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Sports

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to meet with MLB execs

Associated Press
Published | Updated

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt will travel to New York on Wednesday to meet with Major League Baseball executives, while the man appointed to oversee the team's daily operations will make his first public appearance in Los Angeles.

McCourt said in a statement Tuesday he has "practical concerns" about the hiring of former Texas Rangers president J. Thomas Schieffer to run the Dodgers. He said he also plans to talk about a pending television deal with Fox, the team's television partner, at the Wednesday meeting The current contract with Fox expires in 2013.

MLB seized control of the Dodgers last week, only days after the Los Angeles Times reported McCourt had arranged a $30 million loan from Fox to meet payroll. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig cited his concern about the team's finances and operations as the reason for his decision.

McCourt said he is confident a new television deal will provide financial stability for the Dodgers. Terms of the deal were not made public.

"The media rights package is fully negotiated, and it is one of the most favorable ever reached by a baseball team," McCourt said.

Meanwhile, Schieffer will hold a news conference Wednesday at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport, not at Dodger Stadium. Schieffer, 63, is the younger brother of "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer and is currently senior counsel at a Texas law firm.

It's unclear what role McCourt, who bought the Dodgers in 2004, will have under the new regime.

McCourt has been embroiled in a nasty and costly divorce battle with his former wife and ex-Dodgers' CEO Jamie McCourt. An 11-day trial last year revealed the former couple's penchant for spending, while court documents indicated the McCourts had taken out more than $100 million in loans from Dodger-related businesses.

A judge in December threw out a 2004 marital property agreement that gave Frank McCourt sole ownership of the Dodgers, clearing the way for Jamie McCourt to seek half the team under California's community property law.