Memorandum from the Commissioner of Baseball regarding the Sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to Frank H. McCourt, Jr.
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Commissioner Selig's 2004 memorandum detailing MLB's approval of the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers from Fox Baseball Holdings, Inc. (a News Corporation / Rupert Murdoch subsidiary that had owned the team since 1998) to Frank H. McCourt, Jr., a Boston parking-lot magnate. **The document is structurally foundational to the entire McCourt-era Dodgers narrative** that culminated in the 2011 Chapter 11 bankruptcy (multiple documents in this archive). McCourt's purchase was famously highly leveraged — he reportedly borrowed approximately $371 million against the Dodgers' assets to fund the $430 million purchase price, with only a small equity contribution. MLB's approval of the sale despite the highly leveraged structure became a central question after the 2011 crisis: why did Selig approve a sale to a buyer whose financing structure made him structurally dependent on revenue extraction from the franchise? 8 pages — short for a sale-approval memo, suggesting limited public disclosure of the financing terms.
Background
Foundational MLB document approving the highly-leveraged McCourt purchase that structurally precedes the entire 2011 crisis chain — the bankruptcy, the Selig-McCourt break, and the forced sale to Guggenheim. The leveraged structure approved here is the predicate for everything that followed. The Frank McCourt → Dodgers crisis → Guggenheim sale → 25-year SportsNet LA TV deal sequence is a major case study in modern franchise leverage. The earlier Fox-to-McCourt provenance is also notable: Rupert Murdoch had purchased the Dodgers in 1998 from the O'Malley family for $311M as part of a strategy to use the Dodgers' regional sports network value to anchor Fox Sports Net West 2, and sold to McCourt in 2004 after determining the team did not deliver the strategic value Fox needed.
Key provisions
- [Detailed content review deferred — 8 pages.]
- Sale from Fox Baseball Holdings (News Corporation/Rupert Murdoch) to Frank McCourt.
- MLB ownership-approval framework: 3/4 club vote required under Major League Constitution Art. II Sec. 9.
- Famously leveraged structure: ~$371M borrowed against Dodger assets, ~$59M McCourt equity (later disclosed in bankruptcy litigation).
Notable provisions
[Not transcribed.]
Further context
Commissioner Memo on Dodgers Sale to McCourt (2004)
MLB's 2004 approval of the highly-leveraged McCourt purchase. Foundational document for the entire McCourt-era Dodgers crisis chain (2011 bankruptcy etc., all in archive).
References
- Primary source: sabr.box.com — Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, retrieved 2026-05-17.
- Confirmation source: sabr.box.com — Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Business of Baseball Files. SABR-hosted Box link. 8 pages.
- File fingerprint: SHA256 4379c58e508e3b3411e375da572c0a1a5fb38e90e7844618ef5f89f53d7f7773.
Evidence trail
Per archive editorial standards §1.3 and §1.4, verified documents require two independent confirmation sources and an archive.org snapshot. This panel is the integrity record the archive holds for this document.
File integrity
- SHA256
4379c58e508e3b3411e375da572c0a1a5fb38e90e7844618ef5f89f53d7f7773- Filename
2004_memo_commissioner-dodgers-mccourt-purchase.pdf- Format
- PDF · 8 pp · 3.41 MB
- Retrieved
- 2026-05-17 by
claude/cowork-9167cb28 (uploaded by alex) - Primary URL
- https://sabr.box.com/s/jqbfl0i9cv19p97e0n20csmrm12di5yc
Confirmation sources (1)
| Publisher | Retrieved | URL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Business of Baseball Files | 2026-05-17 | https://sabr.box.com/s/jqbfl0i9cv19p97e0n20csmrm12di5yc | SABR-hosted Box link. 8 pages. |
Most recent status change
needs_review on 2026-05-17 by claude/cowork-9167cb28.
PDF acquired via SABR upload. **Foundational document for the McCourt-era Dodgers crisis** that culminated in the 2011 bankruptcy filing (also in this archive).