Difficult To Believe The Dodgers Have Come To This

[Steve Williams]

From Yahoo Sports

LOS ANGELES – Up against a payroll deadline and the potential seizure of his team, Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has had recent conversations with Major League Baseball officials about salvaging his ownership of the franchise, sources said Friday night.

The dialogue – between McCourt and the league, and between McCourt’s lawyers and the league’s lawyers – has focused on McCourt’s willingness to sell a stake in the Dodgers in order to keep the team afloat, much as Fred Wilpon has extended his ownership of the New York Mets.


Frank McCourt
Sources close to the club said they did not know if McCourt had the funds to meet next week’s payroll.

Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed media rights deal with Fox on Monday, three days after McCourt reached a divorce settlement with ex-wife Jamie. The settlement was contingent upon approval of the Fox contract, however.

In the wake of Selig’s decision, McCourt’s attorney, Robert Sacks, called for Selig to meet with McCourt in an effort to seek a financial compromise or risk litigation.

McCourt has not spoken directly to Selig, a source said.

After months of saying he would not consider selling a piece of the Dodgers, McCourt has received numerous inquiries from parties willing to buy in, said the source.

Selig has been adamant in his refusal to allow future club earnings to be used toward past debt, including McCourt’s divorce.

It is unknown if any of the recent dialogue has resulted in progress against McCourt’s tenuous hold on the club.

 

[RogerD]

No tears shed from this Giants fan, (I need one of those devilish smilies here). I remember all those Giant/Dodger battles back in the early 60's. When your a kid and watch Koufax,Murray Wills, Duke Snyder,Drysdale,ect beat your beloved Giants often,you can learn to hate easily

Seriously,what a shame to see one of sports great franchises get into trouble. I guess this divorce battle has really been a doosy. I wonder how some of the old Brooklyn Dodger fans feel? Probably like I do,just a little.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Of course yesterday's news was that McCourt filed for bankruptcy. Still the clock is ticking til end of the month comes and payroll must be met.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/columns/story?id=6710721

As one writer wrote last week, " McCourt is only delaying the inevitable." Time for him to move on and let the spotlight be on the team, not McCourt!

The person I feel sorry for is Don Mattingly. He's a class act, unlike his boss; Mattingly deserves better as manager!

 

[Steve Williams]

Follow-up from Yahoo........


Bankruptcy filing is McCourt’s last stand

By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports

LOS ANGELES – At dawn Monday, hours after they’d sent their fans home from Dodger Stadium with a walkoff win, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced they were bankrupt, forced into it by Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig.

They are The Boys of Chapter 11, a once-glorious franchise and now collateral damage in standoffs between their owner Frank McCourt and the commissioner, between McCourt and his ex-wife Jamie, and, possibly, between a Delaware bankruptcy judge and baseball.

Following months of maneuvering in the wake of his divorce and weeks of bickering over proposed television rights funding with Selig, McCourt chambered and fired his last live round, just days before Selig was poised to seize the Dodgers.

The Dodgers filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which McCourt believes will allow him time to secure funding for his team while protecting his ownership against Major League Baseball’s advances.

McCourt also announced he’d “received a commitment” for another $150 million loan – debtor in possession financing taken outside the authority of baseball – that would allow him to pay his players and employees, run the day-to-day operations of the club and acquire more players.

Creditors listed in the filing include Manny Ramirez (nearly $21 million), who last played for the team in 2010, Andruw Jones ($11 million), the Chicago White Sox ($3.5 million), Continental Airlines ($339,000), the City of Los Angeles ($240,000) and Vin Scully ($153,000).

The filing listed club assets of as much as $1 billion against debt of up to $500 million. Forbes recently estimated the franchise was worth about $800 million.

LOS ANGELES – Moments after the Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy Monday morning, the team notified Major League Baseball’s in-house monitors – Tom Schieffer and John Allen – that they no longer had the authority to oversee the club’s day-to-day business operations.

As a result, neither Schieffer nor Allen reported to Dodger Stadium.

Rather than challenge the Dodgers, baseball officials advised Schieffer and Allen to wait until the outcome of Tuesday’s bankruptcy hearing before returning. Instead, both attended to Dodgers business from the offices of MLB’s Los Angeles-based law firm.

Citing deep concerns for the financial well-being of the Dodgers, commissioner Bud Selig took control of the team in April and appointed Schieffer as monitor. Allen joined him three weeks later.

It is unclear if Selig would continue to have monitors in place during the bankruptcy period.


In a court hearing Tuesday at 1:30 ET in Delaware, Dodgers attorneys are expected to cite the club’s need to fulfill its obligations to players, personnel and deferred payments. Major League Baseball attorneys are expected to challenge the Dodgers’ request in the hearing. Attorneys for Jamie McCourt are expected to argue the franchise – a marital asset – would be further devalued as a result of Frank’s bankruptcy filing.

While MLB officials read through the filing and pondered their response, McCourt issued a statement in which he accused Selig of cornering the Dodgers.

“He’s turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves today,” McCourt said. “I simply cannot allow the commissioner to knowingly and intentionally be in a position to expose the Dodgers to financial risk any longer.”

Jamie McCourt’s attorney, David Boies, countered with a statement that Monday’s filing was “disappointing and disturbing.”

“The rule or ruin philosophy that appears to have motivated today’s filing is bad for everyone who cares about, or has an interest in, the Dodgers,” Boies said.

Those close to Selig said McCourt’s strategy was not unexpected, and noted that the statement deftly lacked personal accountability in the fall of the Dodgers. By midafternoon, Selig released a statement that accused McCourt of inflicting “further harm to this historic franchise.”

A spokesperson for the players’ union said Monday that the union would continue to monitor the situation.

“We’re confident all player obligations, current and deferred, will be met,” the spokesperson said.

Meantime, McCourt continued to stump for a 17-year, near-$3 billion deal with Fox, which he has claimed would ease the club’s dramatic cash flow issues. Last week, Selig refused to approve the deal because a portion of it would be used to settle McCourt’s divorce and other past debts.

The Major League constitution allows Selig to terminate McCourt’s ownership because of the bankruptcy filing. The league would have to work within the rules of the court, however, and could be at the mercy of an extended process.

All of which leaves the city, and Dodgers fans, with a team 9½ games out of first place in the National League West and with an owner few seem to trust to do right by the organization. A sort of loose boycott seems to have bled into the L.A. subconscious, leaving Dodger Stadium half-empty on many nights.

“All of us want to see that team perform well,” said David Carter, executive director of USC Sports Business Institute. “But I think it’s going to be a long time before people push through those turnstiles thinking of anything else. They’ll think to themselves, ‘I just paid for a ticket. I wonder which attorney it’s going to.’ You know, you go to the ballpark to get away from this kind of acrimony.”

Even if McCourt’s latest strategy works, and if he is able to milk the Dodgers back to something like respectability, the memory of the past 18 months won’t dim quickly.

“Many fans view this as if Frank McCourt is messing around with something that is near and dear to them,” Carter said. It’s not the kind of thing they are easily going to forget. The Dodgers would all but have to go undefeated.”

 

[Ron Party]

I am holding a copy of the Complaint filed by Thomas V. Girardi, Esq., o/b/o Bryan Stow's two children. Named as defendants are, amongst others, about a dozen corporations, including, without limitation, Los Angeles Dodgers, LLC, Los Angeles Dodgers, Inc., McCourt LLC, and The McCourt Company, LLC. I don't yet know which entities filed for BK protection but to the extent any of the named defendants did file the filing operates as an automatic stay.

 

[Bruce B]

What do you expect? Did you see his wife's monthly expendetures? Give me a F***ing break..

 

[MylesBAstor]

Follow-up from Yahoo........


Bankruptcy filing is McCourt’s last stand

By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports

LOS ANGELES – At dawn Monday, hours after they’d sent their fans home from Dodger Stadium with a walkoff win, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced they were bankrupt, forced into it by Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig.

They are The Boys of Chapter 11, a once-glorious franchise and now collateral damage in standoffs between their owner Frank McCourt and the commissioner, between McCourt and his ex-wife Jamie, and, possibly, between a Delaware bankruptcy judge and baseball.

Following months of maneuvering in the wake of his divorce and weeks of bickering over proposed television rights funding with Selig, McCourt chambered and fired his last live round, just days before Selig was poised to seize the Dodgers.

The Dodgers filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which McCourt believes will allow him time to secure funding for his team while protecting his ownership against Major League Baseball’s advances.

McCourt also announced he’d “received a commitment” for another $150 million loan – debtor in possession financing taken outside the authority of baseball – that would allow him to pay his players and employees, run the day-to-day operations of the club and acquire more players.

Creditors listed in the filing include Manny Ramirez (nearly $21 million), who last played for the team in 2010, Andruw Jones ($11 million), the Chicago White Sox ($3.5 million), Continental Airlines ($339,000), the City of Los Angeles ($240,000) and Vin Scully ($153,000).

The filing listed club assets of as much as $1 billion against debt of up to $500 million. Forbes recently estimated the franchise was worth about $800 million.

LOS ANGELES – Moments after the Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy Monday morning, the team notified Major League Baseball’s in-house monitors – Tom Schieffer and John Allen – that they no longer had the authority to oversee the club’s day-to-day business operations.

As a result, neither Schieffer nor Allen reported to Dodger Stadium.

Rather than challenge the Dodgers, baseball officials advised Schieffer and Allen to wait until the outcome of Tuesday’s bankruptcy hearing before returning. Instead, both attended to Dodgers business from the offices of MLB’s Los Angeles-based law firm.

Citing deep concerns for the financial well-being of the Dodgers, commissioner Bud Selig took control of the team in April and appointed Schieffer as monitor. Allen joined him three weeks later.

It is unclear if Selig would continue to have monitors in place during the bankruptcy period.


In a court hearing Tuesday at 1:30 ET in Delaware, Dodgers attorneys are expected to cite the club’s need to fulfill its obligations to players, personnel and deferred payments. Major League Baseball attorneys are expected to challenge the Dodgers’ request in the hearing. Attorneys for Jamie McCourt are expected to argue the franchise – a marital asset – would be further devalued as a result of Frank’s bankruptcy filing.

While MLB officials read through the filing and pondered their response, McCourt issued a statement in which he accused Selig of cornering the Dodgers.

“He’s turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves today,” McCourt said. “I simply cannot allow the commissioner to knowingly and intentionally be in a position to expose the Dodgers to financial risk any longer.”

Jamie McCourt’s attorney, David Boies, countered with a statement that Monday’s filing was “disappointing and disturbing.”

“The rule or ruin philosophy that appears to have motivated today’s filing is bad for everyone who cares about, or has an interest in, the Dodgers,” Boies said.

Those close to Selig said McCourt’s strategy was not unexpected, and noted that the statement deftly lacked personal accountability in the fall of the Dodgers. By midafternoon, Selig released a statement that accused McCourt of inflicting “further harm to this historic franchise.”

A spokesperson for the players’ union said Monday that the union would continue to monitor the situation.

“We’re confident all player obligations, current and deferred, will be met,” the spokesperson said.

Meantime, McCourt continued to stump for a 17-year, near-$3 billion deal with Fox, which he has claimed would ease the club’s dramatic cash flow issues. Last week, Selig refused to approve the deal because a portion of it would be used to settle McCourt’s divorce and other past debts.

The Major League constitution allows Selig to terminate McCourt’s ownership because of the bankruptcy filing. The league would have to work within the rules of the court, however, and could be at the mercy of an extended process.

All of which leaves the city, and Dodgers fans, with a team 9½ games out of first place in the National League West and with an owner few seem to trust to do right by the organization. A sort of loose boycott seems to have bled into the L.A. subconscious, leaving Dodger Stadium half-empty on many nights.

“All of us want to see that team perform well,” said David Carter, executive director of USC Sports Business Institute. “But I think it’s going to be a long time before people push through those turnstiles thinking of anything else. They’ll think to themselves, ‘I just paid for a ticket. I wonder which attorney it’s going to.’ You know, you go to the ballpark to get away from this kind of acrimony.”

Even if McCourt’s latest strategy works, and if he is able to milk the Dodgers back to something like respectability, the memory of the past 18 months won’t dim quickly.

“Many fans view this as if Frank McCourt is messing around with something that is near and dear to them,” Carter said. It’s not the kind of thing they are easily going to forget. The Dodgers would all but have to go undefeated.”

It's beginning to sound quite a bit like the US/World vs the Iranian nuclear negotiators It's spite on McCourt's hehalf because if he loses the team, then the courts, not MLB, would decide the new ownership.

BTW, this "money" from this hedge fund I'm sure doesn't come without any strings attached. I'm sure they have some sort of arrangement going like Einhorn and Wilpon where if the Dodgers don't pay back the loan by a certain date, they [the hedge fund] takes ownership of the Dodgers. Plus the Dodgers are paying a hefty interest on the loan money. Tony would be proud!

 

[Steve Williams]

How does a real estate magnate from Boston get to buy the controlling interest of the Dodgers away from Rupert Murdoch and Fox News Group.

Does Fox still own a minority interest in the team

 

[Ron Party]

Fox is not a named defendant in the lawsuit.

 

[Steve Williams]

were any of the minority shareholders named and is Fox still a minority share holder

 

[MylesBAstor]

Be the first!

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/28/major-league-baseball-kills-the-only-fun-thing-about-the-dodgers-bankruptcy/related

 

[Ron Party]

It would be (exceptionally) rare to name shareholders.

 

[MylesBAstor]

More breaking Dodger news:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/28/report-mlb-likely-to-file-motion-to-seize-the-dodgers/related