LIL' BUDDY'S BLOG - Chicago Cubs to Have New Owner! Perhaps . . . A New, Winning Attitude? Stay Tuned?
THE CHICAGO IL REAL ESTATE MARKET, AND OTHER THINGS CHICAGO, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A LITTLE WHITE DOG!
Three guesses, you dogs, on my Favorite Baseball Team!
No, No, No - it's not that group from Beantown - even though they're in the American League Playoffs again this year, and my Human Dad, Team Leader Dean Moss, did get me a spanking-new, official Boston Red Sox cap the last time he visited that town.
Those pale-colored Sox from the South Side of Chicago - naah, don't even go there, or you'll make my lil' tummy go rumbling!
Yeah - you've guessed it! It's the Chicago Cubs. Our Own Chicago Cubs. Those fellows with the blue, red, and white hats. And the lack of a World Championship since - well, way before Daddy Dean's Grandfather was even born, in 1908!
As you may have read in the sports websites, or seen on ESPN - they are about to get a new owner, pending final approval by the Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. (Check out the Chicago Tribune Story by Ameet Sachdev in yesterday's paper).
The Chicago Tribune Company, who purchased the team, their ballpark, historic Wrigley Field, and their broadcasting rights way back in 1981 for just over $20 Million, are now selling the team, the field, and the greatly-expanded broadcasting rights - for roughly $845 Million. A tidy profit - yes?
Yesterday, the sale was approved by Major League Baseball, unanimously, via a conference call between all of the current owners.
The baseball team now goes to the Ricketts Family, the Omaha NE-based company that brought you humans TD Ameritrade, one of the largest only stock trading powerhouses. The new chairman will be Tom Ricketts, who grew up a Chicago Cubs fan, actually attending games in the Wrigley Field Bleachers since the late 1970's!
The Ricketts Family will actually be buying 95% of the team, as well as full management rights. The deal was structured to minimize the Chicago Tribune Company's corporate tax liability.
The Cubs originally went up for sale after Tribune Company Owner Sam Zell bought the parent company in 2007. Late in 2008, the Ricketts Family agreed to pay The Tribune nearly $900 Million for the team, Wrigley Field, and the broadcast rights. But tumbling financial markets, a weak economy, and tight credit reduced the value of the deal.
The Cubs sale follows by seven years the sale of the storied Boston Red Sox back in 2002 - for a comparatively-paltry $660 Million, at that time the most amount of money ever paid for a major league baseball franchise. The Ricketts surpassed that amount by greater than 28%!
If you know baseball history, you know the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1917 two years after the team was sold. You dogs - do you think, perhaps, the Cubs sale might lead to the same end result in, say, 2011?
Ooooh . . . us Die Hard Canine Cub Fans are hard to commit to that one! After all, a record team payroll of $135 Million during the 2009 campaign paid no dividends. While the Boston Red Sox and seven other post-season teams are battling it out this week across the country, Chicago Cubs players are likely hitting the golf courses in places where the weather is always warm.
But maybe, you dogs . . . soon ! ! ! ! !
A dog can always dream, can't he? After all . . . Hope Springs Eternal!
YOUR ACE REPORTER ON FOUR PAWS,
BUDDY HOLLY MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
