The Los Angeles Dodgers have proposed an auction of the right to broadcast the baseball team's games in a bid to bring in billions of dollars to stabilize its finances and end its bankruptcy.
The team also demanded a multitiude of documents from Major League Baseball in possible anticipation of a showdown with the game's commissioner who rejected a similar proposed media deal earlier this year.
The team blamed its June bankruptcy on Commissioner Bud Selig's refusal to approve a proposed $3 billion , 17-year media rights deal with Fox, a division of News Corp .
The auction that the team proposed in court documents filed at the end of last week requires the Dodgers to break its current broadcast agreement with Fox.
That contract grants Fox exclusive negotiating rights until the end of November 2012.
The proposed auction will provide Fox an exclusive 45-day negotiating period to reach a "stalking horse" or initial bid for the auction. The team would then spend 60 days shopping for competing bidders to set up an auction.
The winning bid would be presented to baseball's commissioner for approval.
