After the rush of last week, this week is fairly light on news.
The Dodgers and Frank McCourt continue to make headlines off the field, managing to overshadow Andre Ethier’s 2930-game hitting streak.
- It’s been widely reported that the team will not be able to make payroll on May 31, which will force MLB to bail the Dodgers out. Right now all financial decisions are going through MLB appointee Tom Schieffer. McCourt’s argument has been that Bud Selig’s unwillingness to approve a new media deal from Fox is causing this problem. It is likely that MLB will loan the team money to take care of payroll for the rest of the season, but the price paid will be the complete takeover of the team.
- McCourt’s newly hired Vice Chairman, Steve Sokoroff, is McCourt’s trash-talking heel. Earlier in the week, Sokoroff accused Schieffer of not acting promptly to approve a security increase at Dodger Stadium in the wake of the death of Osama Bin Laden. Schieffer supplied an email to MLB showing that he approved the request in two minutes, which understandably got MLB very upset. McCourt was forced to apologize for Sokoroff, and probably lost whatever allies he had within the league in the process.
- A rumor gaining traction has the NFL looking at the Dodger Stadium site as a future stadium home, either by replacing or sitting alongside the existing ballpark. AEG would be the party to make it happen. Whether it’s a swap or two stadia, the concept doesn’t make much sense from AEG’s perspective. One of the reasons to have a domed football stadium is that it serves a second, nearly as important purpose: it replaces and extends the convention center. A ballpark or any open-air stadium won’t work for that purpose. What’s more, AEG probably isn’t interested in pushing a bunch of pedestrian and vehicle traffic to Chavez Ravine, they’d like to keep it downtown. If anything, a football stadium at Chavez Ravine next to Dodger Stadium without any links to AEG might make the most sense of any deal. A NFL stadium could follow the same cost-saving construction principles (building into a hill) employed at Dodger Stadium and advertised for the City of Industry stadium, while displacing only 1,200 parking spaces and utilizing other existing infrastructure at the same time.
- Even the financial investigation is getting bogged down. MLB wants hard or disc copies of financial records. The Dodgers will only allow auditors access to a “virtual data room” from which nothing can be removed. The IAEA had an easier time getting through inspections in Iraq than this.
The planned Las Vegas National Sports Center could move from Downtown to The Strip, right behind Mandalay Bay. Texas developer Chris Milam bought a large, undeveloped lot across the I-15 freeway from Mandalay Bay and has already signed the Las Vegas 51’s AAA franchise to move down there. Updated 9:33 PM – The 51’s have been sold to Milam, making the impetus to build LVNSC greater.
During the last A’s-Angels series in Anaheim, did anyone notice how the batter’s eye was redone? Instead of a tarp and a painted wall, there appears to be some turf up top and trees up front. I wonder if anyone’s done an analysis to see how batter’s eye changes affect team batting pre/post.
OT – Gus Johnson won’t be working CBS’s NCAA hoops tourney coverage anymore. Not cool.
Updated 9:44 PM – Look to next week for things to heat up a little as the next owners meetings are set for Wednesday and Thursday. The Dodgers may be the #1 discussion topic even though they aren’t on the agenda, with the Mets and a potential new minority owner #2. CBA framework will probably be close to finalized, and the A’s/Rays’ situations might make the talks (don’t count on it). From the LA Times’ Bill Shaikin:
The Dodgers’ situation is not on the agenda for next week’s meeting, and no action is expected with regard to the team, according to two people familiar with plans for the meeting but not authorized to discuss them publicly.
However, the Dodgers currently lack the cash to meet the May 31 payroll, a scenario that could trigger an ownership change, a legal confrontation between McCourt and Selig, or both.
If the Dodgers fail to meet the payroll, the commissioner’s office would pay the salaries, with McCourt almost certainly asked to sell the team. If he were to refuse, the league constitution specifically provides for “involuntary termination” of the franchise if the owner fails to repay any debts to the league within 30 days.
newballpark.org 
This may be splitting hairs, but the location in the Las Vegas picture isn’t right behind Mandalay Bay; it’s on the other side of Interstate 15, along Dean Martin Drive. It’s largely empty desert land right now.
Looks like the guy who rallied the troops in Sacramento to save the Kings for a year might be moving to San Jose. http://www.mercurynews.com/sal-pizarro/ci_18002369
And still no news on the draft EIR for Victory Court. Doesn’t look good.
Updated 9:33 PM – The 51’s have been sold to Milam, making the impetus to build LVNSC greater.
I hate to admit it, but the A’s and Rays are small potatoes compared to Dodgers and Mets. Another owner’s meetings with no action is more than likely.
Agree with Jeffrey,
Especially considering the A’s ballpark (behind closed doors) is all but ready to go: Diridon site, naming rights, equity for construction, pledge from SV companies, etc. etc.
If the football stadium moves to Chavez Ravine (and I think it would be a nonstarter, IMHO) would the downtown L.A. site work for the Angels should they move back into that city?
What are your thoughts on the new television deal the soon-to-be Pac-12 just signed with Fox and ESPN? How would that affect the programs of the Bay Area colleges?
@Transic – The site would work for either club. The Angels’ lease runs through 2016, though Arte Moreno isn’t actively looking outside of Anaheim at the moment. I’d expect another 5 or 10-year extension while they figure things out. One of the nice things about the way Moreno runs things is that tickets are so much cheaper than the Dodgers is that if they want to raise more revenue they can just ratchet up the prices a little without incurring the wrath of the fanbase.
I don’t expect the new TV deals to affect Stanford and Cal too much. They’ll get a little more exposure from Fox, ESPN and the new network. OTOH the Bay Area is a bad college sports market and all of the new facilities for both Stanford and Cal have already been built or are underway without needing the new TV revenues. It would be nice if the TV money could keep Cal baseball going indefinitely.
Not sure if you linked this but another good article on NFL & the LA stadiums:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-cole_nfl_stadium_at__dodgers_stadium_site_050411
I remember back when I used to look forward to owners meetings in anticipation of some action being taken on the A’s stadium. I was so naive back then. Now I realize the owners could meet twice a day for a year and the A’s still won’t come up. MLB doesn’t give a crap about us and we’ll be stuck in the Coliseum for years to come. No wonder no one comes to the games. If MLB doesn’t care about the A’s, why should anyone else?
I don’t agree, I think they care about making every franchise strong. Selig either doesn’t have the votes to overturn (thus pressuring the Giants into making a deal) or is waiting for the Oakland EIR to fall apart and San Jose to finish buying the land, or maybe all three (he can get the votes after the other two happen).
@baycom–and..what if theEIR doesn’t fall apart?
Is Oakland still in the game?
I think so, the task force wouldn’t have told Oakland that Victory Court its preferred site if it wasn’t willing to let the game get played out. But Peerless Coffee probably makes the site unworkable, and then there’s the matter of financing a ballpark.
Maybe we’re not hearing about any draft EIR because it will certainly note the massive amounts of money needed for infrastructure and business relocations, which Oakland doesn’t have, the state certainly doesn’t have and the A’s owner’s won’t see as their obligation to pay?
Happy Mothers Day!
I think the downtown San Jose land transactions (selling of RDA plots) were supposed to “close” by June (is this year flying by, or is it me?). So perhaps will see some movement on getting the last two Diridon parcels in hand by mid-Summer.