Dodgers File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
The Los Angeles Dodgers have filed for bankruptcy following a battle for ownership rights in the divorce of Frank and Jamie McCourt.
The Dodgers sought protection under Chapter 11, which will allow the team to continue operations during the reorganization, CNNMoney reports. The Delaware filing says the team has between $500 million and $1 billion in assets and between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities, Reuters reports.
In a statement, Frank McCourt blamed the filing on Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who nixed a television deal that would have provided nearly half of the $385 million in upfront proceeds to the McCourts and their lawyers. Selig said he blocked the contract because the money had to be used for the good of the team. His action had the effect of scuttling the McCourts’ divorce settlement.
“We brought the commissioner a media rights deal that would have solved the cash flow challenge I presented to him a year ago,” McCourt said in the statement. “Yet he’s turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves in today.”
