Frank McCourt agrees to sell Dodgers

[ellisonz]

Source: LA Times

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Frank McCourt agrees to sell Dodgers
November 1, 2011 | 9:45 pm

Frank McCourt agreed Tuesday to sell the Dodgers, abruptly surrendering the team after fighting to retain it over two years and in two courts.

McCourt and Major League Baseball have agreed to seek approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for an auction of the Dodgers. The sale is expected to include the team, Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots, a package bought by McCourt for $421 million in 2004 and likely to sell for two to three times as much now.

The league hopes a new Dodgers owner can be in place by opening day.

The new owner would be the third since Peter O'Malley sold the team to News Corp. in 1998. The Dodgers had remained in the O'Malley family since its patriarch, Walter, moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2011/11/mccourt-agrees-to-sell-dodgers.html

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Buh Bye McCourts for good!

[Tiggeroshii]

1. I really hope he sells at a loss..

It kinda saddens me they got him to agree. I really wanted the trial to take off and eventually unveil some of the crimes he's clearly committed. It'll piss me off so bad if he gets a billion dollars out of it.

[ellisonz]

2. He wont get much.

The Dodgers' most recent financial disclosure statements in Bankruptcy Court showed their parent company had $483 million in debt as of June 30, according to an analysis by Raman Sain of Holthouse, Carlin & Van Trigt, the largest independent accounting firm based in Southern California.

In a June letter, Commissioner Bud Selig wrote to McCourt: "As best we can tell, you and your affiliated entities are currently responsible for over $550 million in debt."

Baseball currently believes the total long-term debts for all McCourt entities funded by Dodgers revenue to be close to $600 million — not including the $150-million bankruptcy loan, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly.

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In case of a sale, McCourt would have to pay off taxes as well as debts. In July, McCourt told the divorce court that "a sale would result in … the incurrence of between $80 million and $200 million in tax liabilities."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-1014-dodgers-value-20111014,0,2737397.story

He also owes his wife a $130 million divorce settlement. At most he might get $100 million out of it and he's so already leveraged that won't go far.

[Tiggeroshii]

3. I don't think anybody should buy it for more than half billion...

Then he'll definitely be at a loss and I'll be happy. I really loathe that man.

[ellisonz]

4. I think at most they'll sell for about $800 million.

The TV market is worth quite a bit. Plus the Dodgers until this year were one of the leading clubs in ticket and merchandise sells.

[Tiggeroshii]

8. Well the Dodger's owe money for the Fox deal, don't they?

Isn't that deal entirely a loan in order to keep McCourt out of the hole? I feel like that'll definitely be a downside to any deal.

[ellisonz]

9. Yep.

That's part of the $600 million in debts in the above figure.

[Tiggeroshii]

10. Right right...

Well I guess we'll see what happens. I guess what I want more than for McCourt to lose out on this, would be for the new owner to be responsible, and actually invest in the team -rather than make it his own personal bitch-bank.

[ellisonz]

11. I'm hoping for a Mark Cuban led coalition.

Cuban is a sports fan and would try to do right by Los Angeles. I don't trust many of the other names that have been brought up such as Eli Broad or Phillip Anschutz.

THINK BLUE!

[abelenkpe]

5. Wouldn't it reflect the current economy if he sold for a loss? Nt

[TomCADem]

6. Its about time...

...as he ran the Dodgers into the ground, he was living large. Of course, when a fan died in a stadium parking lot fight, he insisted that the bankruptcy had no impact on Stadium security.

[LeftyMom]

7. He didn't die, he was recently transferred to a rehab facility.

[sarcasmo]

12. The Dodger players will be happy when the team is sold. The payroll will be made in 2012