Fox Sports Sues LA Dodgers
Written by playerpress.com, Sunday October 02 2011
Things are getting increasingly tougher for Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt as he tries to dig the MLB club out of bankruptcy. The League recently asked a bankruptcy court to allow the club to be sold in an auction and now it’s been reported that Fox Sports has sued the franchise.
The television network has a contract with the Dodgers to exclusively broadcast the team’s games until November 2012 and it doesn’t want McCourt to be allowed to sell right to the games to the highest bidder. McCourt recently asked the bankruptcy court to let him sell the TV rights as the first step in straightening out the franchises finances, which would enable him to hang onto the team.
Fox filed its suit on Sept. 27 and asked the court to block any attempted deal that doesn’t abide to the terms of the present contract. It’s also been reported that Fox is looking for unspecified damages in the suit as well because they claim McCourt has violated terms of their current deal by going public with some of the broadcast rights details, even though he was warned not to. But a spokeswoman for the team said the contract hasn’t been breached in any way.
McCourt says if he’s allowed to sell the rights via auction then the club will be back on its feet financially. He filed for bankruptcy back in June to try and keep MLB Commissioner Bud Selig from getting his hands on the dodgers by seizing them. Selig wants the team to be sold as soon as possible since said there’s no way for the Dodgers to sell its television rights.
There’s a hearing scheduled for Oct. 12 regarding the sale of the team, but the Dodgers have asked for that meeting to be delayed until Dec. 11. According to its current contract with McCourt, Fox has the right to match any broadcasting offer he receives. Fox and the Dodgers came to an agreement a few months ago over extending their deal, but Selig shot it down because some of the advance money was going to McCourt for personal use in his divorce settlement.
MLB lawyers said McCourt is destroying the franchise and he filed for bankruptcy as a way to solve his personal financial woes not the team’s. Dodgers’ lawyers said the league is being abusive and overstepping its powers by trying to force the sale of the club. They also say McCourt is cooperating with MLB as much as he can to solve the issue.
McCourt’s stuck between a rock and a hard place because he can’t get the team out of bankruptcy without a new broadcasting deal. However, Selig said he won’t approve any new contracts for the club and all deals would be dead on arrival.
The worst that could happen is the Dodgers being kicked out of the league, but that’s very doubtful. This new lawsuit Fox definitely makes things more complicated though.
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