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Frank and Jamie McCourt have reportedly reached a divorce settlement under which she would get about $130 million and relinquish any claim to the Dodgers, the LAT's Bill Shaikin reports based on "multiple people familiar with the agreement." He provides some analysis:
The settlement would remove Jamie McCourt as an obstacle to Frank McCourt's plan to retain ownership of the team by selling the Dodgers' television rights in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The agreement also would appear to set up a winner-take-all court showdown for the Dodgers between Frank McCourt and Commissioner Bud Selig.The people familiar with the agreement spoke on condition of anonymity because the settlement has not been finalized. However, such a settlement would conclude what is believed to be the costliest divorce in California history.
The McCourts incurred $20.6 million in legal bills related to the divorce through July, according to Los Angeles Superior Court filings by each of the parties. To settle the outstanding dispute over whether the Dodgers were the sole property of Frank McCourt or community property could have added at least $14 million to those bills, based on estimates in a filing on behalf of Jamie McCourt.
* Update: Joint statement from the McCourts says that Jamie will now support Frank's bid to sell the team's media rights.
Frank McCourt and Jamie McCourt are pleased to announce that they have settled their divorce case. The terms of the settlement, which is already in effect, will remain private. Jamie will be withdrawing her opposition to the Dodgers proposed sale of media rights and instead will be filing papers in support of the process proposed by the Dodgers.