After disappointing years under News Corp ownership, the Los Angeles Dodgers were sold to real estate developer Frank McCourt in January 2004. The $430 million purchase price was the second-largest at the time, trailing the $660 million sale of the Boston Red Sox in 2002.
While the Dodgers went on to reach the postseason in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009, the era under McCourt grew tumultuous. He took the franchise into bankruptcy, which triggered the process of the team being sold a second time in eight years.
McCourt further lined his pockets by ensuring the sale would be done via auction. Guggenheim Baseball purchased the Dodgers for a record $2.15 billion, with the deal officially closing in May 2012. Now the group has made a minority stake available, per Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News:
The market for sports teams is hotter than ever, and the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers have decided the time is right to sell a minority stake.
Any stake would come from all of the partners — Mark Walter, Todd Boehly, Bobby Patton, Magic Johnson, Peter Guber and Kasten — and MLB must approve any sale. Kasten didn’t say how the proceeds would be used.
The Dodgers were previously said to have considered selling a minority stake of the franchise to a group from South Korea, though a deal never came to fruition. A recent change involving Dodgers ownership was Magic Johnson returning to the Los Angeles Lakers organization as an advisor to team president Jeanie Buss.
The Dodgers have won the past four National League West titles, becoming the first team to ever do so in the division’s history. Los Angeles is again projected to have one of the top payrolls in baseball this season, and will face luxury tax penalties.
There were whispers the club was instructed to lower their debt in order become compliant with MLB. However, Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten refuted that notion, and the club proceeded to commit $192 million in salaries in order to re-sign Rich Hill, Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner.
