, when they were both freshmen at Georgetown. They married in 1979. [ 4 ] The McCourt family has a long association with real estate and construction in the Boston area.
In 1977, Frank McCourt founded The McCourt Company, which specializes in the development of major commercial real estate projects, particularly parking lots. [ 3 ]
The McCourt company headquarters moved toLos Angelesin 2004 in connection with the family relocating to Los Angeles. The McCourts owned a $16 million, 13,000 sq ft (1,200 m 2 ) home in Brookline, MA that was acquired byJohn W. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox. [ 5 ]
Before buying theLos Angeles Dodgers, Frank McCourt made a Бид to buy his hometownBoston Red Sox. If he had won the Бид, he had planned build a new stadium on the land he owned and used for parking lots on theSouth Bostonwaterfront. [ 6 ] Instead, the Red Sox were sold in 2002 toJohn W. Henry,Tom Wernerand Red Sox PresidentLarry Lucchino.
McCourt had also tried to buy theAnaheim AngelsandTampa Bay Buccaneersbefore he bought the Dodgers. [ 4 ]
McCourt is not the first member of this family to own part or whole of a sports franchise. His grandfather was part-owner of theBoston Braves. [ 7 ]
[edit] Los Angeles Dodgers [edit] Purchase of the L.A. Dodgers
After his failed Бид to buy the Red Sox he set his sights on the Dodgers. In 2004, McCourt bought theLos Angeles Dodgersfor$430 million fromNewsCorp,Rupert Murdoch's flagship enterprise. [ 8 ] McCourt's purchase of the Dodgers was financed mostly by debt.
In 2004 McCourt's South Boston parking lot property was used as collateral for some of the financing to acquire the Dodgers from News Corp. Later the South Boston property was turned over to News Corp. in exchange for canceling acquisition debt. [ 4 ] News Corp. received approximately $200 million when they re-sold the property to Morgan Stanley and Boston real estate investor John B. Hynes III in 2006. [ 9 ]
The Dodgers assets acquired by McCourt included significant real estate assets related to the stadium in Chavez Ravine, including stadium parking lot land. Plans have been announced for new real estate developments at Dodger Stadium.
To offset the purchase, McCourt has raised ticket and concession prices every year. [ 10 ] By April 2009 the team and its related assets, in which McCourt had invested heavily in improvements, had increased in value to $722 million according to Forbes . [ 11 ] [ 12 ] In 2010 the value of the team was estimated at $727 million according to Forbes. [ 13 ]
In 2003 (under News Corp ownership) the Dodger's record was 85 Wins, 77 Losses. Shortly after purchasing the team, McCourt fired then General Manager,Dan Evans, replacing him withPaul DePodesta. DePodesta is featured (along withBilly Beane) in the bookMoneyballas it discusses their non-traditional approach to using statistics to manage theOakland A's. In Los Angeles DePodesta made a blockbuster trade in the middle of the 2004 season: the Dodgers sent the team's starting catcher,Paul LoDuca, its set-up man, pitcherGuillermo Mota, and outfielderJuan Encarnacionto theFlorida Marlinsfor the highon-base percentagefirst basemanHee-Seop Choiandpower pitcher Brad Pennyand pitching prospectBill Murphy, who was in turn flipped withKoyie HillandReggie Abercrombieto theArizona Diamondbacksfor Gold Glove center fielderSteve Finleyand catcherBrent Mayne. At the time, DePodesta said of Choi, ""I think we've acquired one of the better offensive players in the league. [ 14 ]
Although Finley hit 13 HRs for the Dodgers in his two months with the team, this trade was a spectacular bust. In the playoff loss to St. Louis that season, Penny did not play, Choi had one at bat (hitless) and Dodger catchers were 3-for-10. [ 15 ] Choi batted .161 with 0 HRs for the Dodgers after the trade, though he did walk 11 times in 87 plate appearances.
In2004, the Dodgers won the NL West (93 W, 69 L), but lost in four games to theSt. Louis Cardinalsin theDivisional Seriesof the playoffs. In the offseason the Dodgers decided not to re-signAdri?n Beltr?due to his high contract demands (Beltre finished second in the NL MVP voting and would later sign with Seattle for 5 year/$64 million). [ 16 ] DePodesta signed outfielderJ.D. Drewfor 5 years at $55 million, [ 17 ] sinkerball pitcherDerek Lowefor 4 years ($36 million) [ 18 ] and All-Star second basemanJeff Kent.
However, the2005 season(71 W, 91 L) was the Dodgers second-worst record since moving to Los Angeles, due in part to players' injuries. That off-season, managerJim Tracywas fired. Soon after Tracy was fired, McCourt fired DePodesta and about a month later, hiredNed Collettito replace him.
Ned Colletti's first action as GM was the signing of the former Red Sox manager,Grady Little. Colletti then signed several veteran players such asRafael Furcal,Nomar Garciaparra,Kenny LoftonandBill Mueller. These players were among those who led the 2006 Dodgers to the NL Wild Card spot, with an 88-74 record. The Dodgers would get swept by theNew York Metsin theNational League Division Series. In the winter of 2006-07 the team signedJuan Pierre,Jason Schmidt, andLuis Gonzalez.
In October 2007, Grady Little resigned andJoe Torrewas hired as their new manager. In 2008 with new managerJoe Torre,Ned CollettisignedAndruw Jones,Hiroki Kuroda, andChan Ho Park. During the trade deadline the Dodgers acquiredManny Ramirezin a trade with theBoston Red Sox.
In 2007 Dr. Charles Steinberg was hired as Executive Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations of the Dodgers after working with the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. In 2009 he was reported to be on his way out and was said to be allied with Jamie McCourt and had lost influence as she did according to a report in the LA Times . [ 19 ] [ 20 ]
On October 14, 2009 it was announced the McCourts would be separating after nearly 30 years of marriage. [ 21 ] While speculation was raised on the impact upon the McCourt family and Dodger ownership, a spokesperson forJamie McCourtsaid the following day that "the focus of the Dodgers is on the playoffs and the World Series". Jamie 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." [ 21 ] 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. The pending divorce will settle the issue of Dodgers ownership. He has claimed that the divorce has "no bearing on the team whatsoever." [ 22 ]
On December 7, 2010 the judge in the divorce case of the McCourts invalidated the post-nuptial marital property agreement ("MPA") that Frank McCourt had claimed provided him with sole ownership of the Dodgers. In the wake of this decision, Frank McCourt's lawyers said that Frank would use other legal avenues to establish his sole ownership of the Dodgers, while Jamie McCourt's lawyers said that Jamie would be confirmed as the co-owner of the team as community property of their marriage. [ 23 ]
On June 17, 2011, Frank & Jamie reached agreement on a settlement of their divorce. The settlement was contingent upon Major League Baseball approving a 17-year television contract between the Dodgers and FOX Television. The discussion set aside the Dodgers ownership issue until a scheduled one day trial on August 4, whereupon if the Judge sided with Frank he would keep the team and pay a settlement fee to Jamie and if the Judge sided with her the team would be sold. [ 24 ] However, on June 20, baseball rejected the television deal and the settlement agreement fell apart. [ 25 ]
In 2010, it was revealed that thenCalifornia Attorney General Jerry Brownwas opening an investigation into the Dodger's charitable foundation, the Dodgers' Dream Foundation. According to tax returns, the charity's chief executive Howard Sunkin, earned a salary of nearly $400,000 per year, almost a quarter of the foundation's entire budget. [ 26 ] Sunkin is a close associate of McCourt and has worked with him during his divorce proceedings. [ 27 ] The courts eventually awarded the funds to be repaid and McCourt personally repaid $100,000. [ 28 ]
[edit] Ownership dispute with Major League Baseball and Bankruptcy
Main article:2011 Los Angeles Dodgers ownership dispute
In April 2011, Baseball commissionerBud Seligannounced that MLB would be appointing a representative to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Dodgers. His statement said that he took that action because of his "deep concerns for the finances and operations" of the Dodgers. [ 29 ] This event occurred shortly after an LA Times report that McCourt had obtained a personal loan fromFoxto cover the team's payroll for April and May.
McCourt vigorously disputed MLB's actions. Nevertheless, Selig appointed former diplomat and former Texas Rangers executiveTom Schiefferto oversee the Dodgers' finances.
On June 27, the Dodgers filed forChapter 11 Bankruptcyprotection. [ 30 ]
In an article published online June 27, 2011, ESPN blogger David Schoenfield ranked McCourt as the second worst owner in Major League Baseball history, in part for his financial management of the team that led to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
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