Dodgers bankruptcy: Frank McCourt vs. Frank Sinatra?
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Ol’ Blue Eyes has the Dodger blues.
Or at least his family does. The family of the late Frank Sinatra is among a small group of season-ticket holders seeking a say in the Dodgers’ bankruptcy case.
In a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday, the season-ticket holders asked that they have a voice in the case, in addition to the creditors owed money by the Dodgers. The filing does not seek anything specific from the Dodgers. There are five season-ticket accounts referenced in the filing -- including that of the Sinatra family, whose tickets date back to the team’s inaugural season in Los Angeles in 1958.
‘Additional season ticket holders are expected to join,’ according to the filing.
No date has been set to consider whether the ticket holders will be granted standing in the case, according to their attorney, Robbin Itkin. The committee of ticket holders would like the Dodgers to pay its legal bills, just as the Dodgers are required to pay the legal bills for the committee of creditors.
A statement from Itkin: ‘We feel the season ticket holders are the true stakeholders in the bankruptcy case and currently have no voice in the case. The Official Committee of Creditors does not adequately represent the interests of season ticket holders. The Committee represents trade creditors and other claimants seeking to maximize cash on their claims against the Debtors, as reflected by the composition of the Committee.
‘The season ticket holders are not focused on cash payments but rather on the preservation of the Dodgers, the integrity of the team, the financial success of the team, the retention of the team as a Los Angeles team, overall -- the long-term viability of the team.
‘Most of the members of the Ad Hoc Committee of Season Ticket Holders have held season tickets since the inception of Dodger Stadium (and before when the Dodgers first played at the Coliseum). The Ad Hoc Committee represents the interests of the public (we understand there are approximately 17,000 season ticket holders) who have supported the Dodgers franchise for years, whether a season ticket holder of one seat or eight seats or more -- those fans whose funds paid for season tickets have been securitized and utilized for the Dodgers organization.
‘For these compelling reasons we believe the Ad Hoc Committee should be made an official committee whose expenditures in these bankruptcy cases are paid by the Debtors’ estates, just like the Official unsecured creditors’ committee who represents the separate interests of general unsecured creditors.’
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-- Bill Shaikin