The Tribune Co. may own the Cubs for another season. And...
Zell also is considering selling naming rights to Wrigley Field, a move that could create shock waves in the Chicago area, which still hasn't accepted Macy's eliminating the Marshall Field's name. The Wrigley name has been associated with the Cubs since 1920, when owner William Wrigley renamed Cubs Park. Built in 1914 for $250,000, its naming rights could command from $400 million to $500 million for an undetermined length of time.
Sale hardly sailing along
Tribune Co. likely to own Cubs through '08 season
By Paul Sullivan
Tribune reporter
6:42 AM CST, January 20, 2008
When Sam Zell's $8.2 billion deal to take Tribune Co. private was announced on Opening Day last April, former Cubs President John McDonough said the ballclub probably would be sold by the end of the year.
But a proposal to sell Wrigley Field to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority has slowed progress on the Cubs' sale, and team Chairman Crane Kenney said Saturday the company likely will own the team for the upcoming season.
"[Zell's] focus is on a unique stadium structure where we can improve Wrigley Field over time, and he's not focused on selling the team at this point," Kenney told fans at a question-and-answer session at the Cubs Convention. "I don't think there's going to be a transaction by Opening Day, and likely maybe not for the season."
Kenney later told reporters any deal with the ISFA could take time because the Cubs need to gather political support from Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Speaker of the House John Madigan, Ald. Tom Tunney, state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz and state Sen. John Cullerton. Kenney said the company hoped to get a deal done on the ballpark by Opening Day on March 31.
"We need all of their support, and we're working hard with each of them to explain why we think the stadium deal is good for the team, for our employees, the shareholders of the Tribune and for the community," Kenney said. "Whenever you get into a process like that ... we witnessed what happened with the [CTA situation] ... to try and say this is when that could happen would be silly to try to predict."
Sources told the Tribune that members of the ISFA, the state agency created to own and operate what's now called U.S. Cellular Field, already had toured Wrigley Field to prepare in the event of a purchase.
"That's the transaction we'd like the most because rather than just selling everything to someone who sorts the pieces out later, what it would do, most importantly for us, would require the Cubs to play at Clark and Addison for the foreseeable future," Kenney said.
"And when we sell the team to someone, that restriction is going to go with it, and they can't move the team. ... They're going to be where we all want them to play, and that's important for the city."
Zell also is considering selling naming rights to Wrigley Field, a move that could create shock waves in the Chicago area, which still hasn't accepted Macy's eliminating the Marshall Field's name. The Wrigley name has been associated with the Cubs since 1920, when owner William Wrigley renamed Cubs Park. Built in 1914 for $250,000, its naming rights could command from $400 million to $500 million for an undetermined length of time.
Kenney told Cubs fans that Zell understands it's a sensitive issue.
"Nobody wants to see the name change," Kenney said. "And in my perfect world, the Wrigley Co. would step up and start paying for what they've been getting free all these years."
Kenney received a loud round of applause, then joked that GM Jim Hendry would start negotiating with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
Asked later if he was joking about Wrigley "stepping up," Kenney said: "I don't know how else to say it.
"It was Cubs Park for years. It's now Wrigley Field. ... It's not 'Chicago' Stadium, and there's a corporate entity attached to our deal that they don't pay anything because -- it's not their fault -- but when the stadium and the team was sold [to Tribune Co.] in 1981, nobody really thought [naming rights] were worth anything, so no one really thought 'Gee, should they pay for it.'
"Obviously the market has changed, and it's our duty to look at everything."
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psullivan@tribune.com
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