CHICAGO -- The commissioner's office is waiting to hear back from the Los Angeles Dodgers about the team's sale talks with Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer and his sons.

News Corp., which owns most of the Dodgers, has been discussing a possible sale to Glazer for several months.

"We're taking our signals from the Dodgers,'' Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Monday.

The NFL has a rule prohibiting its controlling owners from have a controlling stake in a major league team in another professional sport. DuPuy said it was his understanding that the Glazers were to talk with the NFL about that rule.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in April that it was possible for the Glazers to buy the Dodgers.

"Whatever they did would involve independent resources, independent financing, and independent management, separate from the Buccaneers, even though it would be possibly a family member,'' Tagliabue said then.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello did not return a telephone call Monday seeking comment.

News Corp. bought the Dodgers from Peter O'Malley's family in March 1998 for $311 million. In January 2000, it turned over control of the team to former movie executive Bob Daly and sold him a small percentage of the team.