In a deal that would make them the costliest franchise ever bought and sold, the Chicago Cubs, according to this story, are set to cost $1 billion dollars to whoever is lucky enough to inherit the storied club. Muahahaha! Ah, the Tribune Company and Dr. Evil ... rich, dastardly, inept to the point of comedy. And now this. Will the similarities ever end?
The bidding will begin this summer and will probably stretch beyond the fall's World Series. The Tribune Co. has hired J.P. Morgan Chase (Charts, Fortune 500) to advise on the sale, and the key for the investment bankers is finding a potential owner who can pay top dollar yet pass muster with Major League Baseball.Of course, along with all the tradition and history and Old Style comes a literally crumbing ballpark in Wrigley Field and a team with a bloated, back-loaded payroll that hasn't won a World Series since just after the Spanish-American War. But hey, it's Wrigley baby! Wooooo![Leading candidate, friend of Bud Selig John] Canning is said to be working with New York investment bank Allen & Co. and its managing director Steve Greenberg, who coincidentally is the son of Hall of Famer "Hammerin' Hank" Greenberg. Steve has an impressive baseball résumé himself, having played in the minor leagues for the Washington Senators after graduating from Yale. He also served as a deputy commissioner of MLB.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-27-2007 @ 8:33AM
Kevin Reichard said...
This is nothing new: we've been reporting at Ballpark Digest for several months that the expected price for the Cubs and Wrigley Field could easily approach a billion dollars.
Not so sure you could term John Canning Jr. a "friend" of Bud's, however. In any case, we were reporting way back in January Canning's group had the inside track. Nice to see the mainstream media catching up with us.
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