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The club's owners, the Tribune Company, had already filed for bankruptcy protection in December, that that filing did not include the Cubs. The Tribune plans to sell the baseball team, along with Wrigley Field and related properties to the family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, who is the founder of Nebraska-based TD Ameritrade.
Tribune has agreed to sell the Ricketts family a 95% stake in the Cubes. The Tribune will keep the remaining 5%. The sale still requires the approval of 3/4 of Major League Baseball’s 30 team owners.
Tribune purchased the Chicago Cubs for $20.5 million in 1981 from candy maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. (hence the Wrigley Field moniker). Despite their long time since their last World Series win, the Cubs are one of the more storied teams in MLB, as is their stadium. Tribune announced plans to sell the franchise in 2007, but the recession derailed those plans until now.
The Tribune Co. also owns the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. It's unclear when fellow MLB owners will give the deal a go-ahead.
Posted October 12th, 2009 by Michael Santo
