ISFA Strikes Out In Bid To Acquire Wrigley Field From Tribune Co.
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| Tribune Co. Rejects ISFA's Wrigley Bid |
Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA) Chair James Thompson "struck out Monday in his efforts to have the state buy and renovate Wrigley Field without raising taxes," according to Fran Spielman of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Thompson acknowledged that the ISFA's "creative financing plan relied on the untested concept of 'equity seat rights' and that the Tribune Co. would not go along with it." Thompson in a statement said Tribune Co. "believes that ISFA's participation in such an acquisition requires either the transfer of future sales and amusement tax revenue from transactions at Wrigley Field for the next 30 years, or the imposition of new taxes, or the transfer of existing ISFA funds now pledged to projects at U.S. Cellular. ISFA cannot agree to this. In our judgment, there are no votes in the City Council or in the Illinois General Assembly for transferred or new taxes for Wrigley Field. And we cannot break the promises we have previously made to the White Sox under our lease terms." Cubs Chair Crane Kenney yesterday after the team met with the ISFA "acknowledged that a state acquisition deal was dead." Kenney: "The transaction needed to work for the public, the Tribune Co. and the Cubs. We were not able to meet all of those criteria. We have more attractive alternatives. We're gonna turn to those [privately selling the team and ballpark]" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 6/10).
FOUL BALL? Tribune Co. yesterday in a statement said that ISFA's plan "would violate the rules of [MLB], and would not be in the interest of its employees" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 6/9). In Chicago, Kathy Bergen writes how the proposal would violate MLB policies was not detailed, but sources indicated that ISFA's plan for renovating Wrigley "would violate MLB policies against using ticket revenue to back stadium financing." Thompson "left the door open to resume talks with Tribune or any future owner at some point down the road" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/10).
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