The Dodgers have a tentative agreement with MLB in which they would "retain more than $6 billion" out of their 25-year rights deal with Time Warner Cable, according to sources cited by Bill Shaikin of the L.A. TIMES. The settlement would "avert a showdown between the Dodgers and MLB in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and would effectively end the court's jurisdiction over the Dodgers' affairs." A source said that the settlement also would indicate that the overall value of the of the Dodgers' contract with TWC is "at about $8.5 billion." The Dodgers' current contract with Fox Sports "expires after this season." Fox "pays the Dodgers $39 million this season, with the team forwarding $13 million to an MLB revenue-sharing pool." The league under terms of a court settlement between MLB and former Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt agreed that $84M would "represent fair-market value for the first year of a new television deal, with the usual 34% assessment for revenue sharing." The league under the tentative settlement would "agree that about $130 million represents fair-market value for the first year of the deal; the Dodgers would pay 34% -- about $44 million -- into the revenue-sharing pool." Those figures would "rise every year" (L.A. TIMES, 6/14).
