We all know the Tribune Company, which owns both the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, are trying to sell them off. They even want to sell them separately, the team to a private owner and the stadium to a state agency that would renovate the ballpark.
But now prior to the sale, Sam Zell the Trib’s CEO, has stated that he’d like to sell the naming rights to the park.
We’re not Cubs fans out here in New England but we are baseball fans and I as a baseball fan just couldn’t imagine Wrigley Field being called by any other name, although it was originally Weeghman Park and then Cubs Park before being named for it’s owner in 1926. Just as I couldn’t imagine Fenway Park by another name (Larry Lucchino don’t get any idea’s) or even Yankee Stadium.
One solution is to have the Wrigley Gum Company buy the naming rights, after all it was their founder that the stadium was named after. In fact to this day the company is still based in Chicago in the Wrigley Building.
Cubs fans seem to be up in arms over this and I can’t say as I blame them.
Hello 9-1-1?
I’d like to report a crime in progress.
reminds me of that article in the herald about john henry dropping big hints about building a new stadium this year and how the sox couldn’t compete against the revenues of the mets and yankees. i thought maybe the cubs would be the last to not have to give in to this type of thing but i see there not immune either…i don’t blame them for being upset…i wonder what rick danko said lol
At some point they may have to go for a new park, which isnt such a bad thing. This ownership group has done a geat job of increasing the seating capacity. When they tookover in 2003 the capacity of Fenway was 33,871. They slowly expanded it to where this season it will be 39,195 for day games and 39,605 for night games. to “find” 6,000 seats in 6 years is amazing but they’re quickly running out of places to put seats and with the Yankees and Mets getting new stadiums with plush luxury boxes and a seemingly unlimited revenue the Red Sox are going to need to do somethng with a new park or sell more Red Sox nation memberships to the foreigners and the pink hats.
Candlestick reverts back to it’s orginal name.
in related news the Tribune has received bids on the team and the stadium as well as 25% of the regional sports cable channel, Comcast Windy City.
Reportedly 7 groups have made bids for all three properties while a seperate real estate group reportedly has made a bid for Wrigley Field as a seperate entity.
in June MLB sent out the financial books to several pre approved groups. I’m guessing this is better than being pre approved for a Master Card. among those who were pre approved were a group headed by John Canning, chairman of private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC; Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; the family of online brokerage Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts; Don Levin, Chicago businessman and owner of the Chicago Wolves minor league hockey franchise; Jim Anixter, president of A-Z Industries Inc. in Northbrook who has partnered with Chicago attorney Thomas Mandler and Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., a shell company with $215 million looking to buy a sports property.
There is no word on who made bids or what the bids are. The Tribune plans to go through everything and cut it down to three or four and have them resubmit proposals.
The Trib paid $20.5 million for the team in 1981 and they may exceed the record sale price of $660 million paid by John Henry and friends for the Red Sox in 2002.
Tribune Co. is inviting at least three potential buyers who each submitted bids for the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field near or above $1 billion to participate in a second round of proposals, according to a person involved in the process.
Included in the second round are Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; the Ricketts family, which founded the online brokerage that is now TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Sports Acquisition Holding Corp. that includes former baseball home run king Henry Aaron and former Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. The last group is believed to be teaming with another bidder who submitted an offer in the initial round.