http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/...s-dodgers-selling-team-magic-johnson-group-2b " A group that includes former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson and longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten agreed Tuesday night to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt for $2 billion. Mark Walter, chief executive officer of the financial services firm Guggenheim Partners, would become the controlling owner. The price would shatter the record for a North American sports franchise, topping the $1.1 billion Stephen Ross paid for the NFL's Miami Dolphins in 2009. The deal, revealed about five hours after Major League Baseball owners approved three finalists for an intended auction, is one of several steps toward a sale of the team by the end of April. It is subject to approval in federal bankruptcy court. As part of the agreement, the Dodgers said McCourt and "certain affiliates of the purchasers" would acquire the land surrounding Dodger Stadium, including its parking lots, for $150 million. A source with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Tony Jackson that means the group will purchase half the Dodger Stadium parking lots, which were deemed to have a total value of $300 million, with McCourt keeping the other half. The source said it has yet to be determined how that relationship will work and whether the new ownership group still will be forced to lease the McCourt-owned half of the lots. The acquiring group, called Guggenheim Baseball Management, has several other investors, among them Mandalay Entertainment chief executive Peter Guber. "This agreement with Guggenheim reflects both the strength and future potential of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and assures that the Dodgers will have new ownership with deep local roots, which bodes well for the Dodgers, its fans and the Los Angeles community," McCourt said. McCourt paid $430 million in 2004 to buy the team, Dodger Stadium and 250 acres of land that include the parking lots, from the Fox division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., a sale that left the team with about $50 million in cash at the time. The team's debt stood at $579 million as of January, according to a court filing, so McCourt stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars even after a $131 million divorce payment to former wife Jamie, taxes and legal and banking fees. Kasten is expected to wind up as the team's top day-to-day executive."
Fantastic news. I've always been a Magic Johnson fan, we're finally done with the McCourt saga, they can afford to keep the team together (and pay the players), and we have Stan Kasten running things. Sounds good to me. :up:
great news for the dodgers. i wonder if the mlb will eventually meddle with the mets ownership situation.
it will be interesting to see how this pans out after the excitement dies down. on one hand, it reveals the group has long term interests in owning the Dodgers, because they aren't going to be making much money in the short term. which means that for a long time they will essentially be recouping that investment and will not have the cash to just throw at players.
I read that they can sell the TV rights after this season and that will give them a pretty decent pay-day. Not sure of the detail/accuracy of that report as I don't follow them that closely.
Yes, it's all about the TV rights and that will be a huge windfall. Same is true for the Yankees in a couple of years and they are estimating in the Dodgers went for 2 billion the Yankees might be worth 3 -3 1/2 now.
Geez Don, can you ever think outside the realm of the Yankees? This thread is about the Dodgers. Same is true for every team when their contract is up and their rights go out on the open market. Let the Dodgers have their moment. :lol:
When McCourt bought the team, I want to say it was around 2002 or 2003, around the time the Yankees came out with YES. He didn't have enough money so he borrowed most of it from FOX, from whom he bought the team, and therefore wasn't able to have much flexibility with the TV rights or create a Dodgers network. A new group throwing $2 billion ought to have solved that issue, so when whatever contract is up they could do any number of things. There is certainly enough programming to fill a YES-style Dodger network, with all the historical archives from the Dodgers themselves and other teams in LA during the off season. It's the #2 media market in the country, so I'd think there is a good deal of money to eventually be made that way, not to mention ownership of the grounds at Chavez Ravine, a short hop from downtown LA.
there is certainly plenty of money to be made, but how much of that will go back into the team and players with the amount of money they are investing into the team? to use the Yankee analogy, that team was bought for what, $3 million in the 70's? that is why the Yanks can spend so much on players, because the Yes network is just a windfall of cash that is free to use on players. a Dodgers network will undoubtedly make Yes network type of money, but that won't equate to the team having that amount of money to reinvest into the team on the field because it will have to go into the organization.
I'm no Dodger fan, but I'm excited for this team's future now http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/...ohnson-los-angeles-dodgers-lower-cost-parking
