DODGERS The ongoing OWNERSHIP Thread

Discussion in 'Los Angeles DODGERS' started by irish, Nov 17, 2011.

  1. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    this is by far
    the best assessment of the situation to date
    too bad the media doesn't have the balls to say it
     
  2. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    I'm not saying I don't like the guy because I've never heard of him. I'm not saying I don't like him at all. I like him. I like him a lot. He's a reckless single-majority owner who loves media attention. He seems like the kind of guy who would celebrate wins with us and take responsibility for losses. He has passion. Drive. He cares about winning and he cares about the well-being of the overall fan experience. He has cash to back himself up so he doesn't have to succumb to desperate loans and mortgaging the team's future profits. He sounds inexperienced but fun. He sounds perfect to me.


    So I like him.

    I also like: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yogi Bear, Pegasus, Vincent Chase, Zaphod Beeblebrox, good Robin Williams movies, Kate Upton's breasts, time travel, and honest politicians...
     
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  3. LAdiablo

    LAdiablo descarado

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    while true he did not beat him up, as the owner of the dodger franchise it is his responsibility to make sure people are safe from life threatening attack within the confines of the stadium. it is his policies and lack of desire to spend on security that made the event possible.
    anyone who ever walked out of a dodger game into the parking lot knew it was dark and they were on their own.
    frank certainly made sure people got IN to the games without loitering around and drinking something other than $12 beers. those security guys were omnipresent before the game started and vanished when it was over. i think that decision is unmistakably made by the guy signing checks.
     
  4. THINKBLUE

    THINKBLUE DSP Gigolo

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    There were more on duty cops/security on Opening day 2011 than ever before at Dodger Stadium if I'm not mistaken.

    I agree that the security guards suck though. I go to a lot of games and they are horrible at their jobs.

    I think once it got to the parking lot whatever happened was gonna happen. Not enough eyes.
     
  5. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2012/02/second-cut-looming-for-dodgers-bidders.html


    Only time will tell!
     
  6. PartyBoy13

    PartyBoy13 Member

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    I have to agree with this. How do you police 50,000 people all going into the parking lot at the same time? However, it did happen on Dodger's property so the owner is responsible.
     
  7. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    ask any property owner
    it is your job to ensure the premises are safe
    mccourt cut security prior to the game/incident
    this is something stow's attorneys will focus on
    not so much what happened, but how and why
    they will claim mccourt was negligent
    and that this negligence contributed to the beating
     
  8. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh @#$%$#@&^%$#@

    http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-bidders-20120218,0,3057174.story

    Dodger Stadium turns 50 this year. In 2008, as owner Frank McCourt unveiled plans to revamp the stadium and surrounding area, Vin Scully explained why.

    "Few stadiums last even 50 years," Scully said on a team promotional video. "The truth is, we can't dream of this one lasting another 50 without a lot of love, care and, yes, investment.

    "Without that care and capital, Dodger Stadium might fade away, in disrepair. But that idea just doesn't fly with Frank McCourt."

    Nor does it fly with the bidders jockeying to buy the Dodgers from McCourt. After all, the new owner will inherit a loan that McCourt has said compels the team to play at Dodger Stadium at least until 2030.

    Yet Blackstone Advisory Partners, the investment bank handling the sale for McCourt, has advised bidders that Dodger Stadium does not need major renovation.

    The resolution of that issue — and issues involving television rights, team revenues and control of the surrounding parking lots — should go a long way toward determining whether the Dodgers sell for closer to $1.5 billion, as bidders anticipate, or closer to $2 billion, as McCourt and his advisers anticipate.

    The 11 remaining bidders have been asked to submit revised offers next week. Although a so-called vanity buyer could overlook financial data and win the team with a blowout bid, such buyers are increasingly scarce as the anticipated price soars above $1 billion, said Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based SportsCorp Ltd.

    "There are a number of very material factors that could swing the price by hundreds of millions of dollars," Ganis said, "even approaching half a billion."

    Stadium renovations are among those factors.

    The Dodgers note that McCourt has put more than $150 million into stadium maintenance and improvements since buying the team in 2004, including the addition of and enhancements to luxury seating, the replacement of every seat in the house, and the expansion of the concourse on the field level.

    "Due to the forward-looking nature of these renovations, the stadium requires minimal annual capital expenditures and little to no deferred maintenance costs," the Dodgers said in a statement.

    In 2007, McCourt cited rising ticket sales in pledging to upgrade the concourses on every level. "In order to provide better service and more amenities for this increased fan base, we need to create more space and redesign the concourses," McCourt said.

    The loge and reserved levels, as well as the top deck, still await renovation.

    The stadium infrastructure needs improvement, and the parking lots need permanent lighting, according to a person familiar with Dodger Stadium operations but not authorized to discuss them. That person estimated a new owner would face at least $200 million in renovation expenses.

    In determining how much to bid, prospective owners also would consider the annual payment on inherited loans — from $32 million to $33.5 million through 2030, according to documents filed this week in U.S. bankruptcy court.

    The bidders also would ponder the annual $14-million payment to McCourt for use of the Dodger Stadium parking lots. The sale price might drop by more than $150 million if McCourt insists upon retaining that land rather than using it as a bargaining chip to extract the highest possible sale price, according to people familiar with the sale process.

    McCourt says he plans to develop the land and does not intend to sell it, and he could partner with several remaining bidders — on a football stadium with St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, perhaps, or on shops, restaurants and/or residences with local developers Rick Caruso or Alan Casden. (Caruso has said through a spokesman he wants to buy the team and has no plan to develop the land.)

    Blackstone is expected to suggest that groups relatively short on financing consider mergers. Blackstone also has encouraged prospective owners to secure hundreds of millions more to use in bidding by joining forces with Fox Sports or Time Warner Cable — each company desperately wants the Dodgers' television rights — and with private equity funds that could finance the launch of a regional sports network.

    The structure of such an investment would be subject to review by Major League Baseball, which generally prefers television money to be used to better a team rather than finance its purchase. However, with some equity funds interested in the television rights but not in the team, a buyer could separate ownership of the Dodgers from ownership of the regional sports network.
     
  9. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    Why does my previous link smell like a cluster fuc_ in the making?
     
  10. LAdiablo

    LAdiablo descarado

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    cause you enjoy seeking out foul odors? ;)
     
  11. rube

    rube DSP Legend Staff Member Administrator

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    i hate this crap about this country sometimes
    if two assholes decide to beat the shit out of another dude its not the fault of anyone but the two assholes
    do you sue the LAPD if you get carjacked because there wasnt a cop around to keep the area safe?
    there is more than enough police and security at these events
    people need to stop overreacting everytime some asshole acts like an asshole
    life is dangerous and sometimes people get hurt
    you do what you can as a society but fuck...
     
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  12. rube

    rube DSP Legend Staff Member Administrator

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    i think its easy when they want to fix the stadium up
    poll all their premium seat ticket holders to ask them if they want the stadium renovated
    but that the renovation will result in their ticket price increasing
    because generally whenever stadiums get upgraded its usually so they can add amenities for the premium customers
    the regular fan is rarely the focus of these upgrades, its the fan with deep pockets thats catered to, which is fine
    but then they should be the ones to pay the increase in ticket prices
     
  13. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dod...o-bud-selig-i-can-never-thank-you-enough.html
    Only time will tell!
     
  14. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    http://newhanonbaseball.blogspot.com/2012/02/is-15-billion-ceiling-or-merely-floor.html
    If accurate how much should the above highlighted alarm us? Wonder how they would have felt about signing Fielder? Why the objection to Kemp? Would they trade him? If he gets off to a good start with that contract he would be very marketable? WTF about Kershaw? He was going to get a chunk in arbitration. When they say investors do the mean the principals buying the team or their big money financial backers who may just be seeing Dollar signs and not Dodger signs. Again it is just another unidentified source but it does introduce an element to the conversation. May just be fodder to justify firing Ned day one if not sooner. However they don't need to convince most of us. Didn't the signings of Kemp and Kershaw provide a much needed sigh of relief for many Dodger fans? With so many of these investors being from somewhere else do they really know what CK and Matt did this year or are they part of the Ryan Braun and Doc Halladay had better years crowd and werer more deserving? How many investors even followed the Dodgers this year. At this point the process is becoming something rreally not seen before.
     
  15. blueplatespecial

    blueplatespecial DSP Legend

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    This jumped out at me. If Frank picks up a billion, I bet she goes after a bigger slice...

    But, it won't matter to us. Hopefully these people will be long gone from our minds by then. No longer an issue. F'ck 'em.
     
  16. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    Blackstone from my perspective is out of control. It is one thing to blow the operation and reassemble it at a greater value etc but it is now going to an extreme where we might not recognize the eventual product as being something we are familiar with. They are bringing in investors to join the groups so they can bid higher. How will all of these parts when a final owner is found operate to run the team? Will there be fighting? Will anyone actually own 51% or more of the team? What will the role of Fox or TW be if they are involved with the final deal? A Canadian billionaire being bought in? Is that because he has loved the Dodgers from a far or because of some sale pitch about ROI Blackstone has given him? I mean how many of these Johhny Come Latelies are Dodger fans or vale Kemp as we do. Perhaps they based on East coast media coverage at best think his value was more 4 years at 48 million or wanted their chance to play hardball and make their impact on player salaries. Perhaps they don't consider them players but employees? Who knows what Frank will negotiate for himself as part of the eventual purchase price.
     
  17. blueplatespecial

    blueplatespecial DSP Legend

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    ^And how can they not rip down the stadium and build on that land? It's got to be the main part of the thinking here - a massive development project. The money guys must be drooling over those views. And Frank is king of the hill. So, there could be an interim situation with the team until they bring in the bulldozers. Hopefully, when all is said and done, the baseball people will be left in the ownership group and they will at least get a new stadium out of the deal.
     
  18. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    not at all
    the prospective owners aren't happy with mccourt spending -- especially backloading
    not so much who he's spending it on
    can't say i blame them
    if i'm bidding on something
    i don't want it changing
    then again
    if they're that unhappy
    they can always retract their bids

    i'm not sure she can
    she already signed an settlement agreement
    so unless there's something in that agreement stating otherwise
    she's stuck with her $131MM pittance
     
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  19. BlueMouse

    BlueMouse 2020 World Champions

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    Can't help but feel concern over these comments. Are we looking at FOX part II? Owners with money who have no clue what they are doing?

    Also, I'm confused by this:

    What Tim Lincecum contract are they referring to? Besides, wouldn't "almost as much as Tim Lincecum" be the exact salary range Kershaw should be in? It's not like Lincecum is/was head and shoulders above Kershaw, if at all -- afterall, how many times has the 2-time Cy Young Award winner beaten out Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee for the honor? How many 20 win seasons does Lincecum have? How many seasons with an ERA under 2.30?
     
  20. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    Blue, that is part of my concern. I understand what Irish is saying about payroll committment but their comments make me wonder how much they know about the year Kemp and Kershaw just had in perspective. Don't want a repeat of Chase Carey and Mike Piazza. There is finite amount of money to be made from the Dodgers and if the cost really heads into the stratosphere how is payroll going to make out moving forward! One of the things we are all going to want to know once the sale is completed is who is in charge and what will their vision of us as a team be. Any clues they send out now will might give us insight. Will they want to rebuild or build on? Are they worried about Kemp being the Crawford/Werth of 2012 or are they solidly on board that Kemp is our core moving forward. What about Dre and his future and at what price and will there be to many hands at first to have a clear direction of operation for the franchise? Just how much levearge do the initial investors have if new big money is bought in?
     

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