| Report: MLB loans millions to Rangers owner |
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The league would not go into details about any borrowing, but said it was assisting Rangers owner Tom Hicks with the sale of the franchise. ``Tom is the control person, and there was no issue of making payroll,'' Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Thursday. ``Major League Baseball is working with the Rangers to sell the team, as Tom requested.'' Hicks did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Yahoo!, citing a major league source, first reported Thursday that a loan was made to Hicks Sports Group and that the amount was believed to be for less than $15 million. The sport's central office routinely withholds $15 million to $20 million owed each team from central revenues and the sale of the Montreal Expos, and teams may borrow from that with the permission of commissioner Bud Selig. et $15 million from Major League Baseball. The host, former Rangers manager Kevin Kennedy, said he knew something about the situation. Reports of the radio broadcast were published by rangerfans.com, a Web site that follows the team. Texas began the season with a payroll of $68.6 million, 22nd among the 30 big league teams. It's not unprecedented for teams to borrow from MLB. In 1992, the Detroit Tigers borrowed about $5 million to make payroll one month. Hicks said in May he was willing to sell controlling interest in the franchise. Earlier this year, Hicks Sports Group defaulted on $525 million in loans backed by the Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars, the other U.S. sports franchise Hicks owns. Hicks bought the Rangers for $250 million in 1998. Last month, Forbes valued the franchise at $405 million, 15th among the 30 major league teams. Two years ago, Hicks combined with Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett Jr. to buy Liverpool of the English Premier League through a different entity, Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd. It has been negotiating to refinance 350 million pounds ($574 million) debt before a July 24 deadline. Gillett agreed last month to sell the Canadiens, the Gillett Entertainment Centre and the Bell Centre. |
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