From the moment they packed their bags and moved west in 1958, the Dodgers have been a beloved Los Angeles institution. In the fifty plus years they have been part of the community, the Dodgers have formed a strong bond with residents of the city and attained a following that is among the most loyal in all of sports.
In 2004, Boston real estate developer Frank McCourt and his wife, Jamie, purchased the club from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. in a highly leveraged deal valued at $430 million.
McCourt’s tenure as Dodgers owner has been fraught with problems from the moment he took over the team. Although they have had some success on the field (playoff appearances in 4 of the 7 years McCourt has been owner), there have nonetheless been numerous issues and decisions that have called into question his ability to successfully run the team.
Everything came to a head in October 2009, when McCourt filed for divorce from his wife. Documents and court testimony revealed that McCourt and his wife had been taking money from the Dodgers for personal use, including the purchase of side-by-side homes in Brentwood and Malibu.
As a result, McCourt and the Dodgers are now more than $400 million in debt, which has severely hampered the club’s ability to attract top players and make necessary improvements to a stadium that is now the third oldest in baseball.
On April 21, Major League Baseball took control of the Dodgers after it was reported that McCourt accepted a $30 million loan from FOX in order to cover payroll.
As a resident of Los Angeles and a lifelong fan, I am very interested in what will happen to a franchise that was once among the proudest and most respected in Major League Baseball.
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