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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Cubs cut number of suitors to three, Cuban still in it

Included in the second round are Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; the Ricketts family, which founded the brokerage that is now TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Sports Acquisition Holding Corp. that includes former baseball home run king Henry Aaron and former Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. The last group is believed to be teaming with another bidder who submitted an offer in the initial round.

All three of the reported potential buyers refused Thursday to comment publicly. However, the person involved in the bidding provided to The Associated Press an outline of the conditions for the second round.

John Canning, the chairman of private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, which had been treated as the front-runner, did not make the initial cut, according to the person, who said Tribune is not letting any bidder eliminated after the first round submit a new higher proposal in the second round.

Canning is a minority owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and close friends with Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Any successful sale must be approved by three-quarters of the owners of other major league teams.

Selig just started sweating. His good friend doesn’t even make it into round two but Cuban does? Maybe he’s losing his touch....

Gamingboy Posted: July 24, 2008 at 07:06 PM | 26 comment(s)
Related News: General, Business, Chi Cubs

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1. McCoy Posted: July 24, 2008 at 07:58 PM (#2871879)

I wonder if Canning thought he could lowball the offer? Either that or he knows Selig is going to step in and force the Tribune to either include Canning in on the deal or to take Cannings deal.

2. NTNgod Posted: July 24, 2008 at 08:03 PM (#2871880)

Or he's the mystery prior bidder who teamed up with Sports Acquisition Holding Corp.

Aaron and Canning? Selig would like that.

3. kevin Posted: July 24, 2008 at 08:06 PM (#2871881)

I though Fidel was dead?

I suppose embracing capitalism is sort of the same thing.

4. zambranofan Posted: July 24, 2008 at 08:46 PM (#2871924)

Or the mystery prior bidder is Don Levin, who would bring a local flavor to the group, and may even be the lead owner (that is, the one who actually oversees the team).

5. SouthSideRyan(CASEY'S GONE!!) Posted: July 24, 2008 at 11:01 PM (#2872187)

Not in the intro: Comcast says Cuban bids 1.3 Billion.

6. TerpNats Posted: July 24, 2008 at 11:15 PM (#2872213)

Kinda weird to imagine Hank Aaron associated with the Cubs...would he be their equivalent of Stan Kasten? (I can hear the groaning from the North Side.)

7. Lassus Posted: July 24, 2008 at 11:41 PM (#2872249)

Does anyone know if this was a sealed bid?

8. Justin Zeth Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:08 AM (#2872282)

I wonder if Canning thought he could lowball the offer? Either that or he knows Selig is going to step in and force the Tribune to either include Canning in on the deal or to take Cannings deal.

Craig Calcaterra has done a fine job of explaining why this opens the door for Mark Cuban to make some noise resulting in a lawsuit Selig really doesn't want, either filed himself or by the shareholders who currently own the Cubs (because the Cubs are obligated to maximize shareholder return on selling the team). Selig can't force the Tribune to do anything, and if Cuban's offer is simply for significantly more money than the other bidders, it could get miiiiighty interesting.

But Craig asked another question that has merit: Would Cuban really want to bother himself to work his way into a treehouse club that most of the other owners strongly don't want him in anyway?

9. SouthSideRyan(CASEY'S GONE!!) Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:13 AM (#2872290)

Other than Reinsdorf and a couple of welfare queens is there really a reason another team's owner shouldn't want Cuban? Unless Selig is leaning heavily on these guys, I don't see what they'd have against him.

10. Justin Zeth Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:19 AM (#2872298)

I've always assumed Selig is operating under the control of the Cabal of Owners, not the other way around, but I don't know.

The answer to your question is yes: The current crop of owners is an *extremely* risk-averse, allergic to controversy, PR-minded group that looks at Mark Cuban and sees an extremely dangerous loose cannon. They want no part of him being in the treehouse.

11. JoeHova Posted: July 25, 2008 at 07:58 AM (#2872496)

In any situation where Hank Aaron is one of the contenders and Bud Selig gets to decide on the winner, I think the smart money would be on Hank. However, as has been mentioned this isn't the normal franchise sale because the Cubs are part of a publicly-owned company, so maybe Selig won't be able to throw his weight around like in the past.

And Justin is probably right about Selig being more a minion than the lord of darkness himself, but it seems like he does get final say on a lot of things.

12. Shooty: Now rated AAA by Moody's and S&P! Posted: July 25, 2008 at 08:03 AM (#2872500)

No one has mentioned the real wildcard in this--Zell! He's a greedy f3cking bastard with some serious debt issues. My guess is Selig fears him more than Cuban. This might be a case where MLB won't be able to bully anyone into doing their bidding--Zell and Cuban are not wilting flowers. If Cuban puts up the dough, I bet he gets the team. It's a lot of dough, though. Cuban is obviously a sports fanboy, but he didn't get so wealthy throwing good money after bad, either. Should be interesting how this plays out.

13. Billy B Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:16 PM (#2872860)

Craig Calcaterra has done a fine job of explaining why this opens the door for Mark Cuban to make some noise resulting in a lawsuit Selig really doesn't want, either filed himself or by the shareholders who currently own the Cubs (because the Cubs are obligated to maximize shareholder return on selling the team). Selig can't force the Tribune to do anything, and if Cuban's offer is simply for significantly more money than the other bidders, it could get miiiiighty interesting.

There are no shareholders. The Tribune was bought by Sam Zell and is now privately held. Zell could sue, but I wouldn't count on that.

14. Shooty: Now rated AAA by Moody's and S&P! Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:20 PM (#2872868)

I'm surprised this thread isn't getting more play. This is interesting stuff.

15. Boots Day Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:24 PM (#2872872)

Does Cuban really still have $1.3 billion lying around? That's an awful lot of change. I wonder if he has some partners going in with him.

16. JPWF13 Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:29 PM (#2872878)

Zell could sue, but I wouldn't count on that.

No, but see post 12- ALL Zell cares about is maximizing his return, if Cuabn offers the most $, and Selig/owners veto, he won't meekly walk away and instead take the best offer that Selig will approve. He'll push.

Also if Cuban legitimately makes the best offer and it's vetoed because Selig & Co don;t want Cuban personally... and the result is a public fight- MLB owners don't want that. Most owners intend to sell eventually. If it is too obvious that getting to be an owner depends more on being clubby with the right individuals than with the amount of $ on the table that will suppress future bids for franchises. Why bid 675mm instead of 600mm if the extra $ makes no difference in whether your offer will be accepted?

17. Shooty: Now rated AAA by Moody's and S&P! Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:32 PM (#2872882)

I have to say, if the Cubs really do win this thing, Sam Zell walking away with a World Series trophy is going to make me kinda glum, just as it did when Disney and Loria won. I know the fans of the teams don't care, but as an innocent bystander, it's just crappy.

18. DCA Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:32 PM (#2872884)

But Craig asked another question that has merit: Would Cuban really want to bother himself to work his way into a treehouse club that most of the other owners strongly don't want him in anyway?

I think the either (i) Cuban doesn't give a ####, or (ii) because of this, he wants it even more.

19. Weeks T. Olive Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:36 PM (#2872890)

20. Shooty: Now rated AAA by Moody's and S&P! Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:39 PM (#2872893)

Why? The two situations are completely different.

They seem the same to me. D-bags in one form or another owned a team that won the Series. Actually, most owners are D-bags, but these three are especially egregious.

21. Andere HUSSEIN Richtingen, Socialist Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:45 PM (#2872905)

I have to say, if the Cubs really do win this thing, Sam Zell walking away with a World Series trophy is going to make me kinda glum

Meh. I'm not sure Zell is going to care enough to touch the trophy. And even if he did, is he worse than the Tribune Co.?

Cuban is obviously a sports fanboy, but he didn't get so wealthy throwing good money after bad, either.

I wonder if sports teams represent a bubble phenomenon, but the Cubs seem to have done pretty well financially, win or lose.

22. Shooty: Now rated AAA by Moody's and S&P! Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:51 PM (#2872912)

I wonder if sports teams represent a bubble phenomenon, but the Cubs seem to have done pretty well financially, win or lose.

You never know. They've done very well recently, but only a sucker thinks the curve only goes up. Whenever you put out money, there's risk. 1.3 billion is a LOT of risk, even for a franchise like the Cubs.

If Cuban does buy the Cubs, then I think CC or Ben Sheets will be in Chicago next year. He's going to look to make a splash and sticking it to Milwaukee is just the kind of statement I bet he'd make.

23. Swedish Chef Posted: July 25, 2008 at 12:57 PM (#2872924)

Cuban is obviously a sports fanboy, but he didn't get so wealthy throwing good money after bad, either.

His wealth is based on scamming Yahoo out of five billion for Broadcast.com. So it's very much fast money.

24. Boots Day Posted: July 25, 2008 at 01:18 PM (#2872955)

Well, it was $5 billion in Yahoo stock, so depending on when and how much he unloaded, it's worth at best less than half that now.

25. Swedish Chef Posted: July 25, 2008 at 05:12 PM (#2873365)

Well, it was $5 billion in Yahoo stock, so depending on when and how much he unloaded, it's worth at best less than half that now.

He sold it as fast as he could. He's no dummy.

26. hawkeyecub Posted: August 15, 2008 at 10:45 AM (#2904336)

MARK CUBAN LOVES CHICAGO!! http://312diningdiva.blogspot.com/2008/08/cuban-does-kilo-kai.html

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Cubs cut number of suitors to three, Cuban still in it

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