Diamond Daly

New Dodgers exec looks like team player

By PHIL GALLO

Former Warner Bros. CEO and chairman Robert Daly has purchased 10% of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has been named chairman and CEO of the baseball team, responsible for all day-to-day operations.

Daly purchased the minority stake in the baseball team from Fox Entertainment Group. Details were not disclosed, but Daly's share is expected to be around $31 million based on the $310 million Fox paid Peter O'Malley for L.A.'s National League ball club. The transaction is subject to Major League Baseball's approval, but the deal's structure is not unlike the operation in place with George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees.

Introduced at the press conference as a lifelong Dodgers fan and an "icon of entertainment executives," Daly was quick to identify himself as more businessman and family man with a deep love of the game than movie mogul.

"I'm not bringing a movie mentality" to the Dodgers, Daly said at the Staples Center, where the conference was held due to extensive renovations going on at Dodger Stadium. "That's my past. There are no residuals in the economics of baseball. ... When you make a commitment to an athlete, there's a limited term and you run a risk (of injury). ... Our desire is to bring the best ballplayers to Los Angeles."

News Corp. president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin said Fox "has no plans for any other minority shareholders."

Visible presence

As chairman, Daly will have an office at the stadium and "plans to be visible and instill a feeling of the Dodgers being back" in the winner's circle. Daly and Chernin stressed the importance of creating a family feeling within the Dodger organization and that the No. 1 priority is to have a better season in 2000 than this year's 77-85 record.

Daly, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who attended his first Dodgers game at Ebbetts Field (where the team played before moving to L.A. in 1958) at the age of 6, closed out a 20-year term at Warner Bros. at the end of last month. Prior to that, he spent 25 years at CBS, rising to the post of president of CBS Entertainment.

Fox purchased the Dodgers in March 1998 and infuriated many fans two months later by trading the team's most popular player, Mike Piazza, to the Florida Marlins. Attempting to improve its team, Fox threw heavy money at several players (Gary Sheffield is paid nearly $10 million a season and Raul Mondesi, $9 million); and signed free-agent pitcher Kevin Brown to the richest deal in baseball history. Last year, he earned $10.7 million but the team finished third in the National League West after foundering near the basement most of the season.

"It's far too early to say this hasn't worked out for Fox," Chernin said. "We're in this for a long time and success doesn't come easy. It's easy to identify the business objectives, but this is not the greatest business to be in right now. It's best to have a winning team."

Graziano question

Daly and Chernin left open the question of whether Bob Graziano would return as the Dodgers president. Chernin emphatically denied that Graziano had been fired, as has been reported, and that he has the options of working with the Dodgers or Fox Sports or leaving the organization.

The Dodgers have the highest payroll of all National League teams at $85 million. Contracts currently in place push the ballplayers' salaries up to $92 million next year.

Daly's afternoon plans included a meeting with general manager Kevin Malone to review salary structure and players' status.

'Fan's perspective'

"We have a new teammate with passion and dedication," Malone told Daily Variety. "His experience and wisdom will have a positive impact --he'll bring a fan's perspective. He'll motivate all the Dodgers."

While Daly will have control over the team, he said he wouldn't make a major move without consulting the Fox brass.

Expanding revenue streams beyond ticket sales and television rights has been a paramount concern among many of the ballclubs that have built new stadiums this decade. From naming rights to between-inning scoreboard advertisements and the rentable swimming pool at Phoenix's Bank One Ballpark, teams have worked overtime to expand the baseball experience.

Stadium gets face-lift

The Dodgers have been among a handful of teams that have kept the focus on the game. Dodger Stadium, which is now the second oldest National League stadium in use, had been eyed for the wrecking ball but is currently undergoing renovations that will add high-priced seats alongside and behind the dugout as well as luxury boxes on the club level.

"I love Dodger Stadium," Daly said, "and it feels brand new every time I step in the ballpark." (He said he attends about 20 games a year).

"We can do things to increase revenue and keep the focus on baseball," Chernin added.

Daly's prior experience with Major League Baseball was rather circuitous: When Time Warner purchased Turner Broadcasting, they acquired the Atlanta Braves, which lost this year's World Series, four games to none.

"In 1990, they were the laughingstock of baseball," Daly said. "Now the only conversation about the Braves is whether they or the Yankees are the team of the decade. I hope that in seven or eight years, that discussion is about the Dodgers and some other team."