The time remaining in the bankruptcy court-ordered sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers is growing short. According to ESPN.com:
Outgoing owner Frank McCourt has agreed to identify a winning bidder by April 1 and close the sale by April 30.
Now, also according to the article, the 11 groups or individuals that remain interested in the team must give the company handling the sale new information:
Blackstone Advisory Partners, which is handling the sale, has asked the remaining groups to identify their investors, detail their financing and outline five-year business plans for the club, the Times reported.
Blackstone whittled the original field of prospective owners to 11 last month, based on its assessment of which bidders could put up at least $1.5 billion for the storied National League franchise.
The $1.5 billion price, which would be the largest sale price for a franchise in the history of major league baseball, would presumably include the valuable broadcast rights now held by the team. According to the article, some of the groups include one headed by former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley, another fronted by former LA manager Joe Torre, another including former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson and one that’s backed by the family of the late Roy Disney, nephew of Disney founder Walt Disney.