Cubs, Wrigley Field Suitors Submit Bids; Canning Remains Favorite
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Cuban Seen As Dark Horse
To Land Cubs, Wrigley Field |
Ten investment groups have “offered to buy the Cubs, and more than 20 [groups] made proposals to purchase just Wrigley Field,” according to Fran Spielman of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. The deadline for bids to be submitted was Friday. The favorite “remains a group led by” Madison Dearborn Partners Chair & CEO John Canning Jr., who is "close friends" with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. The “dark horse” is Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, whose “interest the Cubs have encouraged and even showcased.” AHL Chicago Wolves Owner Don Levin also submitted a bid for the team and the ballpark, “even though he’s considered a long-shot.” A group led by Broadway investor Rocco Landesman that includes former Illinois state Sen. and developer Bill Marovitz also filed a bid for both the Cubs and Wrigley. Marovitz: “To be involved in one of the storied franchises like the Cubs would be a dream come true. For any Chicagoan who’s a baseball fan, it’s hard to imagine too many things better.” A source said that the Tribune Co., which owns the Cubs and Wrigley, “plans to narrow the list of bidders after weeding out ‘fakers.’” Finalists then will have “access to the Cubs’ ‘data room’ -- which includes everything from advertising and player contracts to engineering reports on the condition” of Wrigley (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/19). Sources said that other bidders include Chicago-based investment banking firm Incapital Holdings Founder & CEO Thomas Ricketts; A-Z Industries President Jim Anixter and Chicago-based attorney Thomas Mandler; and Sports Properties Acquisition Corp. (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/19).
WINNING BY LOSING? In Chicago, Rick Morrissey writes despite critics saying a Cubs' World Series win this season would lower the club's sale price, "no evidence exists to suggest that winning hurts a team's value." A mindset some baseball people hold, including CSN Chicago's David Kaplan, is that "part of what makes the club so attractive to potential buyers is its long, long ... history of losing." But Morrissey writes the Red Sox had gone 86 years before winning the World Series in ’04, and “no one is saying they have lost value. If anything, they’re worth more now.” Morrissey: "Are we to believe that all these smart businessmen are secretly hoping the Cubs keep up their losing ways? Are we to believe they’re hoping 100 years stretches to 110 so they can sell the team and make a huge profit?” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/21).
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