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Re: Sale of Cubs to Ricketts Complete (p. 15)

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David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

I'd be ok with Murray, a bit less ok with Cusack, and wayyyy less OK with Belushi.

 

I know they'd have no say in anything, but I don't need to see any more of Belushi associated with the team. Ugh.

  • 2 weeks later...
chasinf5s College Ball

chasinf5s

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Zell cast doubts on the sale

 

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/cubs-zell-ricketts.html

 

"We've made it very public that the Cubs don't fit into the long-term picture of the Tribune," he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "So if the Ricketts deal doesn't get done, I'm sure there will be other ones."

 

Negotiation tactic. The Cubs will be sold to Ricketts and no one else.

 

i know but i figured id just post it in here instead of making it a new thread.

UMFan83 GOAT

UMFan83

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Zell cast doubts on the sale

 

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/cubs-zell-ricketts.html

 

"We've made it very public that the Cubs don't fit into the long-term picture of the Tribune," he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "So if the Ricketts deal doesn't get done, I'm sure there will be other ones."

 

Negotiation tactic. The Cubs will be sold to Ricketts and no one else.

 

i know but i figured id just post it in here instead of making it a new thread.

 

Yeah, it was a good piece of info to post, that's just my comment on it.

 

I really hope the sale unexpectedly gets done in time to make moves around the trading deadline.

E.J. Chicago Cubs

E.J.

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

Sale closer to completion than reported:

 

 

Thomas Ricketts, who is leading his family’s bid to buy the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co., is closer to sealing the deal than recent reports suggest.

As recently as two weeks ago, disagreement over the terms of the team’s broadcast contract with Tribune’s WGN network left the two sides as much as $50 million apart on the nearly $900-million deal.

Sources now tell Crain’s that both sides have made concessions on some of the key sticking points, bringing them near the conclusion of a sale process that’s dragged on for Tribune more than two years. The family, led by Mr. Ricketts, has been in exclusive talks with TribCo on the Cubs sale since January.

Tribune CEO Sam Zell, in an interview with Bloomberg TV Thursday, appeared to raise new questions about the Ricketts’ ability to buy the team. He blamed the difficult credit environment for delaying the Cubs sale, adding that “if the Ricketts deal doesn’t get done, I am sure there’ll be another one.”

But the financing appears to be in place.

J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Corp. and Bank of America Corp. have agreed in principle to loan the Ricketts family about $350 million, and draft commitment letters are expected to be signed by next week, Crain’s has learned. The balance of the funding will come from a $100-million private placement of notes and $403 million in cash the family generated when it sold stock of TD Ameritrade in February.

 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34216&seenIt=1

DivineBovine Myrtle Beach Pelicans

DivineBovine

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

The TV and radio revenue seems to be a key sticking point. What a surprise.

 

Proof that it'll be good for the Cubs to be rid of the Tribune company. What is a surprise- even with the disclosure of financials, this only surfaces now? That the Cubs were not getting fair market value from WGN?

 

All those years the Tribune claimed that the Chicago was a small market compared to NY and Boston. No, I don't think so. NY and Boston teams just weren't getting fleeced in their TV and radio deals.

 

Screw the Trib. Good riddance. The sooner the better.

Guest

Guest

Guests
Posted
Posted
In fairness, everything is a small market relative to New York.

LA County: 10M

Orange County: 3M

San Bernardino County: 2M

Riverside County: 2M

Ventura County: .8M

 

that's around 18M in the LA Metro area

 

NY Metro has around 18.7M

DivineBovine Myrtle Beach Pelicans

DivineBovine

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
In fairness, everything is a small market relative to New York.

LA County: 10M

Orange County: 3M

San Bernardino County: 2M

Riverside County: 2M

Ventura County: .8M

 

that's around 18M in the LA Metro area

 

NY Metro has around 18.7M

 

 

Maybe everything is a small market compared to NY. But having lived in NY, Chicago and California, Chicago is the biggest sports town. The Cubs have a huge fan base, arguably the most popular franchise in the city.

 

It's true that the Cubs have been mismanaged in the past and that led to bad teams. But the fact is that the Tribune has been bad for the team. As Cub fans, we have all been putting money in the pockets of the Tribune for years. It's really telling how the sale has been hung up by this. In the past 2-3 years, the Cubs have actually started spending money. And even that's with the bad TV and radio deals. The Yankees own their own media outlet and have money to burn. The Cubs have been owned by one. Enough said.

 

The Tribune has been essentially money laundering for all these years. If we had decent owners in the past 20 years, we might have a WS by now.

 

Personally, I definitely feel ripped off.

David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
In fairness, everything is a small market relative to New York.

LA County: 10M

Orange County: 3M

San Bernardino County: 2M

Riverside County: 2M

Ventura County: .8M

 

that's around 18M in the LA Metro area

 

NY Metro has around 18.7M

 

 

Maybe everything is a small market compared to NY. But having lived in NY, Chicago and California, Chicago is the biggest sports town. The Cubs have a huge fan base, arguably the most popular franchise in the city.

 

It's true that the Cubs have been mismanaged in the past and that led to bad teams. But the fact is that the Tribune has been bad for the team. As Cub fans, we have all been putting money in the pockets of the Tribune for years. It's really telling how the sale has been hung up by this. In the past 2-3 years, the Cubs have actually started spending money. And even that's with the bad TV and radio deals. The Yankees own their own media outlet and have money to burn. The Cubs have been owned by one. Enough said.

 

The Tribune has been essentially money laundering for all these years. If we had decent owners in the past 20 years, we might have a WS by now.

 

Personally, I definitely feel ripped off.

 

 

That's not arguable at all.

 

It's the Bears, and it's not even close.

jersey cubs fan GOAT

jersey cubs fan

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
And I just replied to a post from like a week ago. Oh, well. I'm one of "those" guys now.

 

I almost did as well, specifically the comment that Chicago is somehow a bigger sports city than NY.

C.C. Chicago Cubs

C.C.

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
It's hard to imagine payroll growing with that much leverage. The interest on $450 mil. alone will consume most of the free cashflows generated by the operation.

 

Not good.

 

well hopefully ricketts will be smart enough to know that if the cubs stay good and competitive, the value of the franchise will be growing, and if he wants to make money in the long run he should keep the franchise growing rather than freeze spending because he isn't making money in the short term.

 

Maybe he doesn't financially have the money to spend right now, regardless of what he should do that's best for the franchise.

C.C. Chicago Cubs

C.C.

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
The TV and radio revenue seems to be a key sticking point. What a surprise.

 

Proof that it'll be good for the Cubs to be rid of the Tribune company. What is a surprise- even with the disclosure of financials, this only surfaces now? That the Cubs were not getting fair market value from WGN?

 

All those years the Tribune claimed that the Chicago was a small market compared to NY and Boston. No, I don't think so. NY and Boston teams just weren't getting fleeced in their TV and radio deals.

 

Screw the Trib. Good riddance. The sooner the better.

 

I hope you're right. I really do.

ManEatingTarp Draft Eligible

ManEatingTarp

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
In fairness, everything is a small market The Cubs have a huge fan base, arguably the most popular franchise in the city.

 

 

That's not arguable at all.

 

It's the Bears, and it's not even close.

 

Quoted for truth.

Backtobanks Knoxville Smokies

Backtobanks

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
In fairness, everything is a small market relative to New York.

LA County: 10M

Orange County: 3M

San Bernardino County: 2M

Riverside County: 2M

Ventura County: .8M

 

that's around 18M in the LA Metro area

 

NY Metro has around 18.7M

 

 

Maybe everything is a small market compared to NY. But having lived in NY, Chicago and California, Chicago is the biggest sports town. The Cubs have a huge fan base, arguably the most popular franchise in the city.

 

It's true that the Cubs have been mismanaged in the past and that led to bad teams. But the fact is that the Tribune has been bad for the team. As Cub fans, we have all been putting money in the pockets of the Tribune for years. It's really telling how the sale has been hung up by this. In the past 2-3 years, the Cubs have actually started spending money. And even that's with the bad TV and radio deals. The Yankees own their own media outlet and have money to burn. The Cubs have been owned by one. Enough said.

 

The Tribune has been essentially money laundering for all these years. If we had decent owners in the past 20 years, we might have a WS by now.

 

Personally, I definitely feel ripped off.

 

 

That's not arguable at all.

 

It's the Bears, and it's not even close.

 

Yeah, the lead story on the sports pages right now is the Bears' mini-camp. It's even worse when they get to training camp.

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