Los Angeles Dodgers: Bankrupt

[Cosmic]

Jesus .

There has to be SOMETHING illegal in some of this, right? Some kind of misappropriation, embezzlement, something... surely.

Probably not. If I were an attorney defending them, I could make a legitimate-sounding case for every single item there.

Misappropriation? Maybe. But who are they misappropriating funds to the detriment of? Themselves.

Embezzlement? Again, maybe. But who'd be the victim? Themselves. Every one of the McCourt entities is 100% owned, with no partners. So it begs the question, how does one embezzle from themselves?

Is there any chance we could make a money laundering charge or something along those lines?

Money laundering starts with illegally-obtained money and runs it through various legitimate businesses to hide the fact that it's "dirty". I don't think there's that here... maybe the only thing he hasn't done wrong.

I wouldn't worry, though. He seems to have the misfortune of having all of his dirty deeds out in public without the benefit of being powerful or well-liked. There's some prosecution a-brewin' somewhere, I bet.

[Mac the Knife]

Is there any chance we could make a money laundering charge or something along those lines?

Nope. No criminal indictments in what they've done at all. Now, theoretically you could sue the Dodgers in a civil action if you bought a ticket to one of their home games, alleging, well, some sort of fraud or conspiracy... but if you'd find a lawyer to take the case, you and he (or she) would be laughed out of a courtroom.

Fact is McCourt didn't do anything illegal. He bled the Dodger blue in a complex, but completely legal, fashion.

[LMU]

McCourt can be nabbed on tax evasion though, since he didn't exactly pay taxes on the siphoned-off funds.

[Mac the Knife]

McCourt can be nabbed on tax evasion though, since he didn't exactly pay taxes on the siphoned-off funds.

Presuming, of course, that he didn't... and presuming, when all's said and done, that there's a tax liability to begin with.

There's one chief reason these entities were split apart from one another: to maximize income while at the same time minimizing tax liability. I'd bet a buck or two that McCourt hasn't evaded the IRS at all; doing so would be stupid even by his standards.

McCourt's nothing more than baseball's version of Art Modell.

[NJTank]

Ignoring the whole Browns to Baltimore fiasco Modell was a good owner. Frank McCourt is MLB's John Spano

[Gothamite]

Misappropriation? Maybe. But who are they misappropriating funds to the detriment of? Themselves.

Embezzlement? Again, maybe. But who'd be the victim? Themselves. Every one of the McCourt entities is 100% owned, with no partners. So it begs the question, how does one embezzle from themselves?

They have partners - 29 of them. If McCourt was trying to hide money from the other teams (visiting ticket revenue, etc) then MLB may have a civil complaint.

Plus those partners have an interest in the financial health of the Dodgers. We do know that he's in violation of his franchise agreement in other ways - an unauthorized bankruptcy, exceeding the allowable debt load - so they should be able to strip the franchise from him. Whether they can recover assets is another story.

[Mac the Knife]

Ignoring the whole Browns to Baltimore fiasco Modell was a good owner.

As is so often the case, Frank, you don't know what the you're talking about.

[Mac the Knife]

They have partners - 29 of them. If McCourt was trying to hide money from the other teams (visiting ticket revenue, etc) then MLB may have a civil complaint.

Plus those partners have an interest in the financial health of the Dodgers. We do know that he's in violation of his franchise agreement in other ways - an unauthorized bankruptcy, exceeding the allowable debt load - so they should be able to strip the franchise from him. Whether they can recover assets is another story.

The odds of McCourt trying to do anything shady with regard to gate receipts seems pretty remote. The paid attendance figures for the Dodgers are public knowledge, and that revenue sharing (such as it is, the split for the visiting team is 95/5 in the AL, while in the NL I suspect it's not much better) is nominal.

The "partners" he has in the other MLB clubs have two remedies available to them, none of which involve a court case. Each MLB club, and everyone connected to an MLB club, signs away (waives) any and all right to sue: MLB, another club, anyone connected with another club, etc., etc., for civil action. In perpetuity. They can kick him out. They can force him to sell. That's it.

[pmoehrin]

Ignoring the whole Browns to Baltimore fiasco Modell was a good owner. Frank McCourt is MLB's John Spano

You know out of all the bad owners in sports history, Frank McCourt along with Donald Sterling are probably the two in the modern era that are the toughest to defend as just being halfway decent human beings, let alone being good owners.

Frank McCourt's legacy in LA is going to be that whose name shall never be spoken.

[Lights Out]

I'd add Marge Schott and Daniel Snyder to that list as well.

[The_Admiral]

Snyder is a meddling clown and kind of a social retard, but I don't think he's crossed the line into Completely Loathsome Human Being.

[pmoehrin]

I'd add Marge Schott and Daniel Snyder to that list as well.

Marge Schott's 1990 Cincinnati Reds did win the World Series so she did have some success (not saying she was all that great either) and Daniel Snyder is at least spending the money to win even though the results aren't there. I can only fault someone who's at least trying so much.

I'll also bring back my judgement on whether or not somebody is a bad owner that I had in the worst owner in pro sports poll. The four factors I look at are Cheapness, lack of winning, constant feuding with media, players and fans, and what I call the Ebenezer Scrooge factor. Just somebody who if they died tomorrow the world would probably be a better place. Scale of 1-5. Anyone 14 and over is a bad owner. 12-13 is questionable, anyone under 12 I wouldn't consider a bad owner. (Order goes cheapness, lack of winning, feuding, Scrooge, total)

Dan Snyder 1,4,5,4 14

Marge Schott 4,3,4,5 16

Frank McCourt 5 (only because he stole money, I have to factor that in somehow and I don't think the Scrooge thing does it justice) 2,5,5 17

Donald Sterling 5,5,3,5 18

Art Modell 2,3,4,3 12

Think Mike Brown tied Donald Sterling with an 18 as well. Can't think of anyone that would score higher then that.

[Lights Out]

Um, what? Look up quotes for either of them and you'll find a long history of racism, ignorance, and a dictator-esque attitude. Winning doesn't cancel that out.

[NJTank]

Ignoring the whole Browns to Baltimore fiasco Modell was a good owner.

As is so often the case, Frank, you don't know what the you're talking about.

Art Modell helped the NFL get its first big television deals

Art Modell was one of the brainchild behind Monday Night Football

I dare to say if not for stabbing Cleveland in the back he would be in the Hall of Fame.

[pmoehrin]

Ignoring the whole Browns to Baltimore fiasco Modell was a good owner.

As is so often the case, Frank, you don't know what the you're talking about.

Art Modell helped the NFL get its first big television deals

Art Modell was one of the brainchild behind Monday Night Football

I dare to say if not for stabbing Cleveland in the back he would be in the Hall of Fame.

The downside is that he moved the Browns because his investments went bad and eventually forced him to sell the team (which he probably should have done even before moving) as well as his very single mindendness on getting a new stadium. Cleveland offered him some good deals. He refused to take any of them though.

I would say its accurate to say that most of if not all the blame for the Browns leaving should lie with Modell.

Still as Tank said he did do alot for the league and I do think he would be in the HOF had he done the right thing and sold the team rather then move them and be forced into selling anyway. Its also not like Cleveland was long without football. They had a team back on the field in three years with the new stadium they needed.

I feel bad for what happened to Browns fans but the fact that they got a team back almost immediately only lets my sympathy go so far.

[The_Admiral]

Marge Schott is unequivocally awful. Rob Dibble does not invalidate that.

[Mac the Knife]

Art Modell helped the NFL get its first big television deals

Art Modell was one of the brainchild behind Monday Night Football

I dare to say if not for stabbing Cleveland in the back he would be in the Hall of Fame.

Fart Modell was such a lousy businessman that he flushed his franchise down the tubes twice - the first time he got bailed out by the move to Baltimore, the second time he had to sell out because he had no alternative.

He helped the league, no doubt, but as an owner of a franchise, he was about as bad as they come.

[NJTank]

Dodgers fire Steve Garvey, for wanting to buy out McCourt.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6750866

[Eye]

Art Modell helped the NFL get its first big television deals

Art Modell was one of the brainchild behind Monday Night Football

I dare to say if not for stabbing Cleveland in the back he would be in the Hall of Fame.

Fart Modell was such a lousy businessman that he flushed his franchise down the tubes twice - the first time he got bailed out by the move to Baltimore, the second time he had to sell out because he had no alternative.

He helped the league, no doubt, but as an owner of a franchise, he was about as bad as they come.

You're not wrong, but the city of Cleveland needs to be blamed for the Browns leaving as well; they built facilities for losers like the Indians and Cavs, while also funding other projects such as the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

[Gothamite]

Dodgers fire Steve Garvey, for wanting to buy out McCourt.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6750866

Bastard.

Does Frank figure that there are no more fans left to alienate? The only people in California still supporting his ownership of the club are the ones named McCourt?