Mark Walter insists he will keep the Dodgers ‘no matter what’ despite federal investigation, selling his other teams

While there’s an ongoing federal investigation, and he’s either sold or is reportedly considering selling his other franchises, Mark Walter is going to do whatever it takes to keep the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That team, he said this week, is not for sale.

"We’re going to keep the team no matter what," he told the California Post’s Jack Harris. 

"We’re going to be winning for 10 years or more. I think our commitment to do so will be just like it has been in the past. And you know, we don’t win every year, but we’re going to try to."

Walter purchased the Dodgers for more than $2 billion in 2012. But recently, he’s been the subject of a federal investigation into whether his insurance companies engaged in fraud. There are allegations that Walter’s companies invested money from policyholders into other companies that he owned without property disclosing it. Walter has also been accused of using those companies, and that money, to fund his purchase of the Dodgers.

Walter declined to address the federal investigation with the Post, saying it was "not appropriate" for him to do so.

So far this fall, Walter sold both the Los Angeles Lakers and his shares in Chelsea of the Premier League. Walter sold the Lakers for a record $12.5 billion to a group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger in a move that stunned the NBA world. Walter had only owned the team for about a year, and the deal reportedly came together in a matter of days. Weeks later, Walter sold his shares in Chelsea to the team’s majority owner. 

Then earlier this month, Walter reportedly started looking into selling off the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. He didn’t comment on that potential deal, either, but Walter is reportedly looking to sell the franchise and their new team facility for at least $700 million, which would shatter the record for most expensive sale in WNBA history. 

The Dodgers, who won back-to-back World Series titles, were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS earlier this month. While there have been doubts about his future with the team, considering everything else that’s going on in the 66-year-old’s world, Walter insists he’s in it with the Dodgers for the long run — and he hopes fans can see that.

"I really hope that the fans feel how much we appreciate them, because we’re all fans too," he said. "And this [year] was a kind of bad end to the season for us. But you’ve got to look at how we’ve done every year and really realize they’re gonna come back and support us again next year, because we’re going to be out there fighting again for a World Series."

Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.