The LA Dodgers are yet another thing in California with money problems. Team owner Frank McCourt has levered the team to the tune of $433 million in debt and is now having trouble finding additional financing, according to the LA Times. Some fear the heavy debt will now inhibit the team’s ability to pay players and sign new talent.
The LA Times reported that McCourt was turned down three times, once each by Citibank, a Chinese investment firm and by a Southern California infomercial king, when trying to get addition financing. The information comes from a deposition by Dodgers Chief Financial Officer Peter Wilhelm. “They did not feel that the Dodger organization had the capacity to take on more debt,” Wilhelm told the LA Times.
McCourt paid $430 for the team in 2004, according to reports, and revenue has doubled from $156 million 2003 to $286 million in 2009. Although his pledge was to pay Dodgers players among the best in the league, new documents show he’s tried cutting payroll. However, the LA Times says that the Dodgers opened the latest season with a $95 million payroll, ranking 11th among 30 major league teams. “Every dollar he makes is going to pay his debts,” Raman Sain, a principal at Holthouse Carlin and Van Trigt, the largest accounting firm based in Southern California, told the LA Times.
According to a McCourt spokesman, the Dodgers will continue to be a top-performing team despite any financial issues. “The Dodgers have consistently demonstrated a commitment to fielding a team worthy of fan support, and the four division championships in the last six years are indicative of that,” the statement from spokesman Steve Sugarman read, according to the LA Times. “There’s a commitment to winning, and that continues.”
Tags: Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball debt, Frank McCourt, Major League Baseball, Baseball
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