Major League Baseball owners approved three groups bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium, with owner Frank McCourt hoping for a billion-plus sale price.
It’s been a couple of busy months for McCourt’s legal team, as he works to sell the Dodger assets before the end of the month. During the process several groups were eliminated from the bidding process, leaving three survivors:
- A group led by former Los Angeles Laker star Earvin “Magic” Johnson, backed by Chicago’s Guggenheim Partners.
- Stan Kroenke, already the owner of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.
- A group led by hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen — already an investor in the New York Mets — and Patrick Soon-Shiong.
The process is simple. Now that all three groups have been approved by three-quarters of MLB owners, they will move forward to a final auction round overseen by McCourt’s investment bankers, who will seek a deal that recoups their investments, provide $130 million for Jamie McCourt as part of the McCourt divorce settlement and leave something for McCourt to begin his next business life. McCourt has final say over the buyer, though Commissioner Bud Selig may be needed to approve any sale that increases debt on the team.
The sale may or may not include the land surrounding Dodger Stadium — one of the things that attracted the attention of developer McCourt in the first place. McCourt isn’t bound to sell the land, but he may be forced to by his creditors if bids for the team and ballpark don’t reach anticipated levels. Though there’s a lot of talk about $1.5 billion as a target sale price, that number isn’t written in stone, and the need for cash in the deal — eliminating the sort of leveraged purchase undertaken by McCourt in the first place — may end up driving down the sale price. Still, the Dodgers are a flagship franchise, and between ballpark rehabs and a new TV-rights contract on the horizon, there may be plenty of upside to be unlocked by new owners.
RELATED STORIES: The unimaginable emerges: The sale of naming rights to Dodger Stadium; Seven groups still in running for Dodgers; Dodgers sale complicated by McCourt decision to keep land surrounding Dodger Stadium; Torre quits MLB post to pursue Dodgers; O’Malley: I want to bring the Dodgers home; Dodgers lower season-ducat costs for 2012; Jamie to Frank: The Dodgers are yours; MLB to bankruptcy judge: Force McCourt to sell Dodgers or we’ll do it later; Weirdness bubbles to surface in Dodgers bankruptcy; Dodgers attendance woes could cost team $27 million; Judge: Dodgers must accept MLB loan; MLB: McCourt not acting in best interests of Dodgers; Dodgers: Selig was unfair toward us; McCourt files for bankruptcy on Dodgers, Dodger Stadium; Selig: No to proposed Fox/Dodgers TV deal; McCourts reach tentative divorce agreement, allowing Frank to keep Dodgers — maybe; Could McCourt lose Dodgers and keep Dodger Stadium?; Gloves are off for McCourt: Selig has no right seizing Dodgers; Schieffer new Dodgers monitor; McCourt response to Selig: strong words, no lawsuit; Selig seizes Dodgers from McCourt; Stow still in critical condition; No arrests at Dodger Stadium with new security system in place; Dodgers scrap half-price drink promotion; All quiet at AT&T Park last night; Security tight for tonight at AT&T Park Dodgers-Giants tilt; Dodgers up security; will it be enough?; Giants fan severely beaten in Dodger Stadium parking lot; suspects sought; Selig shoots down Fox loan to Dodgers; Messy McCourt divorce takes another turn
—-
Share your news with the baseball community. Send it to us at editors@augustpublications.com.
Are you a subscriber to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter? You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!
Follow Ballpark Digest on Google + and add us to your circles!