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Dodgers file for BK protection
larryallen73
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I hate Frank McCourt!
Dodgers file for bankruptcy protection in Delaware
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By ROBERT JABLON
Associated Press
Published: Monday, Jun. 27, 2011 - 6:29 am
Last Modified: Monday, Jun. 27, 2011 - 7:04 am
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming the refusal of Major League Baseball to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled team afloat.
The Chapter 11 financing permits the Dodgers to use $150 million for daily operations and buys time for the team to seek a media deal, the team said in a news release.
"There will be no disruption to the Dodgers day-to-day business, the baseball team, or to the Dodger fans," the statement said.
Bankruptcy protection will provide the Dodgers with a process to address its immediate financing requirements and obtain the capital necessary to ensure the baseball franchise's long-term financial stability, the team said.
McCourt said the Dodgers have tried for almost a year to get Selig to approve the Fox transaction. The deal would have provided him with $385 million up front and was vital to a binding settlement reached between him and his ex-wife and former Dodger CEO Jamie McCourt last week. McCourt now faces the potential of missing a June 30 team payroll without the TV funds and that could lead to a MLB takeover.
The McCourts have been embroiled in a contentious divorce where their lavish spending habits were detailed in court documents. The former couple took out more than $100 million in loans from Dodger-related businesses, records show.
In April, MLB took the extraordinary step of assuming control of the troubled franchise. Former Texas Rangers President Tom Schieffer was appointed to monitor the team on behalf of Selig, who said he took the action because he was concerned about the team's finances and how the Dodgers are being run.
McCourt has maintained he met the criteria set forth by baseball officials in order for the TV contract to be approved and would amend the conditions if need be. The Dodgers' current TV deal with Fox expires in 2013.
The divorce settlement, now voided because of Selig's decision, called for a one-day "characterization" trial Aug. 4 to determine if title to the Dodgers is in Frank McCourt's name or if the team should be considered community property and sold. Sacks said the trial may be shelved and Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon could decide how to handle the former couple's assets at a later date.
Gordon ruled in December that a postnuptial marital agreement that gave Frank McCourt sole ownership of the Dodgers was invalid. That cleared the way for Jamie McCourt, who served as the team's CEO and was fired by her ex-husband two years ago, to seek half the team under California's community property law.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/27/3730110/la-dodgers-file-bankruptcy-protection.html#ixzz1QUHh9WQM
Dodgers file for bankruptcy protection in Delaware
Share
By ROBERT JABLON
Associated Press
Published: Monday, Jun. 27, 2011 - 6:29 am
Last Modified: Monday, Jun. 27, 2011 - 7:04 am
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming the refusal of Major League Baseball to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled team afloat.
The Chapter 11 financing permits the Dodgers to use $150 million for daily operations and buys time for the team to seek a media deal, the team said in a news release.
"There will be no disruption to the Dodgers day-to-day business, the baseball team, or to the Dodger fans," the statement said.
Bankruptcy protection will provide the Dodgers with a process to address its immediate financing requirements and obtain the capital necessary to ensure the baseball franchise's long-term financial stability, the team said.
McCourt said the Dodgers have tried for almost a year to get Selig to approve the Fox transaction. The deal would have provided him with $385 million up front and was vital to a binding settlement reached between him and his ex-wife and former Dodger CEO Jamie McCourt last week. McCourt now faces the potential of missing a June 30 team payroll without the TV funds and that could lead to a MLB takeover.
The McCourts have been embroiled in a contentious divorce where their lavish spending habits were detailed in court documents. The former couple took out more than $100 million in loans from Dodger-related businesses, records show.
In April, MLB took the extraordinary step of assuming control of the troubled franchise. Former Texas Rangers President Tom Schieffer was appointed to monitor the team on behalf of Selig, who said he took the action because he was concerned about the team's finances and how the Dodgers are being run.
McCourt has maintained he met the criteria set forth by baseball officials in order for the TV contract to be approved and would amend the conditions if need be. The Dodgers' current TV deal with Fox expires in 2013.
The divorce settlement, now voided because of Selig's decision, called for a one-day "characterization" trial Aug. 4 to determine if title to the Dodgers is in Frank McCourt's name or if the team should be considered community property and sold. Sacks said the trial may be shelved and Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon could decide how to handle the former couple's assets at a later date.
Gordon ruled in December that a postnuptial marital agreement that gave Frank McCourt sole ownership of the Dodgers was invalid. That cleared the way for Jamie McCourt, who served as the team's CEO and was fired by her ex-husband two years ago, to seek half the team under California's community property law.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/27/3730110/la-dodgers-file-bankruptcy-protection.html#ixzz1QUHh9WQM
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Bankruptcy filing is McCourt’s last stand By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports 6/27/2011
LOS ANGELES – At dawn Monday, hours after they’d sent their fans home from Dodger Stadium with a walkoff win, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced they were bankrupt, forced into it by Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig.
They are The Boys of Chapter 11, a once-glorious franchise and now collateral damage in standoffs between their owner Frank McCourt and the commissioner, between McCourt and his ex-wife Jamie, and, possibly, between a Delaware bankruptcy judge and baseball.
Following months of maneuvering in the wake of his divorce and weeks of bickering over proposed television rights funding with Selig, McCourt chambered and fired his last live round, just days before Selig was poised to seize the Dodgers.
The Dodgers filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which McCourt believes will allow him time to secure funding for his team while protecting his ownership against Major League Baseball’s advances.
McCourt also announced he’d “received a commitment” for another $150 million loan – debtor in possession financing taken outside the authority of baseball – that would allow him to pay his players and employees, run the day-to-day operations of the club and acquire more players.
Creditors listed in the filing include Manny Ramirez (nearly $21 million), who last played for the team in 2010, Andruw Jones ($11 million), the Chicago White Sox ($3.5 million), Continental Airlines ($339,000), the City of Los Angeles ($240,000) and Vin Scully ($153,000).
The filing listed club assets of as much as $1 billion against debt of up to $500 million. Forbes recently estimated the franchise was worth about $800 million.
In a court hearing Tuesday at 1:30 ET in Delaware, Dodgers attorneys are expected to cite the club’s need to fulfill its obligations to players, personnel and deferred payments. Major League Baseball attorneys are expected to challenge the Dodgers’ request in the hearing. Attorneys for Jamie McCourt are expected to argue the franchise – a marital asset – would be further devalued as a result of Frank’s bankruptcy filing.
While MLB officials read through the filing and pondered their response, McCourt issued a statement in which he accused Selig of cornering the Dodgers.
“He’s turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves today,” McCourt said. “I simply cannot allow the commissioner to knowingly and intentionally be in a position to expose the Dodgers to financial risk any longer.”
Jamie McCourt’s attorney, David Boies, countered with a statement that Monday’s filing was “disappointing and disturbing.”
“The rule or ruin philosophy that appears to have motivated today’s filing is bad for everyone who cares about, or has an interest in, the Dodgers,” Boies said.
Those close to Selig said McCourt’s strategy was not unexpected, and noted that the statement deftly lacked personal accountability in the fall of the Dodgers. By mid afternoon, Selig released a statement that accused McCourt of inflicting “further harm to this historic franchise.”
A spokesperson for the players’ union said Monday that the union would continue to monitor the situation.
“We’re confident all player obligations, current and deferred, will be met,” the spokesperson said.
Meantime, McCourt continued to stump for a 17-year, near-$3 billion deal with Fox, which he has claimed would ease the club’s dramatic cash flow issues. Last week, Selig refused to approve the deal because a portion of it would be used to settle McCourt’s divorce and other past debts.
The Major League constitution allows Selig to terminate McCourt’s ownership because of the bankruptcy filing. The league would have to work within the rules of the court, however, and could be at the mercy of an extended process.
All of which leaves the city, and Dodgers fans, with a team 9½ games out of first place in the National League West and with an owner few seem to trust to do right by the organization. A sort of loose boycott seems to have bled into the L.A. subconscious, leaving Dodger Stadium half-empty on many nights.
"All of us want to see that team perform well,” said David Carter, executive director of USC Sports Business Institute. But I think it’s going to be a long time before people push through those turnstiles thinking of anything else. They’ll think to themselves, ‘I just paid for a ticket. I wonder which attorney it’s going to.’ You know, you go to the ballpark to get away from this kind of acrimony.”
Even if McCourt’s latest strategy works, and if he is able to milk the Dodgers back to something like respectability, the memory of the past 18 months won’t dim quickly.
“Many fans view this as if Frank McCourt is messing around with something that is near and dear to them,” Carter said. It’s not the kind of thing they are easily going to forget. The Dodgers would all but have to go undefeated.”
Frank McCourt watches the Dodgers face the Padres
on April 29 from his seat at Dodger Stadium. (Getty Images)
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Smokestack Lightning (Live) 1968
Quicksilver Messenger Service - The Hat (Live) 1971
Maybe a name change from the "LA Dodgers" to the "LA Debtors" would be in order.
Of course, I am sure that SF Giants fans everywhere are quite content seeing their biggest rival having a rough go if it.
I was speaking to a couple of friends today who are Giant's fans and it was really the opposite. Possibly a little for my benefit but they agreed it's really an embarrasement for all of baseball to have one of it's historic franchises in BK. I tend to agree. I know I wouldn't be hating on the Giant's if they were in this position. Frank McCourt is an idiot who should have been smart enough to know he was living well beyond his means. It's really pathetic.
Ron
"Creditors listed in the filing include Manny Ramirez (nearly $21 million), who last played for the team in 2010, Andruw Jones ($11 million), the Chicago White Sox ($3.5 million), Continental Airlines ($339,000), the City of Los Angeles ($240,000) and Vin Scully ($153,000)."
IMO, the Dodgers are doomed as long as McCourt hangs on to ownership! This guy has demonstrated he has little respect for baseball by letting his personal life take over and trash the Dodgers.
Dodger Blue can return, but without McCourt!
rd
P.S. McCourt, you owe Vin Scully $153,000, shame on you!
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Smokestack Lightning (Live) 1968
Quicksilver Messenger Service - The Hat (Live) 1971
+1
Even the less mature Giant's fans can probably agree to Vin Scully's greatness and this is just against the grain of baseball to screw with Vinny! I could care less if Manny gets his money but Vinny better get paid in full!
<< <i>Of course, I am sure that SF Giants fans everywhere are quite content seeing their biggest rival having a rough go if it.
I was speaking to a couple of friends today who are Giant's fans and it was really the opposite. Possibly a little for my benefit but they agreed it's really an embarrasement for all of baseball to have one of it's historic franchises in BK. I tend to agree. I know I wouldn't be hating on the Giant's if they were in this position. Frank McCourt is an idiot who should have been smart enough to know he was living well beyond his means. It's really pathetic. >>
While I won't shed any tears for the Dodgers, I still think it's a shame that their misfortune has come from a d-bag owner who doesn't seem to know the difference between the game of baseball and packing cars in parking lots.
How in the heck do they still owe money to guys like Marquis Grissom and Kaz Ishii?
WTB: 2001 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity: Ryan Jensen #/25
Not to turn this into a political discussion, but it's not any different from what our government is doing (and has been doing for years).... they just kick the can down the road by deferring everything they possibly can (like the US borrowing/printing trillions), spend willy-nilly on things that have no positive impact on the team (or economy), hoping that it somehow resolves itself in the future. Unfortunately, there comes a point where the road ends and you fall off a cliff. McCourt is at the cliff now, and our country isn't far behind.