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Tribune to sell Cubs

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The Cubs will be sold by Mother Tribune. Discuss.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:02 am

Comments

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Sam Zell owns the Tribune! Good on you Sam!

Comment by Pat Hickey Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:12 am
Mark Cuban baby

Comment by Kid Vegas Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:16 am
It would make sense that the Ryan/McKenna team buy up the long siffering Doormats of the Diamond!
Team McRyan could then Leverage the Yuppie beer swiller’s nickles into an offer to buy the World Champion and Almost World Champion Bears from the McCaskey Family.

Comment by Pat Hickey Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:30 am
This just means the Cubs better start winning. No more loveable losers.

Comment by Levois Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:43 am
Will be a good idea iff the enw owner doesn’t put them under the umbrella of a publicly traded corporation, If that happened, we would have the same problem we do now, return on the asset is he number one consideration for shareholders.

Second thing is that any owner is going to want to up the revenue. Don’t know the particulars, but the Cubs are national in scope and I am not sure if the broadcast/telecast rights are at the proper level. Good possibility there but keep ‘em off FM.

Need owners who can talk turkey with the residents and the mayor to beef up the attendance in the Spring and fall months. That means more night games.

Much rather see them in a fall pennant drive than a September salary drive.

Comment by Truthful James Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:50 am
Praise the Lord.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:02 am
… and pass the Budweiser

Comment by Larry S Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:12 am
The Sox should buy them, they are a good farm team.

Comment by leigh Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:13 am
Kiss Wrigley Field good bye!

Comiskey Park gets replaced with “US Cellular Field.” Soldier Field gets a space ship parked inside of it. Chicago Stadium is now a parking lot.

We don’t have a very good history with classic ballparks and sporting arenas.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:27 am
It isn’t good for big companies to own pro sport teams. They care more about the bottom line than putting a competitive team on the field. The new owner should probably consider tearing down Wrigley Field and moving the team into a new stadium. Blasphemy, you say?! Well, when people go more for the park than for the team, there is a real problem. I know the Cubs have a high payroll but that does not always translate into winning. Perhaps a Billy Beane or Theo Epstein type of GM is also needed.

Comment by Team Sleep Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:31 am
Maybe this will break the curse!

Comment by Niles Township Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:36 am
Team Sleep I think the Cubs already have a good General Manager. Too bad he doesn’t have much to show for it as far as wins. And playoff appearances.

Comment by Levois Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:36 am
1) Go Go White Sox!!!!
2) Problem with Tribune ownership was that there was no “face” to the team. With the White Sox, you know Reinsdorf runs the show so fans can direct their praise/anger towards him. With the Coob, it’s a nameless, faceless organization.

3) Mark Cuban would be interesting, but he still hasn’t won an NBA title in Dallas.

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:58 am
Good for the city, good for baseball, good for Cub fans. Crosstown series in 2010?

Comment by Utility Infielder Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:02 am
What’s the opening bid?

Comment by zatoichi Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:02 am
Zatoichi,

‘If you have to ask, you can not afford it.’- Joe Medill 1878.

Comment by Pat Hickey Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:10 am
Zell is going to be looking for $600 million. His problem is that the Cubs were valued last year at $440 million, before the recent contract binge.

For those who want a new stadium, please note what the Cubs drew last season with a broken down, last-place team. Wrigley Field carried the team, financially.

A new, soulless stadium with all sorts of luxury suites can be a pyrric victory - just ask Bill Wirtz. I was at a Blackhawk game last week, and the UC was, to be generous, 25% full.

But oh, do I remember great evenings attending sellout Hawk games at the old Stadium, where the action in the hallway was as much fun as the action on the ice! Now when I wander through the half empty corridors of the UC at Hawk games, I find myself looking for “Departures” screens to see if my flight will be on time.

Comment by Bubs Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:48 am
Good, maybe they can get some wins. I love my Chicago teams but the Cubs just plain suck.

Comment by BBpolNut Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:53 am
They have to. No one is reading yesterday’s news anymore. They need the money to keep the press running.

It is hard to believe that the Chicago Cubs are worth more than the Chicago Tribune!

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 12:00 pm
Let’s wait and see how good this Ted Lily character is. You know what, his name spelled backwards is Ylil Det, that’s pretty funny.

In other news, did you see how Daley dumped Phil Cline?

Comment by Harry Caray Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 12:07 pm
If they mess with Wrigley Field in any way, there will be blood.

Comment by Holy Mackeral Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 12:25 pm
ESPN has a piece up. Names being floated as interested buyers / investors include Mark Cuban, Bill Murray, George Will, Jerry Colangelo, Don Levin and Tom Begel.

So this confirms that the Tribune bulked up the Cubs payroll with a bunch of multimillion-so-so-contract offers to increase the team’s selling price? Disgusting. We’ll still be paying Soriano 8 years from now because of the Tribune’s corporate bottom line. Cannot wait to be rid of these jerks.

Comment by ZC Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 12:26 pm
I second Leigh’s comment!

But in all seriousness, the Cubs long have been in need of something - I don’t know if it’s better management, better ownership, or what…either way, this gives them an opportunity…

That being said, the white sox will still kick cub bootie this season. It’s God’s will! ha!

Comment by Sponge! Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 12:37 pm
Heard that Obama is leveraging his campaign fund as a downpayment and that the 7th inning stretch song will be a pro Obama campaign piece. Rezko is handling the details. Jesse Jackson gets the Concession contract. And Commonwealth Ed is comping the electricity. Emil is introducing legislation to have the state fund the balance - proceeds from the state’s interest will go to education. Winners all around.

Comment by A Citizen Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:09 pm
Look to the Cubbie to go to Pay Per View at a reasonable price so that all the working stiffs can afford it (somewhere around $2.50 per game.)

In any event, these days, with all the yuppies quaffing beer with black truffles (?) growing out of one ear, and talking with each other, it is a little bit like going to a tavern without instant replay

Comment by Truthful James Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:10 pm
We await the new approach to mediocrity.

Comment by Boone Logan Square Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:22 pm
Bubs is correct, and that is why a new stadium is out of the question. However, due to its age, the grandstand will eventually have to be replaced and the Cubs will have to play somewhere else for at least one season. They could play at U.S Cellular Field–remember that the Yankees played at Shea one season in the ’70’s when The House That Ruth Built was being renovated.

Comment by Reality Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:29 pm
Levois, Jim Hendry is not a good GM. Spending a ton of money with your job and the team’s ownership in limbo does not make for a good GM. He is merely passing on the “debt” from the Soriano, Ramirez, Lilly and Marquis contracts to the next GM. And you can bet on the new owner firing all the front office personnel and bringing in his (or her) own lackeys. A good fit for the Cubs would be Pat Gillick. Bob Watson would be a good one, too, although he probably likes handing out suspensions and fines too much.

Comment by Team Sleep Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:49 pm
Any combination of Colangelo; Cuban and the Wrigley Family should be considered. The Wrigley’s should get an opporunity to buy back what was lost by bad tax and estate planning provided they have a proven winner like Colangelo run the show.

Comment by Taylor Street Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:49 pm
Who cares!

Comment by Bob Muscato Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 4:15 pm
I appreciate the fact that Sam Zell would rather keep a sliver ownership of the White Sox than own 100% of the Cubs. I like this man more and more.

Comment by John Lee Pettimore Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 5:12 pm
How do you spell Sacremento?

Comment by GettingJonesed Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 5:17 pm
“Tribune did not say if it intended to sell Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ home since 1916. “At this point only the sale of the team has been announced,” a company spokesman said.”

Open your eyes folks. Add up a public financed stadium, the additional revenue (skybox, parking, night games, naming rights) and the re-development on the existing site.

Comment by HappyToaster Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 6:27 pm
Whoever gets the team will be getting the Cubbies just in time. They are almost due for their once per century World Series win.

Comment by HoosierDaddy Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:03 am