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* If true, this is very good news…
Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell has rejected former Gov. James Thompson’s secret plan to acquire and renovate Wrigley Field for at least $400 million without raising taxes and now plans to package the Cubs and their landmark stadium in a private transaction, sources said Monday.
* Some of the possible reasons…
Zell, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney and their advisers have concluded that the equity [seat sales] plan and its tax ramifications would violate both the Internal Revenue Service code and the rules of Major League Baseball, the sources said. […]
[Also] the plan could have driven away potential buyers of the franchise. The next Cubs owner could have been denied revenue from the best seats in the house.
* And this could be another reason…
Chicago-based Tribune Company announced it’s selling its Long-Island based-paper Newsday to Cablevision Systems Corporation. With a circulation of close to 400,000, Newsday is one of the country’s largest regional newspapers, serving mainly Long Island and parts of New York City.
The cable television provider bought the paper for $650 million. […]
Tribune needs to offset $8 billion of debt the company took on when it went private last year.
Those debt payments were crushing, and Zell needed cash quickly. That’s a big reason why he was trying to do the Wrigley Field deal with the state this spring. The immediate crisis may have passed, however.
Something tells me, though, that we are not yet out of the danger zone on a taxpayer financed bailout of Sam Zell’s Wrigley Field, or perhaps the new buyer. These things never completely die.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Cub chairman doesn’t completely rule out state sale, but says they’re moving ahead with a private sale…
Crane Kenney, the Cubs’ chairman and outgoing general counsel of parent Tribune… says there’s still a chance that Wrigley could be sold separately to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.
But Kenney says Tribune’s moving ahead to package the stadium together with the ballclub in a private sale. Outside experts believe the sale could fetch as much as $1 billion for the media conglomerate.
Kenney told the AP that the company’s moving the private sale process forward and expects to get the financial books to buyers within the next two weeks.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 9:24 am
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What this means is the Cubs get to do it their way - by using a tax increment mechanism to fund a renovation. That’s what they will be pushing - the current team and the new owner. And all they will need is Alderman Tunney and the city council to go along.
So everybody’s efforts to fight off the State deal may have actually backfired. Now, it will be taxes that are used to finance the deal.
Comment by GoBearsss Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 9:29 am
It is disappointing to hear that the deal failed because it was not sweet enough for the megabuck set, not because it was a bad deal for the public.
All possible efforts will have to be renewed to prevent any additional fleecing of the taxpayers.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 9:37 am
I fear you’re right about this still being alive. It’s a victory for Zell that this is even under discussion, given the more pressing needs of the state.
I’m not a financial wizard, but anyone who buys Wrigley should have ample access to capital markets to fund an extensive renovation. The park is a virtual sellout before the season starts. The cash flow for a borrowing is already there. Demand is such for tickets that the owner could add a renovation surcharge if they chose.
This has always been about maximizing profit for Zell. The state’s interest should be zero.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 9:42 am
I’m not sure what is worse. The fact that Zell was using us or that now he no longer needs to use us. As an aside, what fool would but the Cubs without Wrigley Field? Doesn’t make any sense. I think it was all a ploy to float the trial balloon on the naming rights. It worked.
Comment by 2for2 Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 4:01 pm
If sold to the State of Illinois, Blago would think he owns the CUBS.
Comment by Big Mistake Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 5:18 pm