If the Rams thought they were going to get a clean break from St. Louis, they thought wrong. The breakup between the team and the city is now even messier thanks to a 52-page lawsuit that was filed Wednesday by the city of St. Louis, along with St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority. 

 

The Rams aren't the only defendants listed in the lawsuit, which was obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The NFL and the league's 31 other teams are also listed as defendants.

 

The lawsuit was filed because the three entities in St. Louis are seeking damages and the restitution of profits that they lost stemming from the Rams' move to Los Angeles. 

 

The suit also states that the Rams' move allegedly cost thousands of job to the county. 

 

According to the plaintiffs, the lawsuit has merit because the Rams didn't meet the NFL's standard for relocation. 

 

The NFL's relocation rules only allow a team to move if the club has "diligently engaged in good faith efforts" to get a stadium deal done. 

 

The city of St. Louis doesn't believe that the league acted in good faith, especially since the city ended up approving a stadium plan in December 2015.

 

Under that plan, the city would've pitched in in $150 million of the estimated $1.1 billion stadium cost. Another $550 million would've come from the NFL and the Rams, with the team adding $250 million and the league kicking in $300 million. At the time, the city said that the state would pay for the rest of the stadium.

 

The city claims that it spent more than $17 million putting the stadium plan together, something that it wouldn't have done if it knew the Rams were leaving. However, the city says that the Rams lied about relocation, which is why the city thought the Rams were staying.