A bankruptcy judge will determine the imminent broadcast homes of the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Rangers and Twins, as bankruptcy-mired Diamond Sports Group attempts to retain broadcast rights to the four MLB teams while not making full rights payments. (more…)
Not much attention has been paid to this: a federal lawsuit is challenging Major League Baseball’s management of media rights — and it all hinges on a modern interpretation of MLB’s famed anti-trust exemption. The class-action lawsuit is simple: a group of fans argue that they’re being denied access to games because of MLB’s blackout […]
Tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of the 1994 players’ strike, and since then MLB went from seriously bad times in 1995 to a huge spike in revenues, attendance and public awareness. Here’s how it happened. Irving Rein, Ben Shields and Adam Grossman lay out a pretty compelling timeline of how MLB owners regrouped after the […]
It’s coming down to the wire, as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Sports are coming down to the wire on a 20-year media-rights deal that will yield the team between $6 billion and $7 billion. In many ways, it’s not a surprise — we reported on a deal of this size way back in […]
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox already informally discussed a new rights deal that calls for joint ownership of cable channels, with formal talks scheduled for October 15 and beyond. The talks gave the Dodgers a baseline for what to expect in a new deal, as the team’s front office decided to run the Dodgers […]
With the exclusive-bargaining window closed for its current media partners, Major League Baseball is reportedly fielding an offer from NBC Sports to join the broadcasting fold. Right now there are three MLB broadcast partners: Fox, paying $257.1 million for Saturday, All-Star and World Series games; ESPN, paying $306 million for Sunday night games; and Turner, […]
Absent any major opposition from MLB and Fox Sports — save some minor requests for clarification — the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium should be approved on Friday. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross is scheduled to review the final disposition of the sale of the team, the ballpark and associated assets […]
Perhaps sensing this is the best way to get some cash out of her divorce to Frank McCourt, Jamie McCourt has agreed to let him keep the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium as part of a settlement and will support his effort to sell the team’s media rights. The McCourts have been embroiled in […]
In a bankruptcy-court filing, Major League Baseball has asked the Delaware judge overseeing matters to force Frank McCourt to sell the Los Angeles Dodgers and related assets — or else MLB will seize the team post-bankruptcy. “Mr. McCourt cannot hide the Dodgers in bankruptcy forever,” the filing read. The Los Angeles Times reported on the […]
Frank McCourt has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dodger Stadium and three related holding companies in an attempt to keep control of the team in the face of a potential takeover from Major League Baseball. Chapter 11 bankruptcy provides corporations protection as they attempt to restructure their […]
