Texas Ranger

Decision Points

The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. From 1994 to the present, the Rangers have played in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, located in Arlington, Texas. The team's name is borrowed from the famous law enforcement agency of the same name.

The franchise originated in 1961 as the Washington Senators, an expansion team awarded to Washington, D.C. after the city's first ballclub, the original Washington Senators, relocated to Minnesota and became the Twins. After the 1971 season, the new Senators moved to Arlington, Texas and debuted as the Rangers the following spring.

The Texas Rangers Baseball Club has made four appearances in the MLB postseason, all following division championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2010. In 2010, the Rangers advanced past the Division Series for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. Texas then brought home their first American League Pennant after besting the New York Yankees in 6 games. In the 2010 World Series, the franchise's first, the Rangers fell to the San Francisco Giants.

While the 2009 season was strong on the field, club owner Tom Hicks became the focus of several reports indicating serious financial problems with his holding group, Hicks Sports Group, which also owned the Dallas Stars, the Frisco Roughriders (the Rangers AA-farm club), 1/2 of Liverpool F.C. (sold in mid-October 2010 to New England Sports Ventures, owners of the Boston Red Sox), and the Mesquite Championship Rodeo (later sold by HSG).

HSG was reported to have gone into default on a $525 million loan.

In April 2009, Hicks announced he would be willing to sell a minority interest in the team. Only one month later, Hicks announced he would be willing to sell majority control of the Rangers.

In July, 2009 it was reported that Hicks borrowed money from Major League Baseball to meet the team's payroll.

After the 2009 season, Hicks began scouting prospective buyers and in December entered into exclusive negotiating rights for sale of the Rangers with a consortium headed by Pittsburgh sports lawyer Chuck Greenberg and Rangers team president Nolan Ryan.

On January 22, 2010, Hicks Sports Group officially reached a formal agreement to sell the Texas Rangers to the group headed by Greenberg and Ryan (now called Rangers Baseball Express) for approximately $570 million. Under the provisions of the deal, former owner Hicks stayed on as a limited minority partner, but was not allowed to retain a seat on the board of governors. Other minority partners included Dallas businessman Ray Davis, and Ft. Worth businessman Bob Simpson. Hicks also sold much of the land surrounding Rangers Ballpark to Rangers Baseball Express in a separate deal.

The deal was subject to approval by the other MLB owners (a 3/4 vote is required) and completed by April 1. However, one of HSG's principal lenders (Monarch Alternative Capital) opposed the sale on grounds that the proceeds would not fully repay the defaulted HSG notes. On April 21, Major League Baseball issued a statement declaring the Rangers' sale to be under the control of the Commissioner to expedite the process. Because of public comments made by Hicks deemed detrimental to the process, MLB also stripped Hicks of any responsibility regarding the sale of the team. On May 13, MLB threatened to seize control of the rest of the team's operations if a deal was not completed by the deadline set by the Commissioner.

As the stalemate between HSG and its creditors continued, on May 24, 2010 the Texas Rangers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. As of that date, the Rangers and HSG had an estimated debt of $575 million. Much of the unsecured debt was owed in back salary. Officially, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez topped the list of unsecured creditors with an estimated $24.9 million owed by the Rangers. Additionally, the Rangers also owed Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kevin Millwood $12.9 million, and current Rangers third baseman Michael Young $3.9 million. At a press conference, the Greenberg-Ryan group proposed to buy the team for $575 million. The sale would repay all the team’s creditors, including players owed back salary.

After several attempts to resolve the deal fell through, the bankruptcy court ordered a public auction to be held on August 4. The Greenberg/Ryan bid would be the opening bid, and other offers (subject to MLB approval) would have to be submitted by the prior day in order to be considered. At the auction, only one other MLB-approved group submitted an offer – Radical Baseball LLC, a group formed by Houston businessman Jim Crane (who was previously unsuccessful in buying the Houston Astros) and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (who was previously unsuccessful in buying the Chicago Cubs). The auction lasted until the early morning of August 5, with the winning bid submitted by Greenberg/Ryan. The bankruptcy court approved the bid later that morning and the bankruptcy case closed. The sale to the Greenberg/Ryan was approved by all 30 MLB owners at the owners meeting in Minneapolis on Thursday August 12.

Source:wikipedia