What if China Buys the Dodgers?
 

It appears to be true that an offer has been made on the Dodgers, with the bulk of the funds coming from Chinese government (directly or indirectly). If that is true, or even if it turns out to a Chinese businessman or consortium, what impact will it have on baseball and potentially card collecting?

Conventional wisdom says the Dodgers would become a global brand, with a treasure chest of marketing and TV dollars to be had in China. That seems reasonable. If it happens might baseball catch on big time in China, and might that lead to baseball cards being sold there, and eventually to vintage cards being sought out by Chinese collectors?

Lots of "ifs" to be sure, but very interesting potential.

The New Jersey Nets, soon to be the Brooklyn Nets, are owned by a Russian businessman, and nothing really has changed. They still lose with great regularity. But I suppose you are referring to the potential new fan base in China, which of course could be enormous. Do they follow American baseball there? Don't know. Every aspect of our lives is becoming global, so expanding baseball to foreign countries would seem natural.

Are you kidding?
 

If I was MLB I wouldn't allow it! Why would they want a piece of American pie to be owned and operated by communists? If it's a Chinese-American buying it, that's perfectly fine. The Chinese government, are you kidding me? Talk about selling out. There has to be an American billionaire who can buy this proud franchise.
But what does it matter. In the end, China will probably own North America anyways (if they don't already). Sorry if I offended anyone, there taking our jobs, now they want our land, real estate and the Dodgers? Enough is enough.....

Amen, brother!

If they do buy them, would they change their name to the Rodgers? :D

Everybody better get used to dealing with China. They're getting richer and more powerful, and they're not going away...and who needs the Dodgers anyway?;)

Do I have a problem with the Chinese buying the Dodgers? I'd support aliens from outer space buying the team if it means baseball can get rid of that clown, McCourt ...

Would there rivals be the Tokyo Giants?

Hards to argue with the "anyone but McCourt" sentiment.

Maybe Prokhorov could buy the Dodgers and move them back to Brooklyn. How sweet would that be? Maybe flip the Mets to the West coast...

Maybe a true World Series someday? Would be kind of cool, if it was competitive.

I had the pleasure of spending 14 months in Beijing as a sports columnist for China Daily, the largest English publication in the PRC. The year I was there (2004-05) was the third season of the China Baseball League, a seven-team pro circuit that was just starting to break through from the periphery of the nation's sports culture. Baseball has a history on the Chinese mainland dating back to the 1920s; in fact, the nation's first baseball stadium was a gift from the O'Malley family in the early 1970s. The game is now growing by leaps and bounds and is especially popular among college students. If the day ever comes when the PRC gains a financial stake in the Dodgers – or any other MLB team – I think the benefits would outweigh any pitfalls. Just my 2 cents worth.

"Anyone but Mark Cuban!" exclaimed Bud Selig hysterically.

If China buys the Dodgers, I'll never eat a "Dodger Dog" again.

The teams are essentially franchises of MLB, and, while owners are owners, they are subject to strict rules and regulations. Similar to when you buy a McDonald's franchise. It's not as if Chinese owners could do whatever they want with the team. As with Marge Schott and Frank McCourt, MLB can even take away a team from an owner if they do naughty enough things.

I don't have an issue with Chinese owners. Potential American owners are vetted by MLB, and many are rejected. Though clearly MLB didn't make the right choice with McCourt.

** I should add as disclaimer that I'm not a Dogers fan and have once or twice referred to them as the "poor man's Yankees."

The Dodgers were once owned by an Australian and nobody seemed to care.

I think the general problem with Chinese - or any foreign - owner is the money leaving the U.S. If the team makes a profit the money has a better chance of being spent overseas and thus not helping our economy.

Uh oh..does that mean we should move Toronto's franchise to the US? How about foreign players? Should we kick them out? Or force them to live in the US full time?

Dan, no need to get sarcastic. MLB makes money on a team in Toronto - ticket sales, jersey sales, tv deals, etc. Foreign players (like Ichiro) brings in more money from outside and brings more interest from Asian citizens in America and product sales to Asia.

I'm not saying its bad for a team to be owned by a foreign gov't, but if the end result is US dollars leaving the country then that I don't see how that is good. Feel free to make some points to sway my opinion but I feel a foreign player playing in the MLB is different than a foreign gov't owning American industry.

Maybe we can even hire Chinese workers for the ballpark (grounds crew, ticket sales, concessions, etc) and screw America even more?

David, I think hiring Chinese (or any ethnicity) workers for the ballparks is fine. Which I think you agree with too maybe u're just poking fun at me? Sorry I'm confused lol

Rob,

Just the opposite, I totally agree with you. I was poking fun and Dan and his sarcasm. Seems like he has no problem shipping American dollars overseas, so perhaps we should import Chinese workers (taking away American jobs) and screw the country even more.

David

You guys actually have me wrong...I totally blame US corporations for shipping jobs overseas and I don't believe it has one damn thing to do with corporate tax rates..it has to do with cheap labor...(recently an entire town very close to me was decimated because Irwin tools decided to make their vise grips in China instead of DeWitt, Nebraska where the Vise Grip was invented)I don't see how selling the Dodgers to the Chinese qualifies though...it's not as if they can move the team to China..they'd still be employing Americans. I think if you guys knew how much China is already invested in America you may be shocked.

I was just playing devil's advocate..not trying to be sarcastic...just enjoying the verbal volleying that used to be a big part of the old Net54..please don't take anything too seriously that I post in the watercooler section. :)

I can't speak for all corporations, but I can tell you why my former company moved overseas. Corporate Tax Rates. That simple. We moved from Clinton, New Jersey to Geneva, Switzerland. As far as operations go, absolutely nothing changed. We moved about half a dozen guys to Switzerland to the new corporate office and didn't miss a beat.

I know some companies are moving to China for the cheaper labor, but I don't think that's the only deciding factor. From what I understand anyway, their labor rates are going up. I think the tax breaks have a lot more to do with it.

Either way, the government has to get that revenue from somewhere, right? So what happens when all the major corporations move overseas? They will raise the taxes of small businesses (mostly mom and pop type) to make up for it. It's coming.

Did your former company actually move to Switzerland or do they just have a small office there which they call their company headquarters? Most American companies based in Switzerland have nobody there except a receptionist...that will be changing soon..or maybe already has?

No, they just have a small office there which they call their company headquarters. Other than that, nothing really changed.

no problem with playing Devils Advocate, Dan! :)

I just don't like the idea of American Industry being owned by foreign countries. The profits will leave our country. Will a China-owned Dodgers be better than no Dodgers at all? I don't know the answer to that haha.

Like ya'll have said, US Corporations are setting up shop outside of the US so they are evading the US taxes. Between US taxes and employee insurance and other fees its more beneficial for them to be based overseas. They store the money offshore until the US lets them bring back the billions of dollars at a reduced tax rate like every 10 years or whatever. The politicians so far haven't done anything to remedy this and it'll only get worse if something isn't done.

I would rather the Dodgers be owned by an American too FWIW...I wasn't real thrilled when Newscorp (Rupert Murdoch) bought them. I'm not sure what MLB has against Mark Cuban..he should have been the owner of the Cubs...maybe he can get in on the Dodgers?

I think Bud is still irked about the Missile Crisis in '62.

Oh...I get it now....the Bay of Pigs fiasco was something to do with the Brewers' sausage races! It's all so clear! That's probably also why Panini can't get a license to produce baseball cards.

I don't mind China buying the Dodgers as long as the home games aren't moved to Bejiing and Dodger Stadium isn't replaced with missile silos.

Can't wait to see what the baseball equivalent of Yao Ming will look like.

the dodgers are mccourt's golden goose. if he sells now after all the debt/divorce he's left with a couple hundred mils? the next tv contract is worth billions. he's not giving up that easily. we're a long way from speculating whether a chinese owner would drive up prices on a ty cobb card.

+1 I thought it was the darkest day in franchise history until the McCourts. Bring back the O'Mallys!
JimB

P.S. Who among those who don't like foreigners owning business interests in America are boycotting Fox "News"?

Makes no difference to me. I'd still hate them with every fiber of my being.

Go Giants!

Kinda hard to ignore Fox "News" when they hold 13 of the top rated 15 (and all of the top 12) cable news shows on TV and is BY FAR the top rated and most trusted source for television news. Funny how the Kool Aid drinkers criticize Fox "News" when they've probably never even spent 2 minutes to watch it. I've never seen another cable news show with a more balanced line up of journalists and contributors. How about Alan Colmes, Bob Beckel, Doug Schoen, Geraldo Rivera, Juan Williams, Mara Liasson (I could go on and on, but those are the more famous ones) who are all liberals and are always invited to give their point of view. Can somebody tell me when was the last time Keith Olberman, Brian Williams or Chris "I felt this tingle going up my leg" Mathews had a conservative on their show to give their point of view? I would to hear the answer, but I doubt the Kool Aid drinkers have anything to say.

This is just so out of touch with reality it is hardly worth a comment. You can like Fox, but to consider it balanced reporting is absolutely ridiculous. It shows how out of touch you are with the world according to anybody but the far right.

I (and millions of others in this country) do not consider Fox to be a news organization. They are right wing propaganda all the time, even when they put weak, ugly "leftists" up as foils or faintly put on the charade of just reporting.
JimB

And comparing individual pundits to a 24 hour cable "News" organization with regard to airing balanced perspectives is likewise ridiculous. News reporting is something that by definition is supposed to be neutral. Pundits are not.
JimB

I like to flip back and forth from Fox to CNN when a big event is taking place.

When the earthquake hit the east coast a few weeks back CNN seemed to be focusing the nuclear plant that was relatively close to the epicenter. While I thought it was a relevant angle, they seemed a bit too hungry for a bigger disaster to cover. The anchors on Fox kept saying how everyone initially thought it was a terrorist attack as we approached the anniversary of 9/11. I get this reaction, but after a while you got the feeling that they just like saying "terrorist attack". Fear sells.

When Bin Laden got taken out CNN seemed to be struggling for details, as did Fox. They both needed to report what they new but minimize the speculation. The big difference was how many references to W I heard on Fox, and discussing who really deserved the credit for the kill. To me that is an appropriate 2nd or 3rd day follow up, but not important when the news is still breaking.

Bottom line for me is that I think both CNN and Fox are fairly lame, and have walked away from being news organizations and have too much embraced being entertainment. But we only have ourselves to blame for that, as those networks react to what people watch and what drives profits.

And to the question of this thread, I suppose you are not opposed to foreign owned businesses as long as they are the right foreigners (double meaning intended). :)
JimB

LMAO! What flavor is the Kool Aid today? You (and millions of others in the is country) can sit there and criticize Fox News all you want, but the fact is, as I said before, they hold 13 of the top rated 15 (and all of the top 12) cable news shows on TV and is BY FAR the top rated and most trusted source for television news. That's not "out of touch with reality," it's a proven fact!

Do they lean right? Certainly! But do NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSN and every other network lean left? Without a doubt. The difference is, as I pointed out before, at least Fox News has guests on their shows to give other point of views where those other networks do not. So, let me get this straight. Fox is not balanced reporting, but instead "right wing propaganda all the time," but Keith Olberman, Brian Williams, Chris Mathews, Katie Courik, Anderson Cooper (I could go on forever) do report the news fair and balanced without any propoganda? Your comments are a joke!

I have absolutely no problem with that. There, I answered your question, now please answer mine. What news organization does present the news "fair and balanced" without any propoganda? Please, I am awaiting your response. This is going to be comical.

We disagree. Let's just leave it at that. Good people can disagree. I do not see a point to dragging this out. Have a good weekend.
JimB

Agreed! See, we can agree :D

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...l/BeerMugs.gif

China buying the Dodgers? Why am I not suprised- all I can say is I hope it never happens. Really. :mad:

As far as the above named brainwashing cable news stations, it is obvious that they are all guilty of blacking out (for the most part) information that the public should be aware of. They manipulate their viewers minds, and are NOT fair and balanced. The only thing F#X news has going for them is Judge Napolitano, HE is the only thing fair and balanced about them IMO.

And what's up with C*N covering Republican debates? :D:D:D:rolleyes: LOL LOL LOL

Seek alternative news via the internet. And don't sell the Dodgers to China, PLEASE !!

Sincerely, Clayton

If you don't like the Chinese, root for them buy the Dodgers...Money pit all the way, an industry filled with jerks who are your de facto partners and an anti-trust exemption to boot. It broke Fox's back in a few seasons and the Chinese will quickly tire of the nonsense. I mean, can you imagine the PRC at the table with the Steinbrenner spawn or that moron who runs the Orioles?

:D:D:D

Maybe they're looking for any means necessary to try and get the trillions of dollars our country owes to them :p