Last Night's Winner: Dodger Stadium's Landlord, The Dodgers

In sports, everyone is a winner-some people just win better than others. Like Frank McCourt, who owns the stadium, yet makes his team pay an exorbitant amount of rent anyway. This is scumbaggery of the highest order, right here.

According to Forbes, the Dodgers had an operating income of $33 million. That's good for fourth most in the league. So how do they justify only spending $95 million on payroll this year, which puts them 12th? Simple: $14 million-plus goes to rent; an order of magnitude more money than most teams pay.

Did we mention that the Dodgers own their own stadium?

Whether it's to cry poverty during an ongoing divorce, or just to stockpile cash instead of putting it into the team, Frank McCourt's just moving money from one piggy bank to another.

They shouldn't be paying rent at all. The Red Sox own Fenway, and don't pay a dime. But, according to the Dodgers CFO, the rental fees break down thus: $5 million to McCourt, $4.5 million to pay back loans and $4 million to construction managers.

The construction company, by the way, is also owned by McCourt.

MLB, despite their unforgivable lack of a salary floor, has fairly strict restrictions on owners touching their teams' revenues. As you might expect, Frank McCourt's property company and Frank McCourt's construction company have less compunctions about letting Frank McCourt get his hands on that cash.

That's $14 million a year. The past two seasons, the Dodgers have been three wins away from making the World Series. What could that $14 million have bought? A top-of-the-line starting pitcher? A big bat? Bench, or bullpen depth?

And now they're hovering around .500, with little hope on the horizon. What McCourt's doing isn't technically illegal, but every Dodger fan should hold him responsible for the state of the team.

Dodgers Are Fleecing Themselves on Elysian Park Rent [Curbed]