News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch Want A Piece Of The Dodgers

Read More: Los Angeles Dodgers

Fox-TV, which owns the TV rights for the Los Angeles Dodgers, wants to buy a portion of the team, in an apparent effort to help protect those rights:

News Corp.’s Fox has joined the auction process for the LA Dodgers by signing a nondisclosure agreement, the Wall Street Journal, which is also part of the entertainment conglomerate, reported.

The company, however, does not want to fully own the baseball franchise, like it did from 1998 to 2004, but is eyeing a minority stake to boost its chances of keeping the valuable Dodgers TV rights, according to the Journal..

It cited sources familiar with the company’s thinking as saying it is interested in a 15 percent-20 percent stake.

There are several groups and individuals interested in buying the team, but it doesn’t seem likely that the other groups would want to share ownership with another group holding a significant minority interest.

Oh, and about those TV rights:

Time Warner Cable is also expected to look to win the Dodgers TV rights to add content to two regional sports networks that it said it would launch after signing a long-term deal with the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.

One day, events surrounding the Dodgers will settle down. It doesn’t appear that day will be coming any time soon, though.