Padres Vice Chair & CEO Jeff Moorad said today he is withdrawing his application to MLB to gain designated control status of the team from Chair John Moores. The move, Moorad said, was done to "expedite MLB approval of the club's TV broadcasting agreement." The Padres also have before MLB a proposed 20-year local TV deal with FSN reportedly worth $1B. Moorad had wanted to complete an estimated $530M acquisition of the club from Moores since early January, but a scheduled vote on the deal was tabled at league quarterly meetings in January due to what MLB Commissioner Bud Selig described as "economic concerns." Moorad will remain in his current position with the Padres, and work on the equity deal will resume after the TV agreement is completed. "With Opening Day less than one month away, John Moores and I believe our top priority is to ensure that Padres fans will be able to watch broadcasts of what we believe is an exciting baseball team," Moorad said in a statement. "I remain fully committed to the San Diego Padres and our fans." Moorad signed a deal with Moores in early '09 to buy the club over a five-year period, and the proposed transfer would have represented a significant acceleration of the original staged timetable. Responded Selig in a statement, "I am pleased that John and Jeff are working on ensuring that the club's games will be televised this season and beyond, and I know they are acting in the best interests of baseball, the franchise and the great fans of San Diego."
