Jamie McCourt loses bid to throw out Dodgers divorce deal

Jamie McCourt has no legal basis to force her ex-husband to share his record profit from the sale of the Dodgers, a judge ruled Monday.

In a 57-page ruling, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon repeatedly dismissed Jamie McCourt’s claim that she was unaware of the potential values of the Dodgers and of a regional sports network as “not credible.”

Frank McCourt sold the Dodgers for $2.15 billion last year, five months after Jamie McCourt accepted $131 million in a divorce settlement. Guggenheim Baseball Management, the new owners, subsequently agreed to an $8.5-billion deal with Time Warner Cable to launch a regional sports network centered on the Dodgers.

Jamie McCourt asked that the divorce settlement be thrown out, alleging Frank McCourt misled her about the value of the team and its assets. In his ruling, Gordon said there was “no credible evidence” to support those allegations and noted that Jamie McCourt had been involved in team and RSN valuations in her capacity as a high-ranking Dodgers executive.

Bert Fields, an attorney for Jamie McCourt, said his client plans to appeal. Ryan Kirkpatrick, an attorney for Frank McCourt, had no comment.

Frank McCourt turned a net profit of $1.278 billion on the Dodgers sale, subtracting $460 million in tax payments and $412 million in debts assumed by Guggenheim. No other baseball team has sold for even $1 billion.

Guggenheim also agreed to invest as much as $650 million in a real estate development fund run by McCourt and to pay him an annual management fee, starting at $5.5 million. In addition, McCourt gets at least $7 million per year from fees the Dodgers pay to rent the stadium parking lots, half ownership of those lots and the right to sell his stake in those lots to Guggenheim for an additional $150 million.