Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Dodgers' Own TV Station Is Suing Them

From "Fox Sports sues Dodgers in effort to stop television rights sale" by Bill Shaikin at the LA Times:

Fox Sports sued the Dodgers on Tuesday, trying to halt the proposed television rights sale that Frank McCourt says is his key to emerging from bankruptcy as the team owner.

McCourt's strategy now faces at least two significant obstacles — from Fox, which claims the Dodgers have breached their current cable contract, and from Major League Baseball, which has vowed not to approve any television deal that would leave McCourt in control of the Dodgers. [...]

The Fox suit, filed in Bankruptcy Court, asks that the judge reject any proposed sale of the Dodgers' television rights that does not abide by the terms of the current contract.

Under that deal, Fox retains exclusive negotiating rights through November 2012, as well as the right to match any other offer. The auction process proposed by McCourt and his advisers would not preserve those rights.

The suit also seeks unspecified damages, claiming that the Dodgers already have violated the current Fox contract in part by sharing confidential broadcast rights information — "even after direct and explicit warnings," the suit alleges.

How does Frank McCourt sleep at night? The whole goddamn west coast wants to ship his sorry ass back to Boston. Even if he manages to hold on to the team, how can he possibly repair all the relationships he's screwed up?

11 comments:

QuadSevens said...

I don't see how McCourt can weasel his way out of this one. If Fox Sports' lawsuit helps get him out of town, I'll be a fan for life.

Nostradamus said...

I remain firm in my opinion that Frank should get hit by a Buick.

Greg Hao said...

I remain firm in my opinion that Mr. C should run Frank over in a Buick.

Greg Hao said...

For real though, why is this surprising to anybody? Bankruptcies, when it involves tearing up existing contracts, especially those in the tens of millions of dollars (that have been pre-paid), would obviously involve many contested parties.

This is McCourt's track record. He was in court for what, about 20 years for his parking lot in Boston. And that shit was only worth around $150MM! The Dodgers are what? Eight to ten times that amount?

Nostradamus said...

Not surprised, just amused that Fox and Frank are now fighting it out, considering what a hard-on they had to get him here in the first place.

I would hit Frank myself, but my mid-sized Japanese car lacks gravitas.

Greg Hao said...

I'll rent that buick! With QuadSevens' credit card ;)

It's like the saying goes, "we're friends until we're no longer friends."

Okay, maybe I made that shit up, but the point is, Fox seeks to win at every turn. First, they exploited the fact that McCourt was not a strong buyer to leverage him into a weak TV deal for the Dodgers. Then in order to make sure that McCourt stays in place, they loaned him money, first through the Dodgers then a personal loan to him.

Since McCourt dropped the bomb, Fox obviously has to go their own way.

Nostradamus said...

I can grasp the motivation, but that doesn't detract from my joy of watching two evil overlords go "spy-vs-spy" on each other.

I look for the silver lining, ya know?

Neeebs (The Original) said...

Frank as the Black Spy? Fox as the White Spy?

I can't get my head wrapped around that.

Steve Sax said...

Frank as Alfred E Neuman

Nostradamus said...

I knew that was a Neeebs-trap when I set it.

Neeebs (The Original) said...

And I KNEW you knew it was a Neeebs trap.

cc: Book on European monarchies.