Cubs Chair Tom Ricketts is "trying to repair" a franchise image that was "seriously tarnished in a matter of months by a series of off-field issues that have alienated fans one demographic at a time," according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Ricketts yesterday said that he "does not believe the team’s image will be altered by those issues, including the ongoing public storms of shortstop Addison Russell’s continued employment through a domestic-violence suspension and fallout from racist and Islamophobic emails from family patriarch Joe Ricketts’ inbox that were exposed this month." Tom Ricketts: "We set out almost 10 years ago now to be the best organization in sports, and to do what is right for our fans. ... And we’ve crushed it." He added, "The distractions that occur off the field don’t deter from that. And we continue to move forward. I don’t see these things changing us in any way." Ricketts said he "can’t go back and change an inbox from 12 years ago or eight years ago." He added, "I can’t unpublish emails. ... We can use this as a chance to do more positive things." Before yesterday's new conference, the Cubs announced outreach and inclusion initiatives "in cooperation with the Council on American-Islamic Relations" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/19).
THE SINCLAIR FACTOR: Ricketts said the Cubs' partnership for the new Marquee Sports Network will be "completely separate" from Sinclair Broadcast Group's political leanings. Ricketts: "(Sinclair) has a strategic interest in getting into sports. I think they’ll be great partners. There’s nothing political in anything we’re doing with our new station" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/19). THE ATHLETIC's Andy Dolan noted much has "been made of the right-wing slant Sinclair prefers its 191 owned local stations to have." But Sinclair also owns sports entities like Tennis Channel and Stadium. The Cubs "must hope that their current holdings give Sinclair the kind of clout they’ll need to get the Cubs network distributed on all of the various cable and satellite systems required to reach all of the fans within their MLB-defined local territory." As for the Marquee moniker, naming the channel "after the big red billboard on the front of Wrigley Field instead of the actual team is ... silly" (THEATHLETIC.com, 2/18). In Chicago, David Haugh writes the Cubs "deserved the backlash" from the Joe Ricketts emails. Haugh: "Same goes for any trepidation fans feel about the Cubs partnering with Sinclair Broadcasting, a noted right-wing company known to influence ideology" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/19).
DEALING WITH THE FALLOUT: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan writes what is "really unfortunate is the truth of the matter, which is the Cubs were purchased with money from a man who harbors racist thoughts." Whether Joe Ricketts "has any connection with the way his four children run the franchise is irrelevant, and all the good the siblings have done with their own charitable contributions was marred by their father’s message of intolerance." Sullivan: "That’s not to say the Cubs are a right-wing organization." But the emails, "combined with Todd Ricketts working as the top fundraiser for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign" and the partnership with Sinclair, "sends an inadvertent message that to spend money on the Cubs is to support a conservative agenda" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/19). Also in Chicago, Rick Telander writes, "The Cubs are about baseball, but they’re also about image. Their leaders are doing penance now for their old man’s screed" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/19).
