PARIS — American businessman Frank McCourt is buying French soccer club Marseille from Russian-born billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, heralding a new chapter for a team that has fallen into the shadow of bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain.
At a news conference on Monday in Marseille’s city hall, Mayor Jean-Claude Godin said he was “satisfied” with the impending sale, joking that McCourt will need to “put in some dough” to revitalize the team.
McCourt, the 63-year-old former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, pledged to “do everything so the club can be champions again.”
McCourt sold the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012 to Guggenheim Baseball Management.