The sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers is scheduled to close by April 30, but we don't yet know exactly who the new owner will be. However, the process is ongoing and the field is down to a final quintet of ownership groups. The group led by Stanley Gold and the estate of Roy Disney was rejected by MLB last week, but a federal mediator reinstated the group on Monday, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
"The Gold/Disney bid had been rejected last week by a committee of Major League Baseball owners, amid concerns over the structure of an offer that included private equity financing to back the launch of a regional sports network," Shaikin wrote.
That puts back at five finalists to purchase the team from Frank McCourt, with the winning bid to be hopefully identified by the end of March. In addition to Gold/Disney, the other four groups still alive are Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten; Steve Cohen and Arn Tellem; Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, and St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
Shaikin also reported that all 30 MLB owners are expected to vote to approve these five ownership groups within the week. McCourt has final authority to pick from the pre-approved groups. The sale price is expected to be north of $1.6 billion, which would double the previous record for the sale price of a major league franchise.
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