Sorry Marseille, But This is the Last Billionaire You’d Want to Buy Your Club

If there’s anyone out there who’s a fan of both the LA Dodgers and Olympique Marseille, well, I’m very sorry you have to read this.

That’s because Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Dodgers, is set to become the new money man for Les Phocéens.

The 63-year-old businessman made a name for himself as a real estate developer in the Boston area. After a failed bid to buy the Red Sox, McCourt continued looking for an opening into the lucrative world of baseball. He ultimately managed to secure a deal to buy the Dodgers from then-owners NewsCorp. The deal was financed primarily with debt, with property holdings in and around Boston put up as collateral.

McCourt owned the team from 2004 to 2012 and his stewardship was, er, tumultuous. Soon after taking over, he fired the team’s general manager and brought in Paul DePodesta, who previously served as an assistant to Billy Beane at the Oakland A’s. It was thought that DePodesta could bring a Moneyball-esque sensibility to the Dodgers and deliver on-field results without breaking the bank. It seemed to work that first season, as the Dodgers won 93 games and winning the NL West in 2004 before getting swept by the Cardinals in the divisional series. The next season the Dodgers went 71-91, and in the following offseason McCourt fired DePodesta and then-manager Jim Tracy.

The following years weren’t much better for the Dodgers. Front office turnover increased. The ballclub’s charitable foundation came under investigation by the state’s attorney general. Jamie McCourt, Frank’s wife, served in numerous high-level roles in the organization— including President and later CEO— and their eventual separation and divorce proceedings would throw the front office into chaos. The divorce settlement ended up being the most expensive in California history, in large part due to disputes over ownership of the team.

Finally, after a Los Angeles Times report that McCourt had to secure a loan from NewsCorp to make payroll for two months in 2011, then-Commissioner Bud Selig announced that a representative from Major League Baseball would be overseeing day-to-day operations for the Dodgers. The team filed for bankruptcy later that year, all while McCourt boasted that he “turned the team around financially.” Early the following year, McCourt agreed to sell the team and adjacent land holdings for more than $2 billion.

This is what fans the former French juggernauts— and European Champions in 1992-93— have to look forward to. Speaking with current owner Margarita Louis-Dreyfus and City of Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin, McCourt said he’s looking to build a team that can compete “year in, year out.”

“I’m very excited about making Marseille a champion again,” said McCourt, whom ESPN once named as the second worst owner in MLB history, just behind the guy who sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees to finance his failing theater company.

Louis-Dreyfus is selling the team, in part, because of protests from the fans over her reign. No doubt some Marseille fans are celebrating her departure. But when they do some light reading about her replacement, the celebrations are sure to end prematurely.