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DODGERS' O'MALLEY SAYS SALE IS NEAR; FOX NAMED SUITOR

          Dodgers Owner Peter O'Malley tells T.J. Simers in an
     L.A. TIMES front-page feature that his team will be sold in
     the next two months.  Sources within the NFL said "signs
     point to a corporate deal with Fox Sports and Rupert Murdoch
     that could fetch" $400M for all the baseball properties that
     O'Malley owns (L.A. TIMES, 5/12).  NEWSDAY's Jon Heyman also
     reports that News Corp. and Fox TV are "close to completing
     a record-breaking deal to buy the marquee franchise" for at
     least $350M.  One source told Heyman the deal was "finalized
     late Saturday night," but another source said the deal could
     be completed in the next couple of weeks.  Heyman: "That
     source said the only possible holdup, which was not expected
     to stall the deal for long, involved O'Malley's emotional
     attachment to the team."  Another source added "there was a
     disagreement over the future role of Dodgers general manager
     Fred Claire. ... But that issue is not considered a major
     obstacle" (NEWSDAY, 5/12).  In L.A., Mike Downey, on reports
     of a possible sale to Murdoch: "Could be worse.  Could be
     Larry Flynt ... The best news is, it's Fox, not NBC ... at
     least we'll always know the score of the ballgame" (L.A.
     TIMES, 5/12).
          O'MALLEY'S DISAPPOINTMENT: In today's L.A. TIMES report
     by T.J. Simers, O'Malley talks at length on how the city's
     "rebuff of his plan to build a professional football
     facility next to Dodger Stadium was a tremendous setback
     that figured significantly" in his decision to sell the team
     on January 6.  O'Malley: "I must tell you I was extremely
     disappointed when we were asked to shelve our ideas."  
     Simers: "For months O'Malley had spent as much as 80% of his
     working days on football.  Associates said he had become
     enthralled with the NFL while tiring of baseball's labor
     problems and spiraling costs of doing business."  There was
     speculation that O'Malley would sell the Dodgers and look to
     bring football back to L.A., but "that now appears unlikely,
     if not impossible.  But there is still a strong feeling in
     NFL circles that the Dodger Stadium site will eventually
     house a football stadium--maybe even a dual-purpose stadium.
     ... That likelihood would increase, NFL sources said, if
     Murdoch buys the team because of his close relationship with
     the league" (L.A. TIMES, 5/12). 

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