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Dodgers, Fox Sports headed to mediation

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The mediator who brokered peace between Frank McCourt and Bud Selig got another assignment on Monday: Negotiate a truce between McCourt and Fox Sports.

The Dodgers and Fox have agreed to submit their dispute to mediation, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross wrote in an order issued Monday. Gross appointed retired judge Joseph Farnan, the mediator who shepherded the agreement for McCourt to sell the Dodgers.

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The mediation is set to start next Monday. However, Gross also ordered that a Nov. 30 hearing would proceed as scheduled “barring further order of the Court.” The judge previously has expressed his interest in resolving the Dodgers case as soon as possible so the team can best prepare for next season.

The Dodgers have asked for permission to market their television rights as part of the team sale, a move opposed by Fox as a contractual violation. Fox has asked the court to dismiss the Dodgers from bankruptcy, a move mocked by the team as “an act of utter desperation.”

Separately, the Dodgers have sued Fox and Fox has sued the Dodgers. Gross ordered both suits put on hold “pending the conclusion of the mediation.”

— Bill Shaikin

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