In an article Sunday, we reported that approval for any bidders, other than the Greenberg/Ryan group, that might win at auction for the sale of the Texas Rangers on Weds. would need up to 3 months extra time for MLB’s owners to vote for approval, thus putting the club’s moves in the off-season in jeopardy.

But, according to a report by Barry Shlachter of the Dallas Morning News, the length of time for voter approval is 9 mon., a full 6 months longer than sources had indicated. That could mean a new owner for the club might not be in place until well after the 2011 season started.

Mavericks  owner Mark Cuban  confirmed that MLB is now saying it will take up to nine months for final approval of the auction's winner if Greenberg-Ryan loses – not six to 12 weeks that a league attorney had assured U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn in court.

Cuban said by e-mail that the timetable "would apply for all bidders, so I'm not sure it's an issue at all."

While the extended amount of time would be painful to the plans of the Rangers, who would be stuck in limbo regarding free agency moves, as Shlatchter notes, the creditors of Hicks Sports Group, the holding company for the Rangers, would be likely feel far more pain. The added time would add approx. 4 percent more interest each month to the now $590 million in outstanding debt that HSG has defaulted on.

MLB has said that if the Greenberg/Ryan group were to win at the auction on Weds., the league’s 30 owners are prepared to approve the ownership transfer via conference call and have the sale completed by Aug. 12, the day that the group’s funding commitments expire.

MORE NEWS AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, as well as a contributor to FanGraphs and Forbes SportsMoney. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

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