by Jon WeinbachFiled under: Dodgers, Sports Business and Media
LOS ANGELES -- It's the most expensive question in baseball right now: can Frank and Jamie McCourt make peace?On Friday in a closed Los Angeles courtroom, attorneys for the estranged spouses appeared before a mediator in an attempt to negotiate a settlement and end their ownership battle over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The mediation talks came on the heels of another dramatic session in the couple's divorce trial, which has centered on a marital property agreement they signed in 2004, shortly after the McCourts -- or maybe just Frank -- purchased the Dodgers from News Corp. for about $430 million.
Both sides have a lot to lose by leaving a decision up to Judge Scott Gordon, who has given few visible clues regarding his leanings. Gordon could order the couple to sell the club, which would be an undesirable -- and unlikely -- event for the McCourts and for Major League Baseball, since a forced sale could depress the value of the Dodgers, one of the most prized franchises in professional sports.
The sides have had several previous rounds of settlement talks, including pre-trial meetings with a mediator and a pair of out-of-town negotiation sessions -- one in New York and another in Colorado -- that were unsuccessful. (According to one person familiar with the situation, a pre-trial negotiation session in New York was called off because Jamie never showed.)
No comments:
Post a Comment