The Houston Astros have asked Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur to return their civil lawsuit against Comcast, NBC Universal and former Astros owner Drayton McLane to state district court, where it originally was filed last November, the Houston Chronicle reported today. The request comes a week before Judge Isgur is scheduled to hold a long-delayed hearing in the lawsuit, an offshoot of the chapter 11 bankruptcy case involving the parent company of Comcast SportsNet Houston. Houston Baseball Partners, the corporate name for the investor group headed by Jim Crane, alleges that McLane, Comcast and NBC Universal conspired to commit fraud in conjunction with McLane’s sale of the Astros and their 46.5 percent share of Houston Regional Sports Network in 2011. Houston Regional Sports Network is the parent company of CSN Houston and is a partnership among the Astros, Rockets (31 percent ownership) and Comcast (22.5 percent). The McLane-Comcast lawsuit was moved to federal bankruptcy court at the request of Comcast in the wake of the involuntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petition filed by four Comcast affiliates. The Astros, however, argue that the case belongs in state court and that it was moved improperly.
