McCourt ran into financial problems when his marriage to Jamie McCourt, who is the club’s former president, started to disintegrate. He eventually filed for bankruptcy and ended up in court with MLB over the ownership. McCourt wanted to sell the team’s media rights to Fox broadcasting as a way to dig his way out of bankruptcy, but MLB wouldn’t agree to it. The league then asked a judge to order the franchise be sold and accused McCourt of using close to $200 million of Dodgers money for his personal use.
McCourt came to the decision that selling the club would be the best solution for all concerned and he emailed all of the team’s employees to let them know. It seems his $130 million settlement with his ex-wife might have had something to do with it. Before the settlement Jamie McCourt argued that she owned half of the franchise. The couple originally paid $421 million for the team back in 2004 when they bought it from Fox. It’s now believed the franchise may be worth as much as $1 billion.
Many Dodgers fans might be glad at the announcement since McCourt was basically a Boston real estate developer who didn’t really know much about baseball. When he first took over he got rid of some personnel and several people quit the team due to the way he started to run the club. General manager Dan Evans was let go and replaced by Paul DePodesta and McCourt’s wife was named as the Dodgers’ president.
The team made the playoffs four times in eight seasons under McCourt’s ownership and won the National League West Division three times. They were then beaten twice in the league championship series by the Philadelphia Phillies. Many fans figured they were just a player or two away from a World Series title, something they haven’t won since 1988, but also felt McCourt didn’t want to spend the money to sign a couple of top players.
Fans were also angered that McCourt hiked ticket prices several times during his tenure while keeping the team payroll at about $100 million. It was also reported that the McCourts were living it up in their mansion while fans were faced with higher priced tickets. The couple were also deferring some of the players’ salaries and were seemingly going into debt. Money had to be borrowed from Fox during this year’s spring training so McCourt could meet the payroll.
MLB took over the club’s daily operations soon after the season started and by June McCourt has filed for bankruptcy. He’s fought with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig ever since and attendance started to drop at Dodger Stadium. The fans might start to come back next season, but the team will need to re-sign Gold Glove winners Andre Ethier, Clayton Kershaw, and Matt Kemp to stay competitive.
MLB wants to have a new owner in place well before opening day and it’ll be interesting to see who steps up to the plate with an offer.
