The Chicago Cubs baseball team, which hasn’t won a World Series in more than 100 years, will be acquired by the family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. founder Joe Ricketts for $845 million.
The sale by Chicago-based Tribune Co., the newspaper publisher driven to bankruptcy last year by debt and falling ad sales, requires the approval of Major League Baseball’s owners and the court, the parties said yesterday in a statement.
Bidding for the team and its home field began more than two years ago after billionaire real estate developer Sam Zell led the $8.3 billion purchase of parent Tribune, the owner of the Los Angeles Times and the namesake Chicago newspaper. The price includes Wrigley Field and a 25 percent interest in Comcast SportsNet, the company said.
“Certainly the price point is eye-popping,” Paul Swangard, managing director of the University of Oregon’s Sports Marketing Center in Eugene, Oregon, said in an interview. “It speaks of the inherent value of a great baseball brand.”
As part of the sale, the entity holding most of the Cubs assets will voluntarily file for Chapter 11 protection so the franchise can emerge free of Tribune’s financial obligations, according to the statement.
The court is expected to rule on the transaction early in the fourth quarter of 2009, said Tribune, which will keep a 5 percent stake.
Gary Weitman, a Tribune spokesman, said the company wouldn’t comment beyond the release. The Ricketts family also declined to comment, according to Dennis Culloton, a spokesman.
Ricketts Family
Ricketts, 63, who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, continues to own a 15.6 percent stake in TD Ameritrade, the retail brokerage, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The family’s pursuit of the team has been led by his son, Tom Ricketts, 43, the chairman of Incapital LLC, a Chicago-based investment company.
“Our family is thrilled to have reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs, one of the most storied franchises in sports,” Joe Ricketts said in the statement. “The Cubs have the greatest fans in the world, and we count our family among them.”
Zell, 67, announced plans to sell the Cubs in April 2007, soon after complete a buyout of the broadcasting and publishing company. He entered into exclusive talks with the Ricketts family in January.
In a May interview, Zell said the sale was taking longer than expected because the buyer was having trouble raising the money during the credit crunch.
Court Protection
Tribune sought protection from creditors less than a year after Zell took the company private because of almost $13 billion in debt and a deteriorating ad market. The team and Wrigley Field weren’t included in the bankruptcy at the time.
The Cubs are one of the most popular franchises in baseball, drawing more than 3 million spectators to their 95- year-old stadium in each of the past five seasons. Fans pile into Wrigley Field, on the north side of Chicago, to root for a squad that hasn’t won a World Series since 1908, the longest drought in baseball.
In April, Forbes valued the franchise at $700 million, fifth in the league. The New York Yankees, at $1.5 billion, were the most valuable franchise, the magazine said.
The Cubs haven’t been in the World Series since 1945, when they lost to the American League champion Detroit Tigers in seven games. In 1969, the Cubs spiraled out of first place in a season remembered by fans for the black cat that ran in front of the team’s dugout during a September game just before the string of losses began.
Famous Failings
In 2003, the Cubs were five outs shy of a return to the World Series when a fan deflected a fly ball in Wrigley Field. The team ended up blowing a 3-0 lead.
The team, which first played in 1876, has legions of fans and traditions. One involves spectators throwing home run balls hit by opposing teams back onto the field. The club also is known for its singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch, sometimes led by celebrities.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is from Chicago, roots for the cross-town rival White Sox.
This season, the Cubs are in second place in the National League’s Central division, with a 61-58 win-loss record, behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
(Source: Bloomberg)
