Bankruptcy judge approves Dodgers settlement with Fox Sports, clearing way for sale of team

“The agreement with Fox clears the path for the Dodgers to sell the team on schedule and to maximize the value of the debtors’ estate,” Dodgers attorney Sid Levinson told Judge Kevin Gross.

Fox Sports attorney Greg Werkheiser said Fox was glad to have resolved its differences with the Dodgers, and attorneys for Major League Baseball and the Dodgers’ committee of unsecured creditors told Gross they support the settlement.

Gross quickly signed off on the settlement, saying it was in the best interest of all parties in the Dodgers bankruptcy case.

The settlement was reached with the help of a court-appointed mediator after a federal district court judge said last month that Fox likely would win an appeal of a ruling by Gross that authorized the Dodgers to begin a process to market the media rights to future games starting in 2014.

Fox Sports Net West, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., claimed that the media rights marketing plan violated its rights under an existing telecast contract with the Dodgers.

Under the settlement, the Dodgers will abide by the terms of the existing contract with Fox. That contract gives Fox an exclusive 45-day period starting in October to try to negotiate a contract extension with the Dodgers. The contract also prohibits the Dodgers from talking to other potential buyers of the media rights before Nov. 30 and gives Fox a limited right of first refusal on competing offers received after that date.