McCourt Divorce: Frank to Keep Dodgers in $130M Deal

UPDATE: Late Monday Frank and Jamie McCourt released a joint statement confirming that the couple had reached an agreement.

They said the details would not be released publicly.

The statement also said that Jamie McCourt will no longer oppose a sale of Dodger media rights. She will instead file a motion supporting a deal.

A judge must still sign off on the agreement, but once he does the McCourts should present a united front in Frank McCourt's battle with MLB over the media rights.

EARLIER: It could be perhaps the costliest California divorce ever.

Frank McCourt would give his wife Jamie about $130 million dollars but keep control of the Dodgers, in a settlement first reported the Los Angeles Times early Monday morning and now confirmed by the Associated Press.

In return, Jamie is giving up any claim she has to the Dodgers, said the Times, relying on anonymous sources close to the deal.

The settlement is still waiting to be finalized.

According to the Times, establishing Frank McCourt's complete control of the Dodgers would set up a "showdown" between McCourt and Major Leage Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

McCourt has been attempting to sell television rights to Dodger games to settle his debts in a bankruptcy proceeding. 

Selig has requested the judge in that proceeding to order the Dodgers be sold.

According to the Times:

For Frank McCourt to keep the team, he probably needs U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross to deny Selig's request and to grant an auction of the Dodgers' television rights, over the objections of Selig and Fox Sports.

However, in the absence of the pending settlement, Frank McCourt could not have kept the team without defeating Selig in Bankruptcy Court, then defeating his ex-wife in divorce court on the issue of whether the Dodgers were community property.

Adds the Huffington Post

The divorce case has been placed on hold until a bankruptcy court in Delaware determines the fate of the team. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and a judge will consider dueling motions over four days starting Oct. 31.

Matthew Hiltzik, spokesman for Jamie McCourt, declined to comment for both the Times and the Associated Press.

Read more here:

From the Daily News

From the Los Angeles Times

From the Huffington Post