Imagine the Chicago Tribune owning the Chiucago Cubs and being objective enough at the same time to write about them. But that dilemma’s taken care of with the Tribune selling the team. And one of the rumored buyers is Christie Hefner’s husband,former Illinois state Sen. William Marovitz. Hmm did Marovitz ever have to field questions about being married to a pornographer?
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Tribune Co. plans to sell the Chicago Cubs later this year, but first it wants to give fans of the iconic baseball team with the lovable loser image a World Series championship.
The publisher of leading U.S. newspapers including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune on Monday announced the sale along with its 25-percent stake in the Comcast SportsNet Chicago sports cable network.
The Cubs’ sale, which analysts said could attract bids topping $700 million, will occur after the 2007 season and likely close in the fourth quarter, Tribune said.
“In our last season of ownership, the team has one mission, and that is to win for our great fans,” Tribune Chief Executive Dennis FitzSimons said in a statement on Monday, which marks the team’s season opening day game.
Plans for the Cubs’ spin-off come as Tribune Co., long on the auction block, accepted a bid from Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell to take the company private.
“The Cubs are going to attract a huge bidding process,” said Richard Walden, a managing director at JPMorgan’s Private Bank, which advises people buying sports teams. “People are going to come out of the woodwork.”
The Cubs are an icon due to their national TV exposure and a storied history that includes the “Billy Goat Curse” and several well-known misses on the field.
According to legend, a Cubs fan with a pet goat was ejected from a 1945 World Series game at Wrigley Field, and put a curse on the team to never win another championship. The Cubs lost the 1945 title to the Detroit Tigers and have not returned to baseball’s championship.
Cubs fans lament the team’s collapse in 1969 to the New York Mets, which won the title that year. Shortfalls in other years have occurred.
In 2003, they lost the National League Championship to the Florida Marlins after leading Game Six at home 3-0 in the top of the eighth inning. A Cubs fan reached for a foul ball, preventing Cubs outfielder Moises Alou from catching what would have been the second out. They lost the game and the series.
Analysts said the Cubs’ history likely won’t scare off potential buyers and the team could fetch more than $700 million. That was the price paid by an investor group, including debt, in 2002 for the Boston Red Sox and a majority stake in a regional sports cable network.
Among the names linked to the Cubs as potential owners have been real estate developer and former Illinois state Sen. William Marovitz, who is also the husband of Playboy Enterprises Inc. CEO Christie Hefner; Michael Krasny, billionaire founder of computer retailer CDW Corp.; and restaurateur Larry Levy, whose company handles the food concessions at many U.S. stadiums.
Tribune purchased the Cubs and historic Wrigley Field, known for its “friendly confines” and ivy-covered outfield walls, in 1981 for $20.5 million. The team’s annual attendance has topped 3 million the last three seasons.
Cubs fans, who celebrated the club’s outlay of more than $300 million in the off-season to sign new manager Lou Piniella and such star players as outfielder Alfonso Soriano, can rest easy as club executives assured the pending sale will not affect the team’s performance. Of course, the Cubs are coming off a season in which they lost almost 100 games.