By Emily E. Kiser
Dodgers’ Season Ticket Holders Appointed to the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee
Watching the final out of Game 7 of the 2011 World Series provided a standstill moment across the St. Louis metropolitan area as hundreds of thousands of St. Louisans watched David Murphy’s pop fly take flight, seconds later to land in the glove of Allen Craig—and earn the Cardinals their eleventh World Series Championship.
In Los Angeles, Dodgers season ticket holders, arguably the most loyal fans of the club (a simple Google search of “Los Angeles Dodgers” produces results that could easily be a plot line for a soap opera—those with season tickets must be loyal) are in a continuous standstill moment. Only their moment is not due to a play-off game, but because of the Dodgers’ ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
For those loyal fans of the Boys in Blue, however, there was a small victory on October 25, 2011. This victory came via an Order entered by Judge Kevin Gross which allowed for two individuals who represented season-ticket holders to be a part of the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee. Getting a spot on the Official Unsecured Creditors’ Committee is tantamount to getting a seat at the “Big Kid Table” on Thanksgiving—it gives one status, power and first dibs on the Bankrupt’s offerings.
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11/3/11 8:08 AM
Bankruptcy, Business Law | Comments Off |
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Dodgers’ Season Ticket Holders—The Best Seats in the House and Now, a Seat at the Big Kids’ Table
By Emily E. Kiser
Los Angeles Dodgers and Major League Baseball continue to battle in Dodgers’ Bankruptcy
As the best of the best (albeit, without Cardinals great Albert Pujols) in Major League Baseball (MLB) battled it out in Phoenix, Arizona for home field advantage for this year’s World Series, MLB and the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to battle it out within the Dodgers’ bankruptcy in Wilmington, Delaware.
The Dodgers’ filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late June was only one of many hardships the Boys in Blue have had to endure in the club’s recent past. Current owner Frank McCourt’s divorce has put the team’s dirty laundry, instead of their win-loss record, in the forefront of media attention and speculation.
And while Chapter 11 bankruptcies are becoming common parlance in big business, the Dodgers’ bankruptcy hasn’t been without some unique aspects. For example, the court briefly allowed for hostile (to put it nicely) fan mail to be filed with the Court and subsequently posted to the bankruptcy docket, available for all to see, at the low cost of $.08 per page. Unfortunately for the rest of us, an Order of the Court entered on July 8 removed these letters from public view, only to be replaced with a document that reads “Image Removed From Docket: Per Order at Docket 160.” Darn.
Recently, the Court sided with MLB and overruled a motion by the Dodgers for document production and the deposition of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. The Dodgers’ motion argued that this would allow the team (read—Owner, Frank McCourt) to prove its claims that Selig and MLB were essentially the “Big Bad Wolves” of baseball, while the Dodgers were, in effect, “Little Blue Riding Hood.” The Court found the request to be overly burdensome. And while the ramifications of the Court’s ruling in the short term indicate that the MLB and Selig are closed to the peering eyes and aggressive questioning of the Dodgers’ attorneys, it makes the hearing set for July 20 that much more significant.
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07/13/11 1:42 PM
Bankruptcy, Business Law | Comments Off |
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Midsummer Classic Heats Up: And I’m not talking about the All-Star Game
