MLB takes over Dodgers -- Update 2; Magic Johnson group gets club for $2 billion

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

Fox gave the McCourts the loan to prevent McCourt from following through on a threatened plan to create his own cable network a la YES and keep Fox out of it. The difference between that transaction and extortion is hard for me to see.

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

So, MLB stepping in before McCourt could do a new TV deal with FOX is analogous to the Feds stepping in & arresting Blago before he could sell the Senate seat.

Shouldn't there be more criticism of FOX for making the loan? I haven't read much about it. As homer Simpson might have said, "it takes two people for their to be extortion. One to extort and one to be extorted."

FOX should have gone to the Feds and worn a wire.

It's hard to believe McCourt could have even pulled off a YES like deal. He still would have needed to find bankers willing to partner with him. Steinbrenner had Goldman Sachs. Who would have worked with McCourt?

And, I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in FOX's offices. A $30 Million loan has to have been approved at the highest levels of the company. How does a guy like Murdoch allow himself to be extorted by a swindler like McCourt?

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

How did Dodger Stadium become a site to assert gang cred, if that's truly the case and not an exaggeration? And attendance in April is always a crapshoot, and with the economy still shaky, we won't have a true indication of baseball having fundamental issues until we have a season with a good economy. Hell, baseball has prospered through numerous strikes, a canceled World Series and steroids. The Dodgers' drop is understandable, given the McCourts' divorce joke.

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

I found a picture of the latest McCourt family gathering:

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

Really?


Worse than Bowie Kuhn? Gen. Eckard? Gary Bettman? Judge Landis? Peter Uberroth (can you spell collusion?)? Bart Giamatti? Fay Vincent?

Can't even come close to buying that assertion...

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

It's easy for people to rip on Selig, but it's not as if the other commissioners of major sports are doing a great job.

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

Mr. Selig, there's a Jay Z on line 2 for you.....

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

The Dodgers are an extreme case, but in a conversation I had this morning, a friend of mine pointed out that pro sports seem to be taking a hit related to the economy. For instance, last week I would have bet money that the Braves-Mets series would draw close to, if not more than, 100,000 people. The rainout on Friday night didn't help, but they weren't that close. I took my kids to a game last week, and I spent a sum total of $10 -- for parking -- at the ballpark. (got free tix and took my own food and drinks). Frankly, had it not been for the free tickets we wouldn't have gone. Given the vast swaths of empty seats I'm seeing at parks around MLB, I suspect I'm not alone.

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

Is it right to blame the economy, though? Where is attendance as opposed to last year or 2009? By most measures the economy is rebounding and actually a little bit better than it has been in the previous two Aprils, so I'm not sure how a dropoff in this year's attendance would correspond to that. Maybe what happened is that everybody who went to one fewer game (or no games at all) in the last 2-3 years is realizing that there's so much money and hassle involved these days that it's just a better experience to sit at home and watch on the HDTV, pausing to go to the can or help the kids with their homework.

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

That to me is the difference maker.

Today, you can pretty much catch every game of your local team on TV. More comfortable, a better view at the action, instant replay, etc, etc.

You don't have to go to the park to see the team like you used to.

For baseball, basketball, hockey, I can foresee a future where ticket prices will continually drop, so that ownership will have people to fill the stadium to create a good atmosphere for those watching on TV. Essentially, driving the revenue base from the TV earnings and using the live performance as maybe a breakeven proposition. At the extreme, akin to a stadium full of extras watching Charlie Sheen pitch in 'Major League'.

Football is different. With 8 games a year, it's still an event. unless the other sports shorten their seasons to make each game seem like more of an event, the on premise experience doesn't measure up to the TV presentation.

And more and more, people are starting to figure that out.

 

Re: MLB takes over Dodgers

Every Blue Jays game is on TV. Some of them are on a channel that isn't available through my local cable provider so I will listen to those on the radio. I love going to the ballpark and I have lots of contacts for Jays tickets, but aside from taking Huggy Jr. a couple of times, taking in a game with JR and maybe one or two with the guys from work I much prefer to watch on TV. No commuting hassles and if the game's a write off I can move on to something else or record to watch later so I can help Huggy Jr. with his homework or his fastball.