Forget About Dodgers: Can McCourts Afford Divorce?

Frank and Jamie McCourt's divorce battle is still in the early rounds, but some small developments last week shed new light on the couple's financial health -- and indicate why it's quite likely that neither spouse will end up controlling the Los Angeles Dodgers. For those handicapping at home, here's some recent information you may have missed on L'Affaire du Chavez Ravine:

1) Frank said he does not have enough money in his personal account to pay Jamie the nearly $400,000 a month that she's requesting in spousal support. According to his latest court filing, Frank's account balance recently has dipped as low as $167,000 -- which is also less than the weekly salary of Dodgers reserve outfielder Juan Pierre.

2) Frank's lawyers, the Dodgers PR representatives and Major League Baseball officials continue to say the team's financial outlook will not be affected by the divorce, though no numbers have ever been made public about the club's profitability under the McCourts.

3) Bank of America, the primary lender for the McCourts' purchase of the Dodgers, does not allow Frank to be paid more than $5 million in salary by the team. The salary limit is part of bank's financing agreement with the McCourts, which Frank is reportedly aiming to change.

4) Bert Fields, one of Jamie's lawyers and a long-time Hollywood power-broker, claims that she can come up with the money to buy out Frank's ownership share and is eager to bring in a new set of partners to run the Dodgers. "If Frank would sell his interest, she would come up with a very substantial amount," Fields told FanHouse yesterday. "There are a number of people who are willing to participate."

5) Baseball-flavored divorce cases in Southern California don't end well. In February, John and Becky Moores agreed to sell their 90 percent stake in the San Diego Padres in order raise cash for a divorce settlement. But last week, just in time for Thanksgiving, their lawyers were back in the courtroom, haggling over the values of their family assets, which include a software firm and a real estate development company. (The McCourts made their fortune in real estate, for what it's worth.)

The upshot: Neither Frank nor Jamie appears to have the financial resources to afford this divorce without selling all or part of their stake in the Dodgers. Compared to the billionaires, corporate chieftains and oil-rich sheiks who have been buying sports franchises in the last decade, the McCourts are relatively poor. The vast majority of their net worth is tied up in the Dodgers, and the couple's financial dependence on the club -- which pays from everything from their country club memberships to private jet service -- is atypical for new owners, according to sports-finance experts.

"They aren't enormously wealthy," says an investment banker who has worked with the McCourts in the past. "Generally, teams don't pay for all these expenses."

For now, the biggest expense for both McCourts is legal fees, with each spouse expected to spend at least $3 million apiece for their high-profile lawyers. The next hearing on the spousal support issue is scheduled for Dec. 15 -- stay tuned.