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A dream come true for White Sox fans, or yet another leverage ploy against the state?

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* Brittany Ghiroli at the Athletic…

Longtime majority owner Jerry Reinsdorf is open to selling the Chicago White Sox, sources briefed on the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Athletic. The 88-year-old Reinsdorf is in active discussions with a group led by former big leaguer Dave Stewart. […]

The news represents a significant change of stance for Reinsdorf. The oldest majority owner in baseball, Reinsdorf has shown no previous public interest in selling the team — at least, not as long as he was around as majority owner. Reinsdorf has said several times that he has advised his heirs upon his death to sell the White Sox and keep the Chicago Bulls, where his son, Michael, is COO and team president. […]

Stewart’s group, Smoke34, previously tried to purchase Oakland’s stake in the Oakland Coliseum. He has been actively involved in trying to get an expansion baseball team to Nashville. Stewart and partner Lonnie Murray are leading a group pushing for an NWSL team in Nashville. The city is one of the league’s finalists, with a decision expected to be announced next month.

It’s unknown what Stewart’s potential involvement would mean for the White Sox staying in Chicago long-term.

* Tribune…

According to a report Wednesday in The Athletic, Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has changed his stance about keeping the team he has owned since 1981 and is in “active discussions” with a group led by Dave Stewart, the former major-league pitcher who starred under manager Tony La Russa in Oakland. […]

A Sox spokesman told the Tribune’s LaMond Pope “we don’t comment on rumors and speculation.”

* Forbes…

Stewart won 20-plus games four years in a row with Oakland in the Mark McGwire/Jose Canseco Bash Brothers era. He put together an investment group that unsuccessfully tried to purchase the Oakland Coliseum and is currently pursuing an MLB expansion team in Nashville. He and Murray are also leading a group pushing for an NWSL team in Nashville.

* Sox Machine…

Stewart makes all the sense in the world at this particular time, although not for the most encouraging of reasons.

For one, he’s the closest of friends with Tony La Russa. If you didn’t recall it from the two running the Arizona Diamondbacks in a confusion fashion — La Russa as Chief Baseball Officer, Stewart as GM — then you’d recall it from La Russa traveling to Oakland for Stewart’s jersey retirement ceremony in September 2022, when he was on leave from White Sox managerial duties due to health issues.

Then there’s the part where Stewart has been involved in bringing a Major League Baseball team to Nashville. He could be seen holding court around the Gaylord Opryland during the winter meetings, and he’d been working with Music City Baseball, an investment group that has been championing the prospect of landing an expansion team it would call the Nashville Stars, until last November, when he left the group citing “philosophical differences.” […]

Stewart had previously tried to buy the Miami Marlins before turning his attention to an expansion team in Nashville. Whether his group would be fine owning any team in any place, his ties to Nashville would certainly help Reinsdorf’s goals of seeking leverage for public funds to build a new White Sox ballpark in the South Loop.

* All City Network…

Stewart is close friends with Tony La Russa, who managed Stewart with the A’s and currently works as a senior adviser with the White Sox. La Russa and Reinsdorf are close friends, as well.

Reinsdorf met with the mayor of Nashville during last year’s Winter Meetings, held in the city, sparking much worry throughout the fan base that the White Sox would be moved if Reinsdorf’s wishes for stadium funding were not granted. Reinsdorf’s ties to La Russa and therefore Stewart, who was attempting to bring a team to the city, seemed a more likely reason for the meeting. But Reinsdorf’s history of suggesting the White Sox would depart — and his stated intention to move the team from its current home at Guaranteed Rate Field by the time its lease ends in 2029 — have made for a new round of speculation, with The Athletic report saying it’s unknown what Stewart’s involvement in these discussions means for the team’s long-term future in Chicago.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 7:45 am

Comments

New owners would be great. Hopefully they are also real estate developers so they build their own stadium and surrounding retail.

Comment by Dan Johnson Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 7:56 am
https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2024/10/17/21942/somebody-hint-hint-says-jerry-reinsdorf-could-sell-white-sox-to-nashville-linked-ownership-group/

Neil makes a couple good points on his website. The idea of moving a team out of the #3 media market for #27 really points to this being a leverage play. I think pols (and fans) should call his bluff

Comment by Sox Fan Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 7:59 am
Stewart has had some cases of not having the money in the past. It might be Reinsdorf behind the leak to drum up interest from others in buying the team. I won’t be watching MLB if they move the Sox out of Chicago. It was awful watching what happened in Oakland. I’ll take my money elsewhere.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 8:04 am
MLB owners want expansion fees which they can pocket, they are not big fans of relocation– Oakland and the debacle involved there exhibit A. Jerry doesn’t have the power/ ability to read the room he once did, so if this is a leverage play, it’s a bad one.

Comment by Lunchbox Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 8:15 am
I’m not sure if a dream come true involves a guy attached to a project to bring a team to a different city. Even as a Cubs fan, the risk of a Nashville White Sox is pretty contemptable.

Hopefully a ploy to get a local buyer to open their pocketbook and stay in the city.

And shocker, even in the last possible moment, he’s looking at selling the team to a buddy of a buddy. Dude just can’t let the old boy’s club go.

And full stop, if the Reinsdorf’s sell the Sox to somebody that relocates them, Chicago absolutely has to boycott the Bulls. Don’t give that family a dime if that happens.

Comment by TJ Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 8:21 am
If Stewart is looking to land a team for Nashville and he can come up with the loot for it, doesn’t bode well for the Sox staying.

One last screw job from Jerry. Really wishing Di Bartolo group hadn’t been smacked down when trying to buy the Sox.

Those 49ers trophies would have been ours.

Comment by Say it ain't so Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 8:26 am
It is however, a dream come true for taxpayers who would no longer have to be concerned about paying for a new stadium for what is essentially a bad triple A team. I am rooting for Mr Stewart here.

Comment by Captain Obvious Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 8:33 am
Compare the capital gain taxes Jerry would pay if he sold the team before he dies with the taxes his children would pay if they sold the team.

It’s a leverage ploy.

Comment by Tax lawyer Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 8:36 am
Great points about the estate tax and relocation fee angles. If this is a leverage play the “read the room” factor is so far off it’s wild. So many factors have changed since the last time Reinsdorf pulled this and it worked. Off the top of my head and not including a lot the government stuff that other commenters here know more about than me:

1. Having 2 MLB teams is cool and all, but it’s not the marker of civic relevance it was back when Sportswriters on TV was groundbreaking and pay phones were critical communication infrastructure.

2. Interleague play has taken away the draw of going to Sox games for the “well my boy really wants to see the Mick play and this is the only way we can do it” crowd

3. Milwaukee has a great stadium and is right up the road

4. I can watch every game on my phone

5. There’s just more and better stuff to do everywhere all the time than feel grateful that the Sox gave Andrew Benintendi $75 mil

I’d feel bad for my sox fan friends but the cost of making a bad deal is so much higher than the “shame” of losing a team

Comment by Greg Kluczynski Federal Building Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 9:27 am
He’s done this before, though I suppose Tampa Bay no longer works for him on account of them having a team and no roof anymore.

Comment by Big Jim isn't coming back Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 9:27 am
Jerry is going to act in his own best interest, financially.

After having the worst season in MLB history, it is definitely not the time to “sell high”.

They can also reduce significantly the capital gains tax on the sale of the team after he dies.

So it does not make financial sense to sell the team now.

Why on earth would he consider selling now? To appease the fan base? When has he ever put their interests ahead of his own?

Comment by Henry Francis Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 9:30 am
The Ricketts family IIRC largely put the Cubs in generation skipping trusts when they bought the team and stadium from Zell for $845M (probably a steal in hindsight) back in 2008-2009. Seems unlikely the Reinsdorf group did that when they shelled out $19M for the team in 1981 and the era of massive team value appreciation was still far in the future.

There’s a million ways for the 0.01% to work the tax code but seems like it would still be a huge tax hit they can just avoid by waiting for a probate transfer someday.

Same with those other stadium subsidy supplicants the McCaskeys.

Comment by ChicagoBars Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 9:57 am
oh that Stewart adventure sounds like just a better version of what we have now. the popular alternative on social media is that Melody Hobson buys the team and keeps it on the SouthSide. There’s Chance and Common and Jennifer Hudson too. Just keep Kanye out of it and we’ve got ourselves a great ownership group that gets it. Remember Chance did that cool concert at the park. They love the Sox.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:03 am
I assume he isn’t the only “owner” of the Sox. It would seem that his partners would want the best return on their money, and that would involve looking for multiple bidders.

If they go to Nashville, it is what it is.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:04 am
I feel like I’ve seen this movie before…
At this point, I just feel for the Sox fans.

Comment by Wisco Expat Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:06 am
Lots going on here. Jerry is 88. He’s seeing the entire business model of MLB as he knew it, start to come apart. The regional TV marketplace for sports teams is now vastly different, as are the expected revenue streams.

NBC Sports Chicago is gone, Sportsvision is long gone. The replacement in Chicago for the Sox, Bulls (Jerry owned) and the Hawks still isn’t on Comcast. The longer the new outlet isn’t on Comcast, the less money Jerry makes. And Jerry was at the forefront of local broadcast TV rights and the money that went along with it, that is rapidly changing. Just look at all the teams that were walked from Bally’s/Diamond Sports network.

Jerry is also perhaps selling to someone who has a very similar outlook on baseball as he does. Dave Stewart’s first hire in Arizona was to bring Tony LaRussa on board many years ago.

Jerry and the family also might be looking long term at the redevelopment plan underway at the United Center and surrounding neighborhood and want to be in a stronger capital position to fund that.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:16 am
This certainly feels like a leverage play, largely because the disturbingly omnipresent Reinsdorf BFF Tony LaRussa‘s fingerprints are on it. Dave Stewart, by the way, is not wealthy and his investment group has failed in attempts to buy the Oakland Colosseum and, so far, to get a professional women’s soccer expansion team. He’s hardly the second coming of Mark Cuban.

Look, if Jerry Reinsdorf is serious about selling the team, he doesn’t need Dave Stewart. There are plenty of billionaires and investment groups out there who are interested in owning a professional sports franchise. Some of them are lining up bids on the Minnesota Twins right now.

Comment by BC Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:38 am
Likely a leverage ploy. I’m a Cubs fan, but moving the White Sox out of Chicago would be criminal. The history of baseball in Chicago(and baseball as a whole) is incomplete without the Chicago White Sox. I’d be truly disgusted by such a move. Can’t believe it would actually happen.

Comment by SouthLoopGuy Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 10:49 am
“The idea of moving a team out of the #3 media market for #27 really points to…”

Great point. Vegas is only a #24 city, but is attractive for pro teams. I assumed that was enhanced by the “tourist” potential of a Vegas team. Seems like Nashville would have some of that draw….but to a lesser extent.

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 11:09 am
Some feel that Nashville would prefer to enter MLB with a brand new expansion team rather than to deal with Reinsdorf and his endless demands. Plus the White Sox have some baggage that a new team would not need to deal with.

Comment by Gravitas Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 11:21 am
IF MLB’s owners are bright (not sure about that) watch for a variation of Art Modell’s move of the Browns to Baltimore. As part of the City of Cleveland’s settlement with the NFL, Modell was required to leave the Browns name, colors, uniforms, records, and history for a replacement team, and his team became the Ravens. Can see that happening here, with the new AL expansion team being the White Sox. Nashville is in the middle of a desert for AL fans.

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 11:26 am
This is leverage and poor one at that. Why would the MLB owners allow the white sox to move to Nashville when they are discussing to expand by 2 teams soon? The fees paid by the expansion team is alot more profitable to the other owners then allowing relocation. Nashville is a highly anticipated city to receive an expansion team.

Also I’m a Cub fan but baseball lover. If against great odds that the White Sox move, what team will the die hard white Sox fans root for as there are fans so anti Cubs? Also, which team will the die hard Cubs fans root against as much as against the Cardinals and Brewers?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 11:28 am
Sorry, the previous anonymous was mine.

Comment by Snowman 61 Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 11:29 am
If this is a leverage ploy by Reinsdorf to threaten team relocation to get taxpayer stadium $, I want Springfield to call his bluff and not give him a dime even if it results in the Nashville White Sox.

Jerry’s stupid TV network mismanagement has made it so I can’t watch the Blackhawks any more and that is all I care about.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 11:46 am
I’m so disgusted with the Sox the past 3 seasons that I really don’t care what they do. I’m not proud to admit that being a third generation fan but it is what it is.

Comment by Stones Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 11:59 am
I am not entirely sure that market size matters to most teams these days. The regional sports network boom era is coming to an end. Market size mattered when larger markets lead to more carriage fee money from a regional sports network. Cable TV is hemorrhaging customers, so the regional sports networks are now folding. In MLB, only the Yankees, Dodgers, and Cubs are really doing well with their regional networks. I don’t really think going down in media market size would prevent someone from moving the Sox to Nashville.

I don’t think MLB would allowed an existing franchise to move to Nashville, because, as others have mentioned, the owners would much rather get paid expansion fees by someone to have a team there. I also believe that it behooves owners to have a stalking horse market available so that they can try to leverage that market to pressure the existing markets for public funds to build new stadiums. With Las Vegas allegedly off the board, there aren’t too many viable places left in the USA.

Comment by Benniefly2 Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:04 pm
MLB could do it like the NHL did for the creation of the Utah Hockey Club? UHC is an expansion team, but bought the assets (player contracts) of the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes. Here, Nashville pays the expansion fee, purchases assets of the White Sox, etc. White Sox still exist in name only for future use like Phoenix/Arizona in the NHL.

Comment by ThePAMan Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:05 pm
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen government make over and over and over is thinking they understand the private sector’s bottom line better than the private sector.

It is a poker game guys, and Jerry can see all of his cards, we are just guessing.

Also, Jerry used to work for the IRS. He helped write the tax code, figured out how to exploit it through complex lease buyback deals, and that’s how he became rich.

You don’t understand the tax code as well as Jerry, or his tax lawyers, and you never will.

No stadium deal with Pritzker means Sox cannot stay in Chicago and turn a profit, and Jerry is better off letting new ownership deal with the move. He is getting older and sure as hell has no interest in schlepping to Nashville for games.

The good news is, Nashville is only a six hour drive from Springfield, they have great food, great live music, and one of the better zoos in the US.

Comment by Thomas Paine Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:13 pm
My late father had a friend who continued to cheer for the “Chicago Cardinals” for decades after the team left Comiskey Park, first for St. Louis and, later, for Phoenix.

There is MLB precedent for leaving the a team name behind. In 1961, the original Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and became the “Twins.” An expansion team based in Washington, D.C., used the “Senators” name afterwards. This team later moved and became the “Texas Rangers.”

Of course, Charles Comiskey’s team lifted its name from the Chicago National League Ball Club, which was originally known as the “White Stockings.”

It is wishful thinking on my part, but many Chicagoans would be happy to part company with Jerry Reinsdorf.

Comment by Gravitas Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:14 pm
As someone born as a southsider and a lifelong Sox fan, I do not care. This was the first summer of my life that I did not watch baseball. Not one full inning in total. I missed it, but I got over it.

As a Sox fan I have watched a lot of bad baseball and even gone to the ballpark knowing my team wasn’t very good. I love the ballpark and have no idea why anyone other than the owner would think that it needs to be replaced. It doesn’t. And, if the owner wants a new park he needs to pay for it himself.

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:22 pm
== The fees paid by the expansion team is alot more profitable to the other owners then allowing relocation. ==

Not sure how all this ends up, but you can bet the other owners are considering the potential movement of any franchise in the context of expansion fees. The MLB commissioner said last year that the cost-of-entry for an expansion franchise would start at the average valuation of a team, which is somewhere around 2.5 billion right now. That could mean paying each of the existing 30 owners somewhere between $67 and $100 million a-piece just to join the club. The rights to Nashville would probably be the most valuable on the open market. Not sure they’d let the White Sox move there for free.

Comment by TNR Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 12:45 pm
You put on a good team, fans come. You don’t, they don’t … unless the stadium is the draw, like Wrigley, Yankee or Fenway. Reinsdorf said the Sox have lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few seasons, without the self reflection that he put nothing in for fans to want to watch his team.

Comment by Old IL Dude Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:00 pm
More likely ploy than reality. For one, MLB does not want the Sox to move. If Nashville gets a team it would most likely be an expansion team. Second, any investor in a group buying the Sox would face an obvious financial reality: The Sox are worth a lot more in Chicago than Nashville. Nashville is growing, but the Sox still sit in a footprint of 8+ million people. Even expanding Nashville is less than half that. The Sox vanity plate is the most requested in IL. They need a new stadium. They need a plan to pay for it that is tolerable to taxpayers, but they probably aren’t leaving.

Comment by It's Just a Pill Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:03 pm
==The idea of moving a team out of the #3 media market for #27 ==

That isn’t the Sox market. The Sox market is less than 50% of the #3 media market.

Comment by supplied_demand Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:05 pm
ISFA should offer the Rays open dates in Comiskey for 2025 while their stadium is being repaired.

Would be hilarious give that stadium was the one Jerry used as leverage to get the Big Jim Stadium Grant.

Comment by Save Ferris Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:46 pm
“After having the worst season in MLB history, it is definitely not the time to “sell high”.”

A team with minimal long term payroll (read: debt) is in excellent position to sell. New owners can do whatever they want without being dragged down by legacy costs.

It’s one of the reasons they hired Chris Getz as GM. That was a “sell tell” as no quality GM would come here for a 5 year rebuild knowing a sale was likely and the Theo-level GMs’ plans could be depthcharged by a new owner.

Comment by Save Ferris Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 1:54 pm
Nothing Jerry Reinsdorf does is ever a dream come true for White Sox fans. He is a poison for which there is no antidote who has doomed an historic franchise to eternal misery.

Comment by DougChicago Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 2:46 pm
Even if this is just a ploy, please just let me enjoy at least something about the Sox this year.

Comment by levivotedforjudy Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 2:57 pm
As long as Dave and any new owners understand if they want a new place to play either pay cash for it themselves or get a loan at the bank. There are no Government handouts available.

Comment by Jerry Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 3:18 pm
=I assume he isn’t the only “owner” of the Sox.=

Reinsdorf owns roughly 19% of the Sox. He’s merely the face and name of a really bad ownership group.

Comment by Pundent Thursday, Oct 17, 24 @ 4:58 pm