Texas Rangers Said to Receive Joint Bid From Cuban, Crane

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, joined Houston businessman Jim Crane to submit a bid for the Texas Rangers’ bankruptcy auction tomorrow, according to two people familiar with the offer.

Cuban and Crane submitted their opening bid for the Rangers to meet an 8 p.m. deadline, the people said. The team also has a rival bid from a group led by Rangers president Nolan Ryan and attorney Chuck Greenberg.

The people didn’t disclose the amount of the bids. Lawyers for Cuban and Crane said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week in Fort Worth, Texas, that the two men intended to bid for the Rangers at the auction and may join together to try to buy the baseball team.

The Rangers filed for bankruptcy protection in May and agreed to an auction after initially seeking approval for the Greenberg-Ryan deal.

Clifton Jessup, a lawyer for Cuban, and Martin Sosland, a lawyer for the Rangers, didn’t immediately return phone calls seeking comment made after business hours. Tom Lauria, a lawyer for the Greenberg-Ryan group, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The case is In re Texas Rangers Baseball Partners, 10-43400, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth).

To contact the reporter on this story: David McLaughlin in New York at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net and; Thomas Korosec in Dallas at tkorosec@sbcglobal.net

Cuban, seen above, and Jim Crane submitted their opening bid for the Rangers to meet an 8 p.m. deadline, the people said. The team also has a rival bid from a group led by Rangers president Nolan Ryan and attorney Chuck Greenberg. Photographer: Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images