Sports Biz

AP Sam Zell

I assure you, his name is not Sam "Sell." If you haven't heard, the saga that is the Chicago Cubs sale continues with this weekend’s news that the Tribune Co., the parent company now owned by Sam Zell, has hired a firm to explore bankruptcy options. (Update: See link below as Tribune has filed).

This obviously goes far beyond baseball, but how this sale has taken so long to consummate when the Tribune’s assets were overleveraged, even in a good market, is amazing.

When Zell bought the Tribune in December, he said his goal was to sell the team before Spring Training to help him cut the $12 billion in debt. But two months later in February, he told CNBC that he would sell the Cubs on his time frame.

“The fact that other people have opinions as to what we should or shouldn’t do is very interesting, just like I could have opinions about what you should do,” Zell said.

Once that was said, we were pretty sure he wasn’t going to sell in the next month. In fact, the books weren't delivered to the bidders until after the season started and the process was probably stalled for at least another two months, thanks to Zell flirting with the idea of selling Wrigley Field separately to the Illinois Sports Authority. Not many people thought that was going to work.

By late June, the 10 qualified bidders still had a couple weeks to modify their bids, as the Cubs had the best record in baseball to that point. Zell’s new timeline to sell the team was three and a half months, as he told us he would like to unload the Cubs by the time the team hoisted the World Series trophy.

Things looked promising by late August. The 10 bidders had been narrowed down to five and Major League Baseball even offered a special meeting to get a new owner approved as soon as possible. But the next deadline became Thanksgiving and now all we know is that we’re reportedly down to three and the Tribune is considering bankruptcy.

• Tribune Co. Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Zell wanted to get as much as he could out of the Cubs, and rightfully so, but a bankruptcy would mean that he now wouldn't have full control. It would also mean that the bids that are in right now likely aren’t going to be the final bids unless a stalking horse bidder sets a minimum that the others won’t top. That means that a couple of people who haven't been in the bidding game could ask for Major League approval and try to swoop the team up, which makes this whole process this waste of time.

I should also note that while the Cubs have been fixing ticket prices for 2009 and acting like everything is all swell, if I were a baseball agent at the Winter Meetings, I'd be a little bit scared to talk to the Cubs. Remember, a contract isn't necessarily a contract in bankruptcy.

Questions?  Comments? 

Tools:

PrintEmail

Next Post

Previous PostBack to Main Page

• 

POPULAR SPORTS BIZ POSTS

• 

• My Top 10 Marketing Ideas For Winless Nets 

• 

• Airlines Add 'Super Bowl' Tax 

• 

• Chicken Wing Finder Makes Debut 

COMMENTS

More Comments

 

« First | « Previous

Next » | Last »

Thank you for joining our discussion. Your comment has been posted.

ADD COMMENTS

Please Sign In or Register to participate.

In order to add a comment you must click here and accept our terms and conditions.

Edit Screen Name

Please sign-in/optin or register to be able to submit comments.

Remaining characters

CNBC welcomes your contribution. Please respect our community and the integrity of its participants. CNBC reserves the right to moderate and approve your comment.

PREVIEW COMMENT

Your comments have not been posted yet.
Please review your submission to make sure you are comfortable with your entry.

Your Comments: