Zell to Purchase Tribune Co., Sell Cubs

[98navigator]

BloombergNews

 

Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs, will probably accept real estate billionaire Sam Zell's $8 billion takeover offer by the end of the week, according to people familiar with the matter.

[C.C.]

BloombergNews

 

Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs, will probably accept real estate billionaire Sam Zell's $8 billion takeover offer by the end of the week, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

What does that mean for the Cubs? I honestly don't want the trib to sell the Cubs unless it's someone that cares about the team past the business aspects.

[98navigator]

BloombergNews

 

Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs, will probably accept real estate billionaire Sam Zell's $8 billion takeover offer by the end of the week, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

What does that mean for the Cubs? I honestly don't want the trib to sell the Cubs unless it's someone that cares about the team past the business aspects.

 

I agree... I don't know what it means. I don't like Zell. He also has minority ownership in the Sox and Bulls. :evil:

[Jehrico]

BloombergNews

 

Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs, will probably accept real estate billionaire Sam Zell's $8 billion takeover offer by the end of the week, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

What does that mean for the Cubs? I honestly don't want the trib to sell the Cubs unless it's someone that cares about the team past the business aspects.

 

I agree... I don't know what it means. I don't like Zell. He also has minority ownership in the Sox and Bulls. :evil:

 

Both the Bulls and White Sox won championships with him as minority owner...

 

(I know, but I am a Cubs fan, it's in my nature to be optimistic...)

[oldstyle81]

Then he is going to have to sell his ownership in the Sox, a person cant have competiting interests in 2 teams

[98navigator]

I think he's anti Cub. He'll some how try to split the team from its television and radio arms to weaken it (then he'll spin it off). :x

[oldstyle81]

I think he's anti Cub. He'll some how try to split the team from its television and radio arms to weaken it (then he'll spin it off). :x

 

i highly doubt he is going to spend that much money and run one of the most marketable teams into the ground. he is a buisness man, buisness men make money and therir goal isint to run a interest into the ground

[98navigator]

I think he's anti Cub. He'll some how try to split the team from its television and radio arms to weaken it (then he'll spin it off). :x

 

i highly doubt he is going to spend that much money and run one of the most marketable teams into the ground. he is a buisness man, buisness men make money and therir goal isint to run a interest into the ground

 

He has already said he isn't interested in the team; the media end is his desire.

[oldstyle81]

I think he's anti Cub. He'll some how try to split the team from its television and radio arms to weaken it (then he'll spin it off). :x

 

i highly doubt he is going to spend that much money and run one of the most marketable teams into the ground. he is a buisness man, buisness men make money and therir goal isint to run a interest into the ground

 

He has already said he isn't interested in the team; the media end is his desire.

 

whos to say he wont sell it off himself then?

 

there is no way he can own the Cubs while owning the Sox, plain and simple

 

and from a money standpoint, MLB wont let a cash cow get run into the ground either.

[E.J.]

I think he's anti Cub. He'll some how try to split the team from its television and radio arms to weaken it (then he'll spin it off). :x

 

i highly doubt he is going to spend that much money and run one of the most marketable teams into the ground. he is a buisness man, buisness men make money and therir goal isint to run a interest into the ground

 

He has already said he isn't interested in the team; the media end is his desire.

 

Sell it to Cuban!!! :D

 

someone had to say it.

[oldstyle81]

I think he's anti Cub. He'll some how try to split the team from its television and radio arms to weaken it (then he'll spin it off). :x

 

i highly doubt he is going to spend that much money and run one of the most marketable teams into the ground. he is a buisness man, buisness men make money and therir goal isint to run a interest into the ground

 

He has already said he isn't interested in the team; the media end is his desire.

 

Sell it to Cuban!!! :D

 

someone had to say it.

 

There is no way he can own it while he owns the Sox

[98navigator]

I think he's anti Cub. He'll some how try to split the team from its television and radio arms to weaken it (then he'll spin it off). :x

 

i highly doubt he is going to spend that much money and run one of the most marketable teams into the ground. he is a buisness man, buisness men make money and therir goal isint to run a interest into the ground

 

He has already said he isn't interested in the team; the media end is his desire.

 

whos to say he wont sell it off himself then?

 

there is no way he can own the Cubs while owning the Sox, plain and simple

 

and from a money standpoint, MLB wont let a cash cow get run into the ground either.

 

That isn't my point; I'm talking about splitting the Cubs from WGN which weakens the team (while helping the Sox indirectly). Even if he has to sell his Sox shares, he will be doing Reinsdorf (an old friend) a favor. It's possible that the Cubs would no longer have a national flagship station (Comcastsportsnet would be available locally).

 

Edit: I found the quote and he only cares about the money end of the deal:

 

Mr. Zell, speaking at a real estate industry event, said his interest in the company has nothing to do with owning the Chicago Cubs or controlling the editorial pages of Tribune's newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Newsday.

 

"To the extent we may get involved with the Tribune, I can guarantee you our interests are 100% economic," said Mr. Zell, the former chairman of Equity Office Properties Trust, which was acquired last month by investment firm Blackstone Group in a $39-billion deal.

 

Mr. Zell said he already owns small interests in the White Sox and Bulls, and that he likes that arrangement because it gets him good tickets while no one calls offering advice or seeking suggestions.

 

But he said controlling the Cubs, which are also owned by Tribune Co., was not a motivation in trying to buy the company.

 

"I don't want to be the guy they call on the Cubs," he said.

 

Crain's Chicago Business

[Omar]

Come on Mark Cuban, step in

[Vinestal]

If they split the Cubs from WGN it would hurt the fan base real bad. Especially with mlb deciding to give DirectTV the monopoly on the EI package. It would basicly make it immpossible for me to follow the team other than listening on XM. Im sure there would be alot of other people in the same boat.

[NCCubFan]

I don't see why they still couldn't be broadcast on WGN even without common ownership. After all, they were broadcast on WGN for many years before being bought by the Trib.

[Fred Hornkohl]

I don't see why they still couldn't be broadcast on WGN even without common ownership. After all, they were broadcast on WGN for many years before being bought by the Trib.

 

33 years, to be exact.

[Vinestal]

I don't see why they still couldn't be broadcast on WGN even without common ownership. After all, they were broadcast on WGN for many years before being bought by the Trib.

 

I didnt know that NC, certainly makes me feel a little better.

[frostwyrm]

The new owner better not drop the payroll. The 2009 team will be fortunate to win 60 games if the payroll goes to a lowly $100M.

[98navigator]

I don't see why they still couldn't be broadcast on WGN even without common ownership. After all, they were broadcast on WGN for many years before being bought by the Trib.

 

33 years, to be exact.

 

Actually, it's been far longer. The Tribune has been affiliated with WGN radio since the 1920's. The first Cubs broadcast was in 1924. The popularity of the Chicago Cubs is linked in great part to the national audience of WGN.

 

While it is possible that WGN will continue to carry the games, it is also possible that they could go the way of TBS and end all national broadcasts.

 

I'm playing devil's advocate a bit but it could happen...

[Fred Hornkohl]

I don't see why they still couldn't be broadcast on WGN even without common ownership. After all, they were broadcast on WGN for many years before being bought by the Trib.

 

33 years, to be exact.

 

Actually, it's been far longer. The Tribune has been affiliated with WGN radio since the 1920's. The first Cubs broadcast was in 1924. The popularity of the Chicago Cubs is linked in great part to the national audience of WGN.

 

While it is possible that WGN will continue to carry the games, it is also possible that they could go the way of TBS and end all national broadcasts.

 

I'm playing devil's advocate a bit but it could happen...

 

I was speaking of WGN TV rather than the radio side. It was in 1948 that they started showing games on TV regularly.

[98navigator]

I don't see why they still couldn't be broadcast on WGN even without common ownership. After all, they were broadcast on WGN for many years before being bought by the Trib.

 

33 years, to be exact.

 

Actually, it's been far longer. The Tribune has been affiliated with WGN radio since the 1920's. The first Cubs broadcast was in 1924. The popularity of the Chicago Cubs is linked in great part to the national audience of WGN.

 

While it is possible that WGN will continue to carry the games, it is also possible that they could go the way of TBS and end all national broadcasts.

 

I'm playing devil's advocate a bit but it could happen...

 

I was speaking of WGN TV rather than the radio side. It was in 1948 that they started showing games on TV regularly.

 

Yes, but the same theory applies. From what I've read, the TV & radio are going to be sold. The new owner(s) may decide, like TBS, that they can get a more profitable deal by carrying other programming.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I wish I was a real estate billionaire.

[tubbfan]

So what if the Cubs and Trib go their own ways? WGN Radio can still carry the games like they do now (which AM/FM station would get the broadcast rights?). . . the owner will STILL have a cash cow. I would only say that IF the Cubs are sold to another owner that the Schaumburg / Hoffman Estates / Addison Cubs become more viable than the Chicago Cubs playing at Wrigley Field.

[Amazing_Grace]

Well, the only thing we know for sure is that the guy will have to sell either his minority interest in the Sox, or the Cubs. I don't really see any reason to hang onto the Cubs other than the fact that the team is profitable. He could either keep it and make money the way it is, or sell it and make a lot of money in a short period to shore up the rest of the company. The team would probably still be profitable without national telecasts on WGN, but maybe not as much. That said, why would WGN stop carrying the Cubs. They don't exactly have the same array of programming choices that Time/Warner does, and likely wouldn't under Zell nor whatever billionaire he sold to. If WGN could make more money on things other than baseball, why do they carry Sox games? I sincerely doubt they'll stop carrying the Cubs altogether. I can't imagine the Cubs doing worse than the endless reruns they have on every other cable station in the afternoon. Edited March 28, 2007 by Amazing_Grace

[Amazing_Grace]

argh post deleted, hit quote button not edit button

/shoots self