Ricketts' $900M is winning bid for Chicago Cubs

Friday, January 23, 2009
Ricketts' $900M is winning bid for Chicago Cubs
Andrew Seligman / Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Tom Ricketts once lived across the street from Wrigley Field and met his wife in the bleachers.

Now that his billionaire family is set to purchase the Chicago Cubs and their historic ballpark from Tribune Co., he's about to get a closer view of his favorite team.

And, maybe, he can help them win their first championship since 1908.

"My family and I are Cubs fans," Ricketts said in a statement Thursday night. "We share the goal of Cubs fans everywhere to win a World Series and build the consistent championship tradition that the fans deserve."

The sale would also include a 25 percent interest in a regional sports network, said Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for Ricketts. Culloton said the deal was worth about $900 million.

The family, whose bid was picked from among three finalists, also said in the statement that they are looking forward to working with the Tribune and Major League Baseball to close the transaction promptly.

Tribune Co. spokesman Gary Weitman declined to comment.

The selection of Ricketts, a member of the founding family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. and chief executive of InCapital LLC, was first reported on the Chicago Sun-Times' Web site.

Now more than a century removed from their last World Series title, the Cubs were purchased by Tribune Co. from Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for $20.5 million in June 1981. Tribune Co. put the team on the market on opening day 2007, when real estate mogul Sam Zell agreed to buy the corporation.

Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said last week that the team hopes to have a new owner in place by opening day, April 6, but many steps remain before a sale can be completed.

"Obviously, these final negotiations are key, but my client is, as the statement indicates, pretty optimistic," Culloton said.

Ricketts must reach an agreement with Tribune Co., which filed for bankruptcy protection last month. While the Cubs and Wrigley Field were not included in the bankruptcy filing, a sale likely will have to be approved by the creditors' committee and possibly a bankruptcy judge.

In addition, a sale must be approved by baseball owners.

Under the structure that had been discussed with baseball officials, Tribune Co. would keep a small percentage of the team for tax reasons, probably around 5 percent, a baseball official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions between the team and MLB have not been made public.

Other finalists in the bidding included Hersch Klaff, who owns a Chicago commercial real estate firm; and a partnership between two New Yorkers involved in private equity, Marc Utay of Clarion Capital and Leo Hindery Jr. of InterMedia Partners.

Ricketts, the point man in his family's bid, grew up watching the Cubs and once lived in an apartment above a bar across the street from Wrigley Field. His father, J. Joe Ricketts, helped found the retail brokerage that became Ameritrade, a leading online stock brokerage. Tom Ricketts never worked as an Ameritrade executive, but he does serve on the Omaha, Neb.-based company's board with his father and brother, Peter Ricketts.

The Ricketts family controls about 22 percent of Ameritrade's stock.

Tom Ricketts was a market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and finance executive before starting investment bank Incapital LLC.

"If it's true that this Tom Ricketts is a real fan, then it should be a good move, but I really wish it had been (Dallas Mavericks owner) Mark Cuban. He was passionate about it, and he really wants them to win," said Cubs fan Hope Bertram of Chicago.

If the deal is approved, the Ricketts family would acquire a team that hasn't won the World Series since 1908 and hasn't even made it to the Fall Classic since 1945. While the Cubs won the NL Central each of the last two seasons, they were swept in the first round of the playoffs both times.

Tribune Co. considered selling the team and the famous ballpark separately but rejected a plan from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to purchase the ivy-walled stadium. Cubs chairman Kenney said recently the two would be sold together.

Tribune Co. owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The (Baltimore) Sun, The Hartford Courant and other dailies as well as 23 television stations. It has been smothered by a drop-off in advertising and $13 billion in debt from Zell's acquisition. The company is selling off assets as it seeks to raise cash to pay the debt.

AP Business Writer Dave Carpenter contributed to this report.

900 million


Must be nice



Wonder how long before Ricketts demands a new stadium built 100 percent with taxpayer money

Why would you want to replace Wrigley?

gdennis59 wrote:

Why would you want to replace Wrigley?

Because it's a dump.

Well I mean, there's so much history there. And no WS wins in forever lol.

gdennis59 wrote:

Well I mean, there's so much history there. And no WS wins in forever lol.

Well, there was a lot of history at Yankee Stadium and now it's a parking lot...

I see your point. But Wrigley had always stuck out to me for some reason.

Nonsense, keep Wrigley Field.

I say chew a piece of Wrigley gum and send in the wrecking ball!

catbox_9 wrote:

Nonsense, keep Wrigley Field.

:high_five:

I doubt the new owner will want to get rid of Wrigley Field. It has personal meaning to him...

Quote :

Tom Ricketts once lived across the street from Wrigley Field and met his wife in the bleachers.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

I doubt the new owner will want to get rid of Wrigley Field. It has personal meaning to him...

Quote :

Tom Ricketts once lived across the street from Wrigley Field and met his wife in the bleachers.

Tom Monaghan felt the same way about Tiger Stadium when he bought the team in 84

Ilitch did in 1992 when he bought the team

Those things have a way of changing


At the very least expect a major taxpayer paid renovation of Wrigley in the near future