A smart one evidently since he got Kreonke to pay for everything and he's getting a chunk of the revenue streams. He outsmarted Kroenke, who was in a hurry to get the vote done so he could move. Spanos cut a much better deal than I knew of previously by a big margin. He essentially positioned himself as a partner receiving a portion of revenues/profits for $1 a year.
A thought from me.........
The STL lawsuit has merit because they are right, and I think it was Amy Trask former COO for the Raiders said so in an interview as everything was going down in STL. They didn't meet their own guidelines for relocation, and now with 8 years of emails and communications being dug through it's going to prove that Kroenke violated the terms of the agreement with the city. The NFL is going to have a public relations nightmare on it's hand that could force Goodell out if his involvement is big enough. Sports talk radio will be all over this all across the country. This will be the Rams version of Bountygate/Spygate/Deflategate. It'll be discussed nonstop.
Another thought..........
If the NFL is surprised by the attendance issues they are thicker in the skull then even I had imagined. There will be downward pressure for this generation because of the region being transplants from all over the USA, but also everyone under the age of 25 and maybe even 30 that IS a local has probably selected a team to cheer for years and years ago while the franchise was in STL. Then add in the always present greed of ticket brokers. And they wonder why LA has major issues with opposing fans filling the stadium. However as long as the tickets sell I doubt if the NFL, or Kroenke for that matter, cares who fills the seats.
Wait until the Raiders move to Las Vegas. That stadium will be at least 50% fans of the opposing team.
@RamFan503 the article seems to claim the original figures and estimates were terribly wrong, and with a 14BIL project at LAX competing for construction materials prices have increased. I know you said you didn't read it, and it's certainly a long read, but it's worth it.