Two items of local interest from the weekend: on Friday, Cubs chairman Crane Kenney announced the team’s hope for its impending sale to complete before spring training and then this evening, word came out the Tribune company is seeking bankruptcy protection.
Besides the obvious and laughable field day the Sun-Times will have with this wasted no time kicking off, you have to wonder if and how this played into the construction of both the terms and the names contained the super-secret list of prospective bids for the Cubs. Everyone knew the Tribune was in dire straits (Sam Zell may have put his company’s condition best), but how much could the owner’s financial state really affect the sale of the asset?
Even considering the company’s odd financial strategies under Zell (anyone remember when they were going to hold on to a stake of the team to avoid the tax bills?) it seems hard to look at the Cubs as even a remotely typical sell-off. Some might say an overly motivated seller has the weakest position of anyone in business; if we’re to look at the Tribune Co. as a guy in a pawn shop, that has to be quite the resale operation considering they’re in a position to raise tickets prices even as most economists say the sky is falling.
At the same time, the Cubs have a very cheap, very lengthy broadcasting deal inked with WGN before Zell came in to break up the company, meaning the Tribune’s profit margin on Cubs-related marketing and content could actually increase once they’ve sold the club while the new owners lose a sweet moneymaker right out of the gate, although with MLB so closely guarding their ledger sheets we may never know by how much – or if at all, depending on what happens next at 435 N. Michigan.
