“Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt and Fox TV Rights Battle”
According to Bill Shakin of the Los Angeles Times, states “The Dodgers believe sale of TV Rights now could lead to higher bids for the team. Fox which holds Dodgers television, deal through 2013 has sued to uphold exclusive negotiating rights.” At first McCourt had doubts about selling the Dodgers Empire because he said that he wanted to give it to his son, but because of the amount of money he has to pay in his divorce settlement, he has decided to continue on with the process of filing bankruptcy, and make good faith on his obligations. In November, McCourt proceeded with the bankruptcy due to the high settlement amount that he must pay his ex-wife Jamie McCourt in their divorce settlement, she has been awarded $131 million and he must pay by April 30, 2012. The battle is currently with Fox because they have a contract that upholds “exclusive negotiation rights” until 2013 when their contract expires. Dodger and McCourt’s want to sell the rights now, along with his other Dodger related investments. He feels that since the television rights are a part of the 3 connected investments: The Dodger’s team and the Dodger Stadium would be one deal, the parking lots surrounding the stadium is the second deal, and the television rights would be the third deal. The issue is that if future pricing is not included in the bidding of the sale, than the new owner will be able to negotiate a new deal on the rights in a year and it could exceed the price that he or she have to pay now. According to Shakin, in June the Commissioner of baseball Bud Selig rejected a proposed contract between the Dodgers and Fox, in which McCourt valued at 3 billion and that amount will most likely be the starting bid between Time Warner and Fox in 2013. In my opinion, I totally understand McCourt’s concerns of wanting to make sure the value of all his investments are priced accordingly before potential buyers of the Dodgers take place. But I also understand Foxes claim against not wanting to start any type of negotiation before their rights expire. Because McCourt is having to sell the entire package anyway, they feel they don’t owe him any favors. Furthermore, the only logical answer to this negotiation issue is for the courts to decide, and I feel that it would be fair to use the June’s proposal amount of $3B as the future value of the television rights that Fox holds currently and it should be used in the sale of the Dodgers 3 package deal that must be completed by April 30 2012.
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