People accusing MLB of being biased toward the Dodgers is nothing new. From claims that the league hasn’t done enough to rein in its financial dominance to complaints about the Dodgers getting favorable umpire calls, these criticisms have basically become routine. This time, though, the accusation goes a step further.

Some are arguing that there’s a deeper, behind-the-scenes process at play when it comes to the Dodgers’ media tax. One that affects how things consistently seem to work in the Dodgers’ favor. And yes, a lot of that suspicion ties back to their massive revenue streams and towering payroll.

So the real question is: are these accusations actually grounded in fact?

Or are we only scratching the surface of a much bigger issue?

“Because the Dodgers went bankrupt, MLB agreed to tax their TV money as if they were still broke. That lets the Dodgers keep about $66 million more every year than they otherwise would. This exception runs through 2039, according to a league source,” sportscaster Joon Lee shared via X.

Well, back in 2011, the Dodgers filed for bankruptcy and asked for a $150 million loan just to keep their payroll afloat. And as you’d expect, MLB stepped in with some relief measures, and one of the most talked-about ones involved taxes.

Under the “special terms” of the agreement, the Dodgers’ annual TV rights fees from their regional sports network were set at about $84 million. That’s with a 4 percent yearly increase, for the life of whatever TV deal they signed. This aligns with MLB rules requiring big-market teams to share 34 percent of their regional TV revenue with small-market clubs.

But in the Dodgers’ case, things played out differently.

Their 25-year deal with Spectrum SportsNet LA is worth roughly $8.35 billion under Mark Walter! Yet for revenue-sharing purposes, MLB didn’t use that full number. Instead, the deal was initially valued at just $84 million per year. So while most teams pay the 34 percent tax on their actual local revenue, the Dodgers are sharing 34 percent of a much smaller figure.

The result? They’re effectively keeping millions that would otherwise be spread around the league. According to Lee, that works out to about $66 million in savings every year, and that setup runs through 2039.

Sounds wild, right? Especially when you consider how much the Dodgers are pulling in from TV money now, and still getting this benefit.

So, let’s get the facts right. It’s not that MLB is giving them an unfair edge today. The 2013 settlement clearly stated that this tax structure would stay in place for the entire length of the TV deal, through 2039. And while the Dodgers do get taxed less in this area, there are also other areas where they actually give up more than most teams.

The Dodgers are countering with their luxury tax bill

If you look at how much each MLB team is actually paying in luxury tax, the picture shifts pretty quickly. Reportedly, in 2025, the Dodgers set a record by paying a massive $169.4 million in CBT. Because they’ve blown past the spending threshold for five straight years, they’re now hit with a 110 percent tax rate on every dollar they spend over the highest limit. That number alone is bigger than the entire payroll of 12 MLB teams!

The Mets are second, with a luxury tax bill of about $55.7 million. That’s more than $100 million less than what the Dodgers are paying. And to put it into perspective, the Brewers have the 19th-highest payroll in baseball at $155.6 million, which is still less than the Dodgers’ luxury tax bill by itself.

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So while the Dodgers do benefit from favorable media tax terms, they’re also contributing more than anyone else on the other end of the system. That luxury tax money is redistributed to help support smaller-market teams. This is exactly what the parity rules are designed to do.

In other words, yes, the TV deal gives the Dodgers an advantage for now. But they’re also paying heavily to balance things out elsewhere.