2011 Los Angeles Dodgers ownership dispute

The Los Angeles Dodgers major league baseball team underwent a period of turmoil in management in 2011-2012 that began when Major League Baseball seized control of the team from owner Frank McCourt on April 20, 2011 and ended when the team was sold to new owners on May 1, 2012.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced that the takeover was due to concerns over the team's finances, and a loss of confidence in the ability of owner Frank McCourt to run the team. Selig announced his intention to appoint an overseer to supervise the day-to-day financial management of the Dodgers. In June, as the Dodgers struggled to meet payroll, Selig rejected a TV contract that would have pumped money into the organization. This led to the Dodgers filing for bankruptcy, and being forced to negotiate a loan with the MLB to keep the club operating.

After a year of negotiations and court proceedings, the dispute ended with the sale of the team to Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC.

Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie purchased the Dodgers from the Fox Entertainment Group in 2004. In order to arrange the purchase, he needed a $145 million loan from Fox, for which he used his Boston parking lots as collateral. Fox eventually foreclosed on the parking lot property and sold it.

Under McCourt's ownership of the Dodgers the team made the playoffs four times, advancing to the NLCS twice.

On October 14, 2009 it was announced the McCourts would be separating after nearly 30 years of marriage. While speculation was raised on the impact upon the McCourt family Dodger ownership, a spokesperson for Jamie McCourt said the following day that "the focus of the Dodgers is on the playoffs and the World Series". Jamie McCourt was fired from her position as Dodgers CEO on Thursday, October 22, 2009, the day after the Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs, thus ending the reign of the self-proclaimed "First Female CEO of a Baseball Team." She officially filed for divorce shortly thereafter. Frank McCourt then accused her of having an affair with her bodyguard and changed the locks on her office. Frank McCourt claimed at the time that the divorce would have "no bearing on the team whatsoever". "

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Wikipedia