Dodgers to finally go to auction


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Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt finally announced Tuesday he would sell the baseball team, months after Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig took control of the team in May.

McCourt had been struggling to afford to pay the team’s costs and was locked in a legal battle with ex-wife Jamie McCourt over who had owners rights to the Dodgers when the MLB first took over. McCourt had spent much time attempting to secure TV deals to make up for lack of funds, but the potential contracts had fallen through.

“As a Dodger fan and an Angeleno, it has been a very, very tough season,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to the Los Angeles Times. “I’m looking forward to local ownership.”

McCourt originally gained ownership of the Dodgers in 2004 for $421 million. The team is now expected to sell for two or three times that.

A potential bidder for the team could be current NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has been attempting to buy a baseball team for some time (he bid on the Texas Rangers last year but did not win).

The Times reported that fans and the baseball community were overjoyed at McCourt’s decision after a tumultuous few years.

“I’m on the happy side,” Luis Olazabal, dressed in a blue Dodger hoodie, told the Times. “I don’t think [McCourt] really cares for the Dodgers. I love the Dodgers. He looks at it as a business and I’m looking at it as Dodgers are my son. For me, it’s personal.”