On a day when most teams in baseball open their seasons and the NCAA will crown its men's basketball champion, the business page staged a successful invasion of the sports page today. The big news? Sam Zell is buying the Tribune Company and putting a big "for sale" sign in front of Wrigley Field.
A number of observers have suggested that Zell's victory was the best-case scenario for the Cubbies, whose failure to win the big one since Theodore Roosevelt was president has been well-documented. The Tribune Company has often been accused of being content to milk the team like any other cash cow -- taking the profits from perpetually-sold-out Wrigley Field and Cubs broadcasts on WGN without ever making a serious commitment to winning. The argument goes that ownership by a businessman -- a titan of the local business community, a person who can be the subject of fans' ire -- is preferable to ownership by a big, faceless corporation.
Those pundits apparently didn't consider the possibility that Zell would put the team on the block more or less immediately.
A number of big names have reportedly expressed interest in buying the team, including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (who, surprisingly, hasn't commented on Blog Maverick yet...), former Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, actor Bill Murray, and columnist George Will. Rick Morrissey comments on their prospects and the chances of a few other prominent Chicagoans in today's Tribune.
It will be interesting to see if news of the sale impacts contract negotiations with Carlos Zambrano. The team and the ace pitcher are reportedly close to a deal, and Zambrano agreed to extend his deadline in order to get something done.
Originally published at About Baseball
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