Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. May Enter Big For Texas Rangers During Auction On Wednesday

The seemingly endless saga that has been the sale of the Texas Rangers will likely reach denouement on Wednesday when the franchise will be auctioned off. But between then and now, there is plenty of intrigue about who will end up with the team.

A group led by Nolan Ryan and and Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg has lone been considered the frontrunners to buy the team, although according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram a new bidder may emerge: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. According to sources, News Corp. would want to bid to protect the telecast rights Fox Sports has for Rangers games.

Creditors had previously killed a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan set up by the Nolan-Greenberg group due to the lenders’ concerns that they wouldn’t recoup enough out of the deal. The judge in charge of the proceedings has indicated that he would prefer for the Nolan-Greenberg group to purchase the team at a “substantially enhanced” price. Creditors have pushed for an auction, which they hope will generate a higher selling price. Still, reports that the Nolan-Greenberg group had agreed on a higher bid with the Rangers’ re-structuring officer on July 30th had made other potential bidders, including Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, afraid that the auction might be a mere formality. The creditors’ lawyer has said that barring a scenario where the Nolan-Greenberg group is the only bidder, the creditors will accept the results of the auction.

Bidding must begin at least $15 million above the $510 million that the Nolan-Greenberg group had previously bid.