Dodgers sale, Expos future, World Cup to be discussed at owners meeting

 

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

January 13, 2004

NEW YORK (AP) -- The sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the future of the Montreal Expos and the start of a World Cup in 2005 are up for discussion when baseball owners meet starting Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz.

 

Owners are not likely to vote on the Dodgers' sale during the two-day meeting, according to commissioner Bud Selig. Frank McCourt, a Boston real estate developer, announced Oct. 10 that he had agreed in principle to purchase the team from News Corp., a deal worth $430 million. The contract calls for the deal to close by Jan. 31.

 

The sale is on the agenda for discussion at the ownership committee meeting.

 

 

``It would probably be unfair for people to vote on something they haven't even seen,'' Selig said Monday night.

 

Owners could approve the sale later this month during a telephone conference call.

 

``We're getting closer,'' Duffy Jennings, a spokesman for McCourt, said Tuesday. McCourt and his wife, Jamie, are ``looking forward to closing the transaction and starting their work with the Dodgers,'' Jennings said.

 

Owners may set a new timetable for a decision to relocate the Expos, according to Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer. The Expos were bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season and owners want funding for a new ballpark in place before making a decision, but no area has completed financing plans.

 

Last year, baseball listened to proposals from Northern Virginia; Portland, Ore.; and Washington, D.C. Baseball officials have visited Monterrey, Mexico, and Norfolk, Va., in the past week, and Las Vegas and San Antonio also may be candidates. There also could be a bid from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the Expos return this year for their second straight 22-game slate of ``home'' games.

 

The proposed start of a World Cup in March 2005 also will be discussed. Baseball officials have said that to have the tournament take place then, a decision to proceed probably would have to be made this month.

 

Also on the international front, baseball officials are discussing the possibility of having the Florida Marlins and Houston Astros play an exhibition game in Mexico City this March. The Dodgers and New York Mets played a pair of games there during spring training last year.

 

Owners also may discuss a proposal to start a baseball channel, similar to networks started by the NFL and NBA.

 

AP Sports Writers Jimmy Golen in Boston and John Nadel in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

Owners also may discuss a proposal to start a baseball channel, similar to networks started by the NFL and NBA.

now that would be f'n awesome. :w00t

MLB TV...it's about time. Maybe they could televise the games of the poor Expos in Expos territory.

 

Imagine something like NBA TV for MLB, it would be cool. The thing is MLB could use ESPN or FOX to run the channel. NBA TV looks really unprofessional piggy-backing a national audience onto a local telecast.