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Villaraigosa Says an Angeleno Must Buy the Dodgers, Proposed Law Says Fans Should Own Team
Now that Frank McCourt has agreed to sell the Dodgers, high-profile Angelenos are coming forward with suggestions as to who should buck up and purchase the fiscally shaky Major League Baseball franchise. If you ask L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (you didn't, but, no surprise, he's offered) the answer is it must be a local.
The Daily Breeze reports Villaraigosa said:
"It absolutely has to be somebody from L.A., somebody who loves this town, who believes in this city and understands that the Dodgers aren't just a team. They're a collective community asset. [...] I'm looking forward to local ownership. I believe that whoever buys this team needs to live in this town, needs to be from this city."
So is there one big ol' moneybags who fits the bill? How about if we all pitched in? The latter is a proposed bill put forth by former L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who, in her current post as a congressional rep from L.A.'s South Bay area, has co-authored a bill nicknamed the "Give Fans A Chance Act," according to CBS2. "The bill, co-sponsored by Hahn and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., would be an amendment to 1961 anti-trust legislation. It would allow public entities to make purchases on professional sports teams in any league."
Hahn acknowledges previous attempts to get such a bill passed have failed, but she said the spirit of the bill ties in with the current movement around the nation calling for more representation of the bulk of the population when it comes to big-money decisions. In fact, Hahn said she's referring to the idea of the bill as "Occupy Major League Baseball."
Although the names of wealthy individuals in Los Angeles (Eli Broad, or Lakers' owner Jerry Buss, for example) are being bandied about, many fans agree they should be the team's new owners.
"Fans across this country have really been upset with many of the owners who really are all about corporate greed and profits and not so much about the team or the fans,” Hahn said.
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McCourt has said he hopes to get $1 Billion for the bankrupt Dodgers. Start saving those pennies, Los Angeles!
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