{"id":549830,"date":"2026-02-02T02:12:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T02:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/549830\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T02:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T02:12:29","slug":"inside-the-dodgers-tv-deal-that-helped-launch-a-dynasty-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/549830\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Dodgers TV Deal That Helped Launch a Dynasty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid the conversation about the team\u2019s spending, the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 TV deal<\/a> with Spectrum has come up, namely, a special clause that allows the Dodgers to retain an additional portion of their TV revenue.<\/p>\n

The signing of outfielder Kyle Tucker<\/a> has sparked a total meltdown on social media, with fanbases from all over the MLB spectrum coming out of the woodwork and calling out the Dodgers for \u201cruining baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tucker is set to earn $60 million per season, an incredibly high average annual value, which will have him among the highest-paid athletes in the sport. He is joining a team already full of stars in Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, and Freddie Freeman \u2014 the reigning World Series champions.<\/p>\n

As a result, an agreement between the Dodgers\u2019 owners, the Guggenheim Group, and MLB has begun to circulate.<\/p>\n

\"AprApr 29, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Dodgers logo in the outfield pavilion at Dodger Stadium<\/a>. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The LA Times\u2019 Bill Shaikin<\/a> outlined the terms of the deal between MLB and the Dodgers that have indeed led to the team keeping a larger share of its revenue.<\/p>\n

What happened with the Dodgers media deal?<\/p>\n

While trying to oust Frank McCourt <\/a>as an owner in MLB, the league blocked a $3 billion deal between the Dodgers and Fox Sports, prompting McCourt to file a suit in bankruptcy court.<\/p>\n

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McCourt was trying to sell the team for all its worth, and he needed to make sure bidders knew what to expect from a TV deal.<\/p>\n

In bankruptcy court, MLB agreed that the fair-market value for the Dodgers\u2019 TV deal was the Fox offer, meaning the league would take its 34 percent cut based on those terms.<\/p>\n

However, the Dodgers ended up striking a deal worth more than $8 billion, though MLB could not take more from the new deal.<\/p>\n

During an appearance on Dodgers Dougout with Doug McKain, Shakin explained how the deal materialized.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a nutshell, in order to get Frank McCourt out, which was the objective from MLB, they had to make a deal with him in bankruptcy court,\u201d Shakin said on the show.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd part of that deal was how are you going to value the television contract? And since a television contract did not exist at that time, because a new owner had not even been selected, they did the best they could.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Guggenheim came out with a really great offer that I think blew even MLB\u2019s wildest expectations away. MLB wasn\u2019t thrilled, but they\u2019re living by the terms of the deal, and that\u2019s where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did MLB not fight the Dodgers on the deal?<\/p>\n

MLB did try to push for new terms that hold the Dodgers to the same standard as other teams, but the settlement in bankruptcy court was too much of a blocker.<\/p>\n

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However, as Shakin outlines, the Dodgers\u2019 new owners, Guggenheim, did work with MLB to find a middle ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo in a normal situation, Major League Baseball would have said, this is a crazy high deal and good for you, and we\u2019re happy, but we gotta share this money just like we share any other money.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in this case, MLB could only push so far because Guggenheim was willing to work with MLB to a point. And then Guggenheim could have gone back to the court and said, \u2018we got a deal, please, Mr. Judge, enforce the deal. That\u2019s what you\u2019re here for.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the court, as they say in legal circles, has jurisdiction over the deal, which means they run everything.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo, MLB could have been stuck with the original settlement, which was not as favorable as what they got in the negotiations with Guggenheim.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it equal for all other teams? Absolutely not. Is it a competitive advantage for the Dodgers? Sure. Now, is it as big a competitive advantage as some people are making it? I don\u2019t think so \u2019cause the contract itself is way more than the individual amount the Dodgers are saving every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"Oct<\/p>\n

Oct 31, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) celebrates with champagne in the locker room after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2025 MLB World Series at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith rounding the bases during the 2025 World Series.<\/p>\n

\"Nov<\/p>\n

Nov 5, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers player Teoscar Hernandez, majority owner Mark Walter during recognition for the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series victory at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman at superstar Shohei Ohtani’s introductory press conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amid the conversation about the team\u2019s spending, the Los Angeles Dodgers\u2019 TV deal with Spectrum has come up,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[72469,5,39,31533,815,29,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4,1526,468,71102],"class_list":["post-549830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-bankruptcy-court","tag-baseball","tag-dodgers","tag-frank-mccourt","tag-freddie-freeman","tag-kyle-tucker","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-mlb","tag-mookie-betts","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-tv-deal"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115998618990896293","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}