Rumors for divorce
Is the end of the McCourt era near?
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This past season, the drama off the field at Chavez Ravine engulfed what happened on the diamond. Baseball fans were more concerned about divorce proceedings than the team’s record. Frank McCourt over the season, has been able to do something that no losing Dodger team has been able to do in the history of the franchise and that’s keep fans away from Dodger stadium.
McCourt took the Dodgers into Bankruptcy protection and has been fighting the Commissioner Bud Selig and his ex-wife, Jamie McCourt for control of the team. McCourt entered Bankruptcy with the hopes of being able to sell the TV rights and receive an upfront lump of cash to pay off debtors and keep the team afloat.
Last week, he finally reached an agreement with his ex-wife Jamie McCourt that would pay her $130mm in exchange for her share of the Dodgers.
But that was just the battle leading up to the war when he was set to square off against MLB next week in court. McCourt has broken all of the “Boys code” among baseball owners as he has been airing the dirty laundry of MLB. The court hearing was going to focus on whether McCourt could sell the TV rights over the objection of FOX and MLB with the commissioner asking the court to force McCourt to sell the Dodgers. MLB also accused McCourt of taking $190 million from the Dodgers for personal use.
Today, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross issued an order saying that those hearings will now take place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2. Speculation immediately started to fly about a possible settlement as reports surfaced of McCourt being in New York yesterday, which also happens to be where MLB headquarters is located. Bill Shaikin of the LA Times later confirmed the rumors that McCourt and MLB did meet on Tuesday and discussed a possible settlement.
Settlement talks, though only at the infant stage could mean that McCourt realizes that he won’t win the court hearing in November or it could mean that he thinks Selig will overpay him to leave baseball.
Many people in baseball believe the Dodgers could be sold for $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
No matter what happens in the upcoming weeks, the McCourt era in Los Angeles may be coming to a close.
McCourt’s reach settlement involving Dodgers
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Frank and Jamie McCourt have reached a settlement involving the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to sources close to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The settlement includes Jamie McCourt getting about $130 million and relinquishing any claim to a share of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club. The settlement has not been finalized.
The sides had been arguing whether or not Frank McCourt is the sole owner of the team or if the club lies in community property between the two.
Up next for Frank McCourt is a battle with Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig for control of his team. McCourt took his club into bankruptcy protection in June 2011 and in doing so Selig asked the Court to have the team sold.
After years of divorce hearings, the settlement involving the club will create a clearer path for the team to return to prominence. The Dodgers have not made the postseason since the 2009 NLCS.
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Frank McCourt makes May 31 payroll
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Today, funds were due by club owners to cover paychecks that will be issued on May 31st. Some how some way, Frank McCourt was able to meet the payroll demands today, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
McCourt was able to secure funds to help make payroll by taking cash advances on payments that he was scheduled to receive until later this season. But McCourt remains in panic mode as he searches to secure funds for payroll checks ending June 15th. A little monkey wrench in the upcoming payroll is that retired slugger Manny Ramirez is due a $6mm deferred payment from his two-year contract he signed in prior to the 2009 season.
Frank will continue to search for money to make the June 15th payroll as he hopes that a scheduled hearing on June 22nd that will determine if his ex-wife, Jamie McCourt has no standing to challenge a proposed television contract between the Dodgers and Fox.
If this was the only problem Frank was facing he wouldn’t be in that bad of shape. He also has MLB breathing down his neck waiting for him to falter with his payroll or other finances so they can takeover the team. AND McCourt was just sued this week by the Stow family for an undisclosed amount.
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Jamie McCourt set to ask judge to make Frank sell the team
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The Dodgers entered Wednesday night at 20-23 and are currently averaging just over 36,700 fans down from 43,979 last year. The team’s finances are currently under the watchful eye of MLB and Frank McCourt is making it known that he doesn’t know how he will make payroll come the end of the month.
It seems only right that the next move would come from Jamie McCourt as she has been sitting back waiting for the right time to strike. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, Jamie is expected to ask a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to order the immediate sale of the Dodgers. Her opinion, is Frank has endangered the value of the Dodgers as he looks for every last drop of money (TV deal with FOX) that could help him save the team.
Jamie will go before Judge Scott Gordon tomorrow who will then set a date to hear her argument. Essentially, she will ask Gordon to act before Selig can seize the Dodgers so that the couple, not the league, would control the sale process. Judge Gordon who according to sources close to PRO Rumors is a Dodger fan, can not be very happy with the direction the team has gone under the McCourt regime.
With Jamie set to ask the court to force her ex-husband to sell the team, it could benefit Bud Selig and MLB as they will not have to intervine any further by seizing the team from the McCourts and selling the franchise.
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Dodgers have to borrow money to pay everyday bills
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The title kind of says it all, but things continue to get worse for the Dodgers and their fans. Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports that the beloved Frank McCourt recently took a loan from FOX of $30mm to cover the Dodgers’ payroll obligations as well as expenses (extra police, hot dogs you know those kind of things) into next month.
Selig recently stopped McCourt from borrowing $200 million from FOX which Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com says would put more pressure on Frank McCourt to sell the team. McCourt wanted to use the Dodgers’ cable television rights as collateral, extending the team’s current contract with FOX by as many as four years if he did not repay the loan.
Steve Sugerman, the spokesman for McCourt, declined to confirm the deal or discuss its terms. “The team is meeting its financial obligations as it always has,” Sugerman said, “and will continue to do so.”
To make matters worse, Frank was sued by the Boston law firm that drafted the since-invalidated property agreement that McCourt had relied upon to establish his sole ownership of the Dodgers. No further details are known at this time of the lawsuit.
So why would FOX continue to loan a man money who they know won’t pay them back? They are banking on McCourt not paying them back so that he will be forced to extend the current TV deal the Dodgers have with FOX. FOX would like McCourt to sign a new TV deal in the neighborhood of $3 billion for twenty-years. FOX is pushing McCourt and willing to loan him money to sign a new TV deal as they recently lost the LA Lakers to Time Warner.
Divorce of Dodgers owners may be resolved soon
Posted by: | CommentsThe highly publicized divorce between Frank and Jamie McCourt, owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, may be resolved soon, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. In its 18th month of negotiations, the sides may finally be coming to a settlement.
Commissioner Bud Selig has been monitoring the divorce very closely, but has not made any public comments regarding the proceedings or the team’s future. He may have to get involved when the team and FOX finalize a television deal that could be worth $3 billion over 20 years.
Frank and Jamie are currently fighting over the ownership of the team that Forbes valued at $800 million. Frank has previously said that he has no intention to sell the team, but that could change depending on the outcome of the divorce.
Does Bud Selig hate Frank McCourt?
Posted by: | CommentsWhen people think of the Dodgers, they think (or are supposed to think) of a big market team with a payroll that should be north of $100mm. Well the 2011 Dodgers will have a payroll south of $100mm (not counting deferred money) even though they have been in the top five of attendance repeatedly for the last few years and their owner promised to increase payroll each year.
But we all know by now the heartache Frank McCourt has brought on the City of Los Angeles. McCourt has spread his dirty laundry and his mounting debt and has put is squarely on the fans, raising parking to $15 (yes other parks charge more but LA has plenty of parking where other places are limited). Since the divorce trial ended and the judge ruled in favor of Jaime McCourt, Frank has been looking for ways to borrow money to keep him afloat. Frank took money from FOX for the up coming season, as FOX usually would pay for the TV deal at the conclusion of the season. But that money was gone after Frank paid off his Visa and American Express bills.
So what does Frank do now? Easy he goes to FOX and ask for a $200mm loan. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA TImes, McCourt wanted to use the Dodgers’ cable television rights as collateral, extending the team’s current contract with Fox by as many as four years if he did not repay the loan. This from a man who dreamed about the possible revenue from a Dodger network or channel similar to the “Yes” network which televises all Yankee games.
But everyone’s favorite Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, stepped in and denied McCourt’s request to borrow more money. Selig appears to be laying the ground work for McCourt showing him that he needs to get his act together or he could be forced to sell the team. Yes McCourt did double the value of the Dodgers organization, but that didn’t take much as FOX had run the entire franchise into the ground.
Fox already lent $145 million to McCourt in 2004, as part of its agreement to sell the Dodgers to him. McCourt put up his Boston parking lots as collateral. Fox essentially foreclosed on the property two years later, then sold it.
Bud Selig has probably grown tired of the circus act Frank and Jamie have become and would love nothing more than to force them to sell the team. Frank must think he is invincible because with each day, he pushes Bud closer and closer to making the Los Angeles Dodgers the next Texas Rangers.
Red Sox chairman ‘not interested’ in buying Dodgers
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Don’t expect current Boston Red Sox chairman, Tom Werner, to bid on the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I’m not interested in exploring that possibility,” Werner said to Comcast Sportsnet New England, as reported by Sean McAdam. “I’m having a great time in my role here.”
Werner has ties to Southern California as a Hollywood produce. Additionally, he used to own the San Diego Padres in the 1990s. He splits time between Los Angeles and Boston during the year.
The Dodgers are not currently for sale, but they may be unless current owner, Frank McCourt can overturn a California court ruling that he is not the sole owner. He is in the middle of a high stake divorce with former wife, Jamie McCourt. Billionaire financier, Tom Gores, was also rumored to be in on the Dodgers.
Judge rules in favor of Jamie McCourt
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Frank and Jamie McCourt are in the midst of a bitter divorce trial where their assets, including the ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers is being decided by Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon. Judge Scott Gordon made his ruling today where he decided to award co-ownership of the Dodgers to Jamie McCourt (and other half to Frank).
It is very likely that since Frank McCourt wasn’t awarded sole ownership of the team, Frank will file an appeal. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, the ruling should not have an effect on the day-to-day operations of the team. The ruling could also force Frank to go back to the negotiation table and end up paying Jamie significantly more money.
Judge Scott Gordon who in fact is a Dodger fan according to a PRO Rumors source, has helped determine the next chapter of the Dodgers franchise and the direction the ownership will go. Though this chapter maybe done, the appeals processes is just beginning and it could last up to two or more years.
In a separate piece, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports adds that Jamie will look to secure investors in an attempt to but out Frank
Mediator gives each McCourt a settlement proposal
Posted by: | CommentsFrank and Jamie McCourt are in a bitter divorce where their assets, including the ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers, could be settled by a Los Angeles mediator. On Friday, the mediator, Superior Court Judge Peter Lichtman met separately in closed sessions with each McCourt and their attorneys to give them his proposal. The parties were instructed to not discuss the terms of the proposal publicly.
It’s believed that Lichtman has given each side until the end of the of the month to accept or reject proposal. If rejected, as expected, then Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon would rule on whether to upload a marital agreement that would give Frank McCourt sole ownership of the Dodgers’ franchise. Jamie McCourt has asked the court to throw out the agreement – making the team community property.
Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this article.
