EARTH CITY, Mo. -- St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon met face-to-face at Rams Park on Monday afternoon, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The meeting is believed to be the first face-to-face discussion between Kroenke and Nixon since the city and state began developing their ongoing efforts to keep the Rams from relocating to Los Angeles after this season, and it took place just before this week's NFL owners gathering in Dallas. Nixon spokeswoman Channing Ansley later confirmed the Monday meeting to the Associated Press but gave no additional details.
The latest round of owners meetings aren't expected to yield a vote or even a definitive timeline on the owners' decision whether to move the Rams to Inglewood or the Oakland Raiders or San Diego Chargers to Carson. That said, relocation will be one of the primary topics over the two-day event that begins Tuesday afternoon.
Both Nixon and Kroenke were in the room at last month's owners meetings in New York, when the St. Louis stadium task force presented to three NFL committees its plan for a stadium on the city's north riverfront.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported the meeting between Kroenke and Nixon.
The governor and Kroenke met the same day lawmakers blasted plans for a new stadium during a House Budget Committee hearing in Jefferson City.
Nixon's push for a new stadium has frustrated some lawmakers, who either want a say in the matter or want such a plan to go to a vote of the people.
In related news, the St. Louis Business Journal reported Monday that Michael Staenberg, Kroenke's former business partner, filed a lawsuit claiming he was wrongfully excluded from a recent business deal involving the purchase of 200 acres of land in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.