St. Louis and several groups in the city sued the N.F.L. on Wednesday, accusing it of violating its own relocation guidelines when the league’s team owners voted a year ago to let the Rams leave the city for Los Angeles.

In a 52-page complaint filed in Circuit Court in St. Louis, a group that included the city, the county and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority — which operates the team’s former stadium, in downtown St. Louis — said that team executives, league officials and other teams’ owners had encouraged them to try to build a new stadium to keep the Rams. Then the owners disregarded those efforts without explanation and voted to let the team move to California, the complaint says.

“The N.F.L., through its member teams and the votes of the teams’ owners, approved the relocation of the Rams despite the failure of the Rams franchise to meet its obligations under the relocation policy or even to offer a credible, persuasive statement of reasons concerning the factors set out in the relocation policy,” the plaintiffs said. “In doing so, the N.F.L., through its member teams, and the owners failed to apply and enforce the policy’s standards and procedures.”

According to the league’s bylaws on relocating franchises, teams “are obligated to work diligently and in good faith to obtain and to maintain suitable stadium facilities in their home territories,” as well as to support their fans.