NATIONAL LEAGUE
A bankruptcy judge on Tuesday granted a motion to allow the Los Angeles Dodgers to operate under bankruptcy protection after Major League Baseball (MLB) made its legal objection to the filing.
The Dodgers will have a US$150 million bankruptcy finance deal in place on an interim basis until a July 20 hearing, judge Kevin Gross ruled.
That allows the club to continue paying players, employees, vendors and service providers and meet insurance and tax obligations in what promises to be a unique bankruptcy fight.
“I haven’t seen a wage motion quite like this one,” Gross said of a 44-page motion by the Dodgers to approve continued payouts to team employees and players, many of them prospects in developmental leagues.
The agreement allows the lenders to escape the deal for a variety of sums ranging from US$4.5 million to US$250,000 and removes deadlines for the club to sell broadcast rights, a major issue of contention with the league.
The Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy move came after MLB commissioner Bud Selig refused to approve a US$3 billion television contract rights deal with Fox that Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, in the midst of a divorce settlement fight, planned to use to ease the club’s financial woes.
Selig said he was acting to protect more than US$100 million of team assets from being siphoned off by McCourt for personal gain by nixing the TV deal as well as by making a formal objection to the team’s bankruptcy filing.
McCourt said the team was thrown into the liquidity crisis when Selig scuttled the deal and accused the commissioner of trying to exercise too great a control over the club.
“It’s a foregone conclusion that a loan is going to be approved,” Dodgers attorney Bruce Bennett said. “We have to decide which one and on what terms.”
Selig said the league offices can provide better loan terms than McCourt’s lenders are offering and said future TV rights would be worth more than what McCourt is selling them for now to handle his debts.
The Dodgers also face a challenge from Jamie McCourt, who is fighting in a California court for half of her ex-husband’s assets, which could include a half-interest in the National League ballclub.
At 36-44, the Dodgers are nine games behind NL West division leader and reigning World Series champion San Francisco.
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