Results tagged ‘ Tom Ricketts ’
10/30 Welcome Ricketts family
The marquee at Wrigley Field says, “Welcome” to the Ricketts family, who were introduced at a news conference Friday. The only thing that ruined the day was the rain, and that didn’t dampen their enthusiasm.
– Carrie Muskat
10/25 Cubs look at Naples sites
Could the Cubs move their Spring Training site to Florida? A Naples, Fla., newspaper reports a group was formed four months ago for the purpose of making Collier County the Spring Training home of the Cubs. The Florida group has met with Cubs chairman Crane Kenney and Tom Ricketts, whose family is taking over as the team’s owner.
“The Chicago Cubs are exploring Naples, Fla., as a potential Spring Training venue and have been working with Chicago-based Esmark and Naples-based Fifth Avenue Advisors in that regard,” Kenney confirmed in a statement to the Naples (Fla.) Daily News. “Our site visits and discussions confirm that Collier County has a number of suitable locations for a world-class Spring Training facility.”
Cubs officials toured the area by helicopter to see what locations may be suitable. Craig Bouchard, who is a co-founder of Esmark Inc., said it was clear after their meeting that Ricketts and Kenney’s “objective is to do what is best for Cubs fans. They want to win a World Series. And they want to build the very best organization they can.”
The Cubs are believed to be looking for 120 contiguous acres. The Sports Management Division of Esmark is a principal sponsor of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Bouchards are principal owners of the Naples Tennis Club. Craig Bouchard, is a Cubs fan, and was an official with First National Bank of Chicago. He still has a home in the Chicago area.
The price tag for the venture could exceed $80 million, the newspaper reported. Bouchard said they are pursuing every avenue, public and private, to finance the project and not raise property or sales taxes of the residents of Collier County.
“I committed to Crane that Esmark will invest and take a leadership role in the stadium project,” Bouchard said.
The Cubs’ 25-year lease with the city of Mesa expires in 2016. The team has an escape clause, which allows the Cubs to pay $4.2 million to the city next spring in order to leave Mesa in 2012. Recent studies have shown that the Cubs bring in more than $52 million to Arizona, and more than $30 million to the city of Mesa.
The Cubs have called Mesa their Spring Training home since the 1950s, and permanent home since 1979.
“We are still a long shot,” Bouchard said of Naples as a site for the Cubs, “but I agree with the mayor of Mesa that we are a serious threat. We offer an outstanding destination for families, award-winning beaches and a belief we can put together a proposal that is favored by the Cubs. Sometimes, long shots win.”
Collier County has never had a Spring Training team. The Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins play nearby in Fort Myers.
Ricketts was expected to tour four sites in Mesa in November during the Cubs’ organizational meetings.
– Carrie Muskat
10/13 Bankruptcy judge gives Trib go-ahead
The Ricketts family moved one step closer to being handed the keys to Wrigley Field. A U.S. bankruptcy court judge ruled Tuesday that the Tribune Co. and Cubs can proceed with the team’s $845 million sale to the Ricketts family.
“The Ricketts family is pleased that they’ve made another significant step toward taking majority control of the Cubs,” the family said in a statement. “They look forward to getting to work on leading the team to a championship.”
The bankruptcy judge had already cleared Tribune Co. to sell the team and Wrigley Field. The Cubs filed separately for Chapter 11 on Monday to protect the Ricketts so creditors in Tribune Co.’s own bankruptcy case would have no claim against the company.
The Cubs cited assets of $1.42 billion and liabilities of $1.26 billion, but the team’s finances weren’t in question. The bankruptcy filing was done to ensure the team can’t be hit with claims by Tribune creditors because the Cubs weren’t covered when Tribune filed for Chapter 11 last December.
The deal was expected to be completed by the end of October. The sale has been approved by Major League Baseball owners.
Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy in December but the Cubs and related assets were left out of the case so it could continue the sale process. On Aug. 21, Tribune Co. reached a deal with the Ricketts family, which would purchase the Cubs, Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Tribune Co. would retain 5 percent.
Tribune bought the Cubs in 1981 for $20.5 million from the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.
The sale price will top the record $660 million paid for the Boston Red Sox and its related properties in 2002.
The Cubs’ bankruptcy filing is not the first for a Major League team. The Baltimore Orioles were sold in a bankruptcy auction in 1993 after owner Eli Jacobs filed for Chapter 11. The same happened to the Seattle Pilots after the 1969 season. The new owners moved the team to Milwaukee and changed the name to the Brewers.
The Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL filed for Chapter 11 protection in May.
– Carrie Muskat
10/10 Gila River Cubs?
The Gila River Indian Community is trying to lure the Cubs from Mesa to an area south of Phoenix. According to the East Valley Tribune, the tribe traveled to Chicago to meet with Cubs management. There is a 500-room Sheraton resort and a golf course, plus a 400-acre business park along Interstate 10 near Chandler and Ahwatukee Foothills on the Gila River Indian reservation.
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith has tried to discourage other Arizona communities from talking to the Cubs. He says the team’s fans spread money across the Valley, which helps all cities, so everyone should join forces to keep the team in Mesa. According to the Arizona paper, Mesa is marketing several sites near the city’s eastern edge, which would allow the Cubs to build a larger stadium and better practice facilities.
Representatives of the city of Mesa will make one more presentation in November, when Cubs management visits the Arizona city. The delegation is expected to include new owner Tom Ricketts.
How important are the Cubs to Arizona? A study showed the Cactus League would lose $31.1 million and the state would lose $52 million if the team left Mesa. The team has called Mesa home since 1979. Two Florida communities also have expressed interest in the Cubs, including Naples.
– Carrie Muskat
9/16 Could the Cubs move to Naples, FL?
Mesa officials met this week with incoming Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and team officials to discuss possibly building a new stadium and training complex. If the Cubs don’t get their demands, they may move to Florida, and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith called the city of Naples, Fla., a “serious threat.”
Smith led the delegation from Mesa to Chicago for meetings Monday and Tuesday. The Mesa contingent concluded the city needs to match Naples’ bid by building a new stadium and training complex.
“This is the marketplace,” Smith told the Arizona Republic. “Our competition is very serious. I think it’s a serious threat. We need to match the competition.”
The city of Mesa would like to build a new stadium and training complex near the former General Motors Proving Grounds but would need a private-public partnership to finance a $70 to $80 million facility. The Cubs feel their facility at Fitch Park is antiquated.
How important are the Cubs to Mesa? A recent study shows Cubs fans contribute $31.1 million in direct Cactus League spending, and $52.2 million to the state economy.
Mesa’s 25-year lease with the Cubs expires in 2016, but the team can pay $4.2 million next spring to opt out early and leave in 2012.
“The reality is for us to compete with that offer, we’re going to have to look at building a new facility for the Cubs,” Smith told the East Valley Tribune. ”It’s not that the Cubs are demanding things, it’s simply that we’ve got competition.”
It is possible to upgrade the Fitch Park practice facility and HoHoKam Stadium, but a new location is needed to meet future needs. It would include land for restaurants, hotels and shops.
– Carrie Muskat
9/15 Looking ahead
According to reports, Tom Ricketts, Cubs GM Jim Hendry and team chairman Crane Kenney met Monday night with Arizona officials to discuss possible improvements at the team’s Spring Training complex in Mesa, Ariz. Ricketts, the Cubs’ incoming owner, also has reportedly toured Fenway Park to see how the ballpark handles a video scoreboard. The Cubs have called Mesa their spring home since 1979. HoHoKam Park was remodeled for the 1997 season, but the team wants to update the facilities.
– Carrie Muskat
9/9 Business matters
According to Crain’s Chicago Business, federal antitrust regulators have approved Tribune Co.’s sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts family. The approval appears on a Sept. 4 Federal Trade Commission list of pending mergers and acquisitions that have been cleared by antitrust officials. Analysts had not expected any antitrust challenge to the deal.
The clearance is another step in Tribune’s 2 1/2 year quest to sell the Cubs. It still needs approval from a bankruptcy judge and Major League Baseball owners.
The Ricketts family reached an agreement, announced Aug. 21, to acquire the team, Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet for $845 million.
– Carrie Muskat
8/21 Cubs sale – update
The Ricketts family Friday signed a definitive agreement with Tribune Co. to acquire a 95 percent interest in the Cubs, Wrigley Field and Tribune’s approximately 25 percent interest in Comcast SportsNet (CSN) in a transaction valued at $845 million.
The Ricketts family will have management control of the joint venture as its 95 percent owner. Tribune will retain a five-percent ownership interest.
“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,” said Joe Ricketts, in a statement released by the Tribune Co. “The Cubs have the greatest fans in the world, and we count our family among them. We look forward to closing the transaction so that we can begin leading the Cubs to a World Series title.”
The Ricketts family reached the agreement with Tribune after a thorough bid process that began more than two years ago. Tribune intends to proceed to a final transaction close without soliciting further bids from other parties.
“This joint venture will provide dedicated, local family ownership and management for the team,” Tribune Chairman Sam Zell said. “The Ricketts family will be a great steward of the franchise. They have a strong respect for the team, for the fans and for what the Cubs mean to the City of Chicago.”
Final closing of the agreement is dependent upon approval by Major League Baseball owners and bankruptcy court approvals. As part of the court’s approval process, the entity holding most of the assets of the Cubs franchise will voluntarily file for Chapter 11 protection so that the franchise can emerge free and clear of Tribune Co.’s financial obligations. All obligations specific to the Cubs franchise — player contracts and agreements with sponsors, broadcasters, advertisers, suppliers and ticket holders — are not expected to be impacted by the court approval process, and there should be no interruption of team operations. The court is expected to rule on approval of the transaction early in the fourth quarter of 2009.
– Carrie Muskat
8/20 Cubs sale
The Chicago Tribune reported Thursday the sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts family is “imminent.” More than a month after Tribune Co. agreed to broad financial terms of a deal to sell the team to Tom Ricketts, the two sides apparently are close to completing the legal documents related with the transaction.
The completion of a definitive agreement would mean Tribune Co. would not be able to solicit any other bids for the team, sources told the newspaper.
Ricketts, a Chicago investment banker, is the son of Joe Ricketts, who helped create the Omaha-based online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.
The Ricketts family has agreed to pay about $900 million for the team, Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
According to the Tribune story, one of the main transactional documents lawyers on both sides have been working on is creating the limited liability company that would include Tribune Co. and the family. The company, which owns the Chicago Tribune, has desired such an ownership structure to shelter several hundred million dollars in capital gains that would be generated by selling assets the company has held through decades of growth. Tribune Co. bought the team and the stadium for about $20 million in 1981 from the Wrigley family.
Under the sale structure to the Ricketts family, Tribune Co. would retain about a 5 percent stake in the Cubs assets.
However, there’s still a long process ahead. After the sale makes its way through bankruptcy court, it would be put to a vote by Major League Baseball owners. Seventy-five percent of the league’s 30 owners have to approve a transfer of ownership.
– Carrie Muskat
7/27 Money matters
According to the Wall Street Journal, bankers from J.P. Morgan Chase are hosting representatives of leading financial institutions at the Cubs’ game Tuesday. It’s an effort to syndicate about $450 million in loans that JPM, Citigroup and Bank of America are underwriting as part of financier Tom Ricketts’ efforts to buy the Cubs for nearly $900 million. Once the financing is complete, the Tribune Co., which has filed for bankruptcy and owns the Cubs, can submit the deal to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for approval.
– Carrie Muskat
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