Monday, June 20, 2011

Selig Cites Detrimental "Diversion Of Assets" In Rejection Of Fox Deal

From the ESPN.com article this afternoon (bold emphasis mine, all mine! bwah ha ha):

Just days after Frank and Jamie McCourt agreed on a divorce settlement, Major League Baseball rejected a proposed television contract for the Los Angeles Dodgers that was a lynchpin of the deal.

The TV deal has been reported to be worth $3 billion and Frank McCourt would receive $385 million upfront. That money was critical to the financial health of the Dodgers. MLB's action nullifies the divorce settlement, sending the McCourts back to the drawing table and thrusts the Dodgers into limbo.

MLB issued a statement explaining the decision.

"This decision was reached after a full and careful consideration of the terms of the proposed transaction and the club's current circumstances," commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "It is my conclusion that this proposed transaction with FOX would not be in the best interests of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, the game of Baseball and the millions of loyal fans of this historic club."

MLB had taken control of the troubled franchise and was investigating the team's finances. Selig said he would not make a decision on the TV deal until that process was complete. But Selig indicated in Monday's statement that the terms of the divorce settlement in which a large chunk of the Fox up-front money would not go to the Dodgers led to his decision.

"Critically, the transaction is structured to facilitate the further diversion of Dodgers assets for the personal needs of Mr. McCourt," Selig said. "Given the magnitude of the transaction, such a diversion of assets would have the effect of mortgaging the future of the franchise to the long-term detriment of the club and its fans." [...]

"As I have said before, we owe it to the legion of loyal Dodger fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future," Selig said. "This transaction would not accomplish these goals."

Couldn't have said it better myself, Bud. This makes that June 30 payroll due date loom even larger. Your move, Frank.

5 comments:

Jen said...

Best. News. Ever.

Also: SUCK IT, McCOURT

dsheridan88 said...

Well, Bud could have said,
"Yeah, unlike now when Dodger fans are so important to me, I didn't owe anyone anything in 2004 when the Dodgers were coming off of horrendous mismanagement by Fox. No, back then I let Fox "force Frank McCourt on MLB". Then, when the date came for the TV deal I knew he needed BACK THEN, it was easy to cite HIS mismanagement, shielded by an embarassing divorce from being revealed as the true culprit. Kind of like I was so shocked and outraged that Alex Rodriguez ever did steroids. This leadership stuff is really pretty easy."

Nostradamus said...

The dissonance between Jen's avatar and the suck-it-McCourt sentiment makes me giggle.

Steve Sax said...

The dissonance between Mr. Customer and the thought of him giggling makes me giggle.

Jen said...

Mr Customer, I get that a lot.