Fans Schedule Rally To Urge Dodgers Owner To Sell Team

(CNS) – A rally will be held Saturday near Dodger Stadium in an attempt to persuade Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to sell the team.

Rally organizer Roger Arrieta is also calling on fans to boycott today’s game against the San Diego Padres. The game was selected for a boycott because it is being televised by Fox Sports, Arrieta said, which would increase the impact of a small crowd. However, unbeknownst to Arrieta, the game is only being shown to about 10 percent of the nation, a Fox Sports official said.

McCourt has said repeatedly that he does not plan to sell the team and hopes to pass it along to his sons. Arrieta acknowledged to City News Service “it’s going to take a lot to change his mind.”

McCourt has drawn the enmity of many Dodger fans since it was revealed in legal filings in his divorce from his former wife Jamie that he used millions of dollars of team profits to fund their extravagant lifestyle, which includes two homes in Holmby Hills and two in Malibu.

McCourt has blamed Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s rejection of a media rights deal with Fox as the reason for the team’s financial troubles. The team filed for bankruptcy protection June 27.

There was no response from the team about the rally.

After making the playoffs four times in McCourt’s first six years as owner, the Dodgers had a losing record last season and are in last place in the five-team National League West Division this season.

Arrieta, a website designer from West Covina, is using the Internet to try to boost the number of people at the rally, publicizing it on his website, markcubansavethedodgers.com, along with the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

The name of Arrieta’s website is a reference to the billionaire owner of the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks he hopes will buy the team.