The Texas Rangers filed for bankruptcy relief in late May, 2010, to break an impasse between the club and its bank lenders, who are owed approximately $550 million and who oppose a planned sale to a group led by Nolan Ryan. The Rangers are owned by Hicks Sports Group, which acquired the club in 1998 and had guaranteed the debt.

The Texas Rangers were sold in an August bankruptcy auction to a syndicate headed by former baseball great Nolan Ryan and attorney Chuck Greenberg. The final purchase price was $608 million—nearly $100 million more than the original offer for the team—and is a great example of how lenders can use the bankruptcy process to maximize the value of an asset.