MLB, Fox, Jamie McCourt raise concerns on Dodgers bankruptcy exit

With the sale of the Dodgers in its final stages, three key parties lodged objections Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Major League Baseball, Fox Sports and Jamie McCourt each raised concerns that they asked the court to consider on or before April 13, the day of the scheduled hearing to approve the Dodgers’ sale. The concerns appear unlikely to derail the sale.

Frank McCourt, the Dodgers’ outgoing owner, has agreed to provide the court with a sale agreement by April 6.

In its filing, MLB claimed that the Dodgers used overly broad and legally inconsistent language in phrasing how the league and the team would release each other from future liability.

Fox Sports, which waged a successful legal battle to prevent Frank McCourt from marketing the Dodgers’ television rights as part of the sale, asserted the right to review the sale documents through April 28.

Jamie McCourt, the ex-wife of Frank McCourt, asked for assurances that the $131 million she is owed in a divorce settlement would be promptly disbursed from the sale proceeds. The Dodgers on Thursday asked the court to dismiss Jamie McCourt’s bankruptcy claim, saying she would be paid not by the Dodgers but by Frank McCourt personally.

As of midday Friday, no date had been set for major league owners to vote on the five parties bidding for the Dodgers. Joseph Farnan, the retired federal judge serving as the court-appointed mediator, has asserted his control of the sale process at a time when relations are believed to be strained between MLB and Blackstone Advisory Partners, the investment bank brokering the sale for Frank McCourt.

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MLB, Fox, Jamie McCourt raise concerns about Dodgers’ exit from bankruptcy