Owners Approve Sale Of Dodgers

March 19, 1998 / 11:25 AM EST / AP

Ending the era of family ownership, baseball owners today overwhelmingly approved the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers from Peter O'Malley to Rupert Murdoch's Fox Group.

In approving the sale, valued at about $350 million, owners disregarded the opposition of Murdoch's arch enemy, Ted Turner, vice-chairman of Time-Warner Inc., the Atlanta Braves' owner.

"Fox will be a great contributor to the baseball industry," said O'Malley, who will remain as an executive with the team.

"I'm very proud they have agreed to step in and take the leadership of the Dodgers," he said.

The vote by National League teams was 14-1 with one abstention, and 13-1 in the American League, according to sources close to the team and Fox. The votes against the sale were cast by Turner's Braves and the Chicago White Sox. The New York Mets abstained.

"They've been good partners with baseball, and I think that relationship spoke well of them as a potential partner, and I think that's what carried the day," said Texas Rangers president Tom Schieffer.

The sale had been criticized because Fox, a division of Murdoch's News Corp., has national TV and cable contracts with baseball and has full or partial local rights to games involving 22 of the 30 teams.

"They answered our questions about having the financial interest in 21 other clubs. That was our biggest concern," said Peter Magowan of the San Francisco Giants.

O'Malley's family had controlled the Dodgers since Oct. 26, 1950, when the team was still in Brooklyn. O'Malley's father, Walter, moved the franchise to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, making major league baseball a coast-to-coast sport.

The sale includes the team, Dodger Stadium, 300 acres surrounding the ballpark in downtown Los Angeles and training complexes in Vero Beach, Fla., and the Dominican Republic.

O'Malley was the last of the family owners who dominated baseball during an era before it became a business. At one time, baseball was dominated by Stoneham (Giants), Carpenter (Phillies), Wrigley (Cubs), Griffith (Senators and Twins), Fetzer (Tigers), Galbreath (Pirates) and Yawkey (Red Sox).

Murdoch's arrival completes the transformation. Previously, the Tribune Co. (Cubs), The Walt Disney Co. (Angels), Time Warner (Braves) and Interbrew SA (Blue Jays) had acquired teams.

Turner attended an owners' meeting for the first time in nine years in an attempt to block the sale, speaking Wednesday for less than five minutes, according to several owners who spoke on the condition they not be identified.

He didn't break out any fiery rhetoric, instead taking a low-key approach of outlining Murdoch's possible legal conflicts of interest and questioning whether he would be a partner with the other owners.

"One could argue that by giving someone significant portions of income, that is tantamount to ownership control," Anaheim Angels president Tony avares said after the vote. "They put in some more rules. Fox has made additional commitments to allay people's fears."

Murdoch did not attend the meeting and is in Britain, according to Fox spokesman Vince Wladika.

Chase Carey, News Corp.'s co-chief operating officer, met with several owners Wednesday to address their concerns.

In other news:

Baseball's ownership committee gave preliminary approval to Don Smiley, who is trying to put together a group to buy the Florida Marlins from H. Wayne Huizenga. Smiley, the Marlins president, has been trying to arrange financing since last fall but it was taken longer than expected.

Don Beaver met with Minnesota Twins officials. Beaver hopes to buy the team from Carl Pohlad and move the franchise to North Carolina after this season. No decision from owners is expected until after a May 5 vote in the Winston-Salem area on a ballpark financing referendum.

Owners announced steps they hope will trim 15 minutes off the average game time.