Magic Johnson’s group wins the Dodgers for $2 billion.

Tuesday afternoon, Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the three remaining bidding groups as possible owners of the Dodgers. The next step was an auction to buy the club from embattled owner Frank McCourt, but evidently that didn’t take very long. The group led by former Lakers star Magic Johnson has reached an agreement to purchase the club, according to a press release late Tuesday night. The deal is for a record $2 billion. Also, McCourt and “certain affiliates” of Johnson’s group will form a joint venture to buy the Chavez Ravine property — the land surrounding Dodger Stadium — for an additional $150 million.

The price would break the mark for a North American sports franchise, surpassing the $1.1 billion Stephen Ross paid for the Miami Dolphins in 2009. The highest previous mark for an MLB franchise was the $845 million paid by the Ricketts family to purchase the Chicago Cubs in 2009.

According to Forbes.com, the Dodgers are currently the second-most valuable MLB franchise, after the New York Yankees. Forbes valued the Dodgers at $1.4 billion (see the graphic at the bottom of this post).

The Steinbrenners are probably celebrating as much as the McCourts! Has anyone ever run a business so poorly and reaped such a reward?

Nice to see Magic Johnson in the baseball business. Does he qualify as the first African American owner of a MLB franchise? Or is Magic more the face of the group? I don’t believe the Dodgers had a magic johnson since Steve Garvey left. 🙂