The Dodgers blamed the League for refusing to approve a TV deal with Fox Sports that club owner Frank McCourt insisted would have kept the franchise afloat. According to The Associated Press, the Chapter 11 financing permits the Dodgers to use US$150 million for daily operations as the club seeks a deal to ensure the team’s long-term financial stability.
A judge still needs to approve use of the money and a hearing is set for later today. “There will be no disruption to the Dodgers’ day-to-day business, the baseball team, or to the Dodger fans,” read a statement from the franchise.
McCourt was left facing the prospect of missing the team’s payroll this Thursday – a step that could lead to MLB seizing control of the franchise – after League commissioner Bud Selig refused to back a reported $3 billion Dodgers’ deal with Fox Sports. A legal battle over the control of the team appears to be inevitable, with McCourt having insisted that Selig had “turned his back on the Dodgers, treated us differently, and forced us to the point we find ourselves in today”.
According to the bankruptcy filing, the Dodgers began experiencing “cash flow difficulties” last year due to declining attendance and the team's vice-chairman, Jeffrey Ingram, said in court documents that the Dodgers are “on the verge of running out of cash, the result of a perfect storm of events”. Selig said in a statement: “The action taken...by Mr McCourt does nothing but inflict further harm to this historic franchise.”
In April, the League took the unusual step of assuming control of the franchise, with former Texas Rangers president Tom Schieffer appointed to monitor the team on behalf of Selig, who said he took the action because he was concerned about the team's finances and the day-to-day running of the Dodgers.