the NFL's relocation rules, through which Baltimore may be considered if a team decides to move here. Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who is trying to buy a team and bring it here, and Belgrad have said they'd be willing to challenge the league in court.
The case could raise important issues related to Baltimore's situation, but the city and its franchise investors would be bringing suit as potential owners rather than actual ones, a significant legal distinction, said Lisa Pike, a law professor and sports law expert at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
"It's a lot harder for a potential owner to prove damages," Pike said.
However, she said, the case might put pressure on the league to open up its rules or make them less likely to block a move while being challenged for another.
"They may say, 'We dealt with the issue with Sullivan and Kiam and who's next?' They might make a business decision not to engage another," Pike said.