Billion dollar baseball business

From Tom Taylor:

Tribune comes back to Tom Ricketts for a nearly $900 million deal for the Cubs and Wrigley Field.

Tom Ricketts’ group was the Tribune Company’s top choice at the end of a lengthy auction process back in January. But things dragged out from there – partly over issues like how to value the Chicago Cubs’ relationship with WGN Radio (720) and media rights at other Tribune-owned assets. So in June, Tribune turned to another finalist and re-opened negotiations. That, reports the Chicago Tribune, was a group led by Marc Utay. And it may’ve been enough to get Tom Ricketts back to the table for a deal one Tribune source says is “slightly less” than the original $900 million-or-so offer.

Now, the term sheet has been submitted to Major League Baseball, and Tribune (currently in Chapter 11) and the Ricketts group will hammer out a definitive agreement. One of the items in there, presumably, is what happens to the valuable radio rights for the Cubs. The Cubs themselves aren’t in Chapter 11.

Why don't deals like this happen to Tiny Tim Dorsey?

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