Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt "appears close to agreement with Major League Baseball on a bankruptcy settlement in which he would agree to sell the team," according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. TIMES. Sources yesterday said that McCourt "would get some control over the sale." The purchase "probably would include Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots in a package that could command a record price of $1 billion or more." Sources added that the "negotiations are fluid, and settlement talks could fall apart at any time." One source cautioned that McCourt "has not reached any final decision to sell." McCourt has "long vowed not to surrender the Dodgers," but analysts indicated that McCourt "now might be willing to sell for a simple reason: Even if he won in court, he could lose." Financial figures from the Dodgers' ongoing bankruptcy case indicate that McCourt "would be hard-pressed to sell the Dodgers' television rights, settle his divorce and be left with enough capital to renovate Dodger Stadium and restore the team to prominence" (L.A. TIMES, 11/1). In N.Y., Josh Kosman cites a source as saying that one way to "maximize value might be if MLB officials allowed a new owner to move the team out of Chavez Ravine -- the picturesque parcel of land that could be developed into a real-estate empire -- and build a new stadium in downtown Los Angeles" (N.Y. POST, 11/1). Meanwhile, the Dodgers in a monthly operating report filed yesterday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware said that the club and its related entities spent $6.8M in total bankruptcy-related expenses for the four months that ended Sept. 30. The sum is roughly equal to the $6.95M salary paid in '11 to Dodgers CF Matt Kemp (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION: An L.A. TIMES editorial is written under the header, "Frank McCourt's PR Strikeout: By Seeking To Cast Blame On Beating Victim Brian Stow, The Dodgers' Owner Shows Again His Tone Deafness On Public Relations." An attorney defending McCourt against a lawsuit brought by the family of Stow last week "raised the possibility that Stow might be held partly responsible for the beating that left him brain damaged." The editorial: "McCourt's lawyers will surely come out swinging at trial, but they should respect the injured plaintiff. One of McCourt's problems has been his consistent cluelessness about the public relations effects of his decision. Neither he nor Dodgers fans need to see his lawyers making a similar blunder" (L.A. TIMES, 11/1).
