One day after Anheuser-Busch's announcement that they will
sell the Cardinals as part of a company restructuring, "rumors"
were flying in St. Louis as to the future of the team, according
to Tim O'Neil of the ST. LOUIS POST- DISPATCH. A "consensus"
that emerged among city business leaders was that the team would
stay in St. Louis, a deal could happen "soon," but that "no
interested parties have identified themselves." John Jacob, A-B
Exec VP, said yesterday that "we've had some preliminary
discussions with a few parties. That's all we're prepared to say
at this time." Speculation has the team and real-estate going
for $130-200M (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/27)
POTENTIAL BUYERS: Among the names floated as possible
investors in the team: Thomas Guilfoil, a lawyer for the Arizona
Cardinals and former counsel to the Blues. Guilfoil said he's
held "exploratory talks" with various people. Also, Michael
Shanahan Sr., former Chair of the Blues, who said he would "take
a look" at the team; and Frederick Hanser, a lawyer in the firm
of Armstrong Teasdal Schlafly & Davis, who was said to be putting
together an offer. Two high-profile St. Louisans who are not
interested include Jerry Clinton, who bid for an expansion NFL
team, and James Busch Orthwein, second cousin to August Busch III
and former owner of the Patriots (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH,
10/27).
SALE FALLOUT: A-B's stock closed at $66.75 yesterday, up $2,
on news of the corporate restructuring, contrasting with the Dow
Jones average which fell nearly 50 points (ST. LOUIS POST-
DISPATCH, 10/27). TV and radio stations deals with the Cardinals
all run through '96, but Dan Caesar of the POST-DISPATCH writes
that it "could be interesting beyond 1996, in large part because
the technical aspects of the broadcasts are handled by Bud
Sports," a division of A-B that does production work other
sporting events (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/27). In New York,
Steve Zipay writes that TV "insiders expect" A-B to "scale back"
their baseball advertising. One advertising source: "They'll
continue to advertise, especially at the local level, because
baseball will help them sell beer. But do they need an exclusive
network TV deal as baseball's official beer? Maybe Miller or
Coors will be interested." Zipay expects A-B to divvy up the
money from the sale to their sports partners and theme parks
(NEWSDAY, 10/27).
