McCourt's lawyer talking lawsuit

Yeah, this thing is going to be messy. Attorney Bob Sacks told the LAT and other news outlets that the Dodger owner would not surrender control of Dodger Stadium and other assets even if Major League Baseball were to put the team up for sale. McCourt split up the Dodger entities into separate business interests that would remain under his control, Sacks said.

"There is the possibility of some fairly acrimonious and extreme litigation going forward, which Frank is hopeful will not occur," Sacks said. "If baseball were to act precipitously against Frank, which has been threatened, then there will be a showdown on that issue."

Only desperate people would go to court in this situation - and McCourt is more than desperate. He's delusional. The Business Insider's Dashiell Bennett lays out the absolute BEST case scenario for McCourt:

He sues MLB and Selig. He holds the parking lots at Dodger Stadium hostage, infuriating the league and fans. He somehow doesn't go broke fighting the years-long legal battle, at the end of which a judge rules that (despite the "best interests of baseball" clause in the MLB Constitution) the league improperly took over his team. He is reinstated as owner. MLB grudgingly allows the TV deal from FOX to go through. Another divorce judge rules that the team he co-owned with his wife in a community property state belongs entirely to him. He pays his wife $100 million and business as usual resumes at Chavez Ravine.

Now even assuming that all those improbable outcomes happen, what has he got left? The Dodgers are still losing games and money. His debt is out of control. He can't get a loan from MLB or a bank. His fans hate him. His players hate him (cause he can't give any of them a raise.) The team continues to flounder under uncertain ownership. Attendance slips even further, driving down the value of everything he owns. Oh, and all other 29 MLB owners hate his guts for embarrassing them, wasting their money, and generally being a pain in the butt. Congrats, you're the king of an angry, disgruntled, and flat broke kingdom.



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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
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