The Dodger Divorce continues to give and give. This week's revelation is that the Dodgers have been charging themselves rent on some of their own Chavez Ravine land--$14.9 million in 2008, $15.2 million in 2009, and $14 million this year. Those rents are, according to the LA Times, both "far greater than what has been paid by teams with an independent landlord" and "far greater than any claimed expenses." Here's how it works: in 2006, Frank McCourt divided the stadium land into three parcels and set up a company called Blue Land to own two of the parcels (parking lots), which now serve as collateral on a $60 million loan. So the Dodgers pay rent on the parking lot land to Blue Land.
Don't worry, though, they haven't been actually paying themselves such outrageous rents--they only paid about $5.5 million in 2008 and $6 million in 2009, about enough to pay the debt on the loan. What's left over, deducted from team revenue but not actually paid to Blue Land, has come to about $24 million. Jamie's lawyer is saying that money could go to Frank, unchecked by the divorce court.
This year the Dodgers seem to have been good tenants, paying in full. The Dodgers Chief Financial Officer tells the LAT that "Blue Land expects to allocate $5 million of this year's rental fees to McCourt, about $4.5 million to debt service and about $4 million to construction managers," mostly to the McCourt-owned company in charge of long-stalled development plans. [Image via LAdodgertalk.com]
· Dodgers' finances include an unusual revenue-generating plan: 'Own to rent' [LAT]
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