LA Dodgers: Why New Ownership Will Struggle in Its First Year

Momentum has been wearing Dodger blue since March 27. On that night it was announced that a Magic Johnson-led group would be purchasing the jewel of the city for $2 billion.

Eventually, this is going to prove to be the perfect move for the Dodgers franchise. Fans should, however, expect there to be some struggle during the transition period within the first year.

The deal is expected to close by April 30. By that time, the team will be 23 games into the season and the new owners will have to hit the ground running.

Magic and company are going to have to work out the kinks with the flow of day-to-day operations. To struggle with this at the beginning of any endeavor is nothing new, and most likely this will get ironed out after the first year is complete.

Most fans may not know how "little" Magic invested into the $2 billion sales price. While the exact amount he contributed has not been made public, it is rumored to be between 1 percent and 5 percent.

The image of the new ownership will be a struggle because fans may be looking to Magic for answers during a prolonged losing streak, when in reality it is Stan Kasten who will be making the on-field changes.

For the record, the CEO of Guggehheim Partners, Mark Walter, is the man who will be writing the checks for the team.

Walter is somebody Dodger fans may never see. He likes to stay out of the public eye, and as long as things are going well for the team the fans won't mind. 

Having Johnson as the image of the new ownership group is fine by Walter. The problem with that will be discovered if Magic allows himself to field questions after wins and losses. Magic is not baseball savvy yet, and him fumbling through questions about the game would hurt the initial image of the new owners.

The Dodgers are coming off an 82-79 season, and fans want to see another bat added to the lineup. New ownership will likely struggle with making any sort of moves before their first official offseason. It would be surprising to see any sort of coaching or big-name player move during this season.

Financially, the new owners won't be able to adjust ticket and concession prices until next season. They undoubtedly have a business plan that details exactly how much they want things to cost. It is assumed prices will rise, but nobody knows for sure what kind of hikes the fans can expect.

One can only imagine the laundry list of items Magic and his group need to take care of as soon as this deal closes and they become owners of the team. While they will struggle at times during their first year, the outlook is positive and Dodger fans will once again reap the rewards of a very competent ownership group.

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