Offside Radio Show - Dodgers Sale; Business & Legal Side of Hockey Violence

Last night on my radio show Offside: The Business & Law of Sports, guest co-host Steve Lloyd and I interviewed Eric Fisher from the Sports Business Journal on the Dodgers sale. He wrote a great article on the sale of the team.

Listen to the podcast here.

Frank McCourt sold the team, the parking lots and 250 acres of land surrounding the stadium (and 3 miles from downtown LA) for a record $2.15 billion to a group led by Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson (of the Magic Hour).

The previous record sale was the Miami Dolphins, which Stephen Ross bought for $1.1 billion in 2011. The other top deals are as follows:

Cubs (2009) at $845 million to Ricketts family (3times)

Redskins (1999) - $800M – Snyder

Red Sox (2002) - $700M – John Henry

Jets (2000) - $635M 

Your top baseball deals:

Cubs - $845M

Astros (2011) - $615M to Jim Crane

Rangers (2010) - $593M

Nationals (2006) - $450M

Braves (2007) - $461M

The $2.15B price tag was big. New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said that much according to Fisher's article.

“It’s a unique situation and a very iconic brand…but it’s a big number."

So that was the big question we asked Fisher - did Kasten pay too much for the Dodgers. The TV deal is a big part of the deal, with the expected price tag to be around $4 billion. Right now Fox and Time Warner are likely bidders, but more can emerge.

We also hit on Magic Johnson and his ability to repair or undo what McCourt did since he bought the team in 2004 (when he bought it for $430 million). Just last year, attendance for Dodger games dropped 18% over the earlier year. This was big for the Dodgers - a team that routinely found itself topping attendance in baseball.

This deal was also different in that MLB had little control over the sale. In the past, the league had an active role in the sale of teams. This time, however, that was not the case. That's what prompted super agent Scott Boras to say this: "Scott Boras was quoted as saying that we are now seeing “true free agency in the pursuit of a franchise”.

We also hit on the legal and business side of hockey violence.

Enjoy the show.