Cuban submits application, joins crowded field of Cubs' suitors

[Jimcs50]

Report: Cuban submits application, joins crowded field of Cubs' suitors
ESPN.com news services

Updated: July 13, 2007, 12:42 AM ET
Fans of the Windy City's lovable losers can count a maverick NBA owner among those interested in purchasing the Chicago Cubs.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Mark Cuban says that he has submitted his application to Major League Baseball to purchase the Cubs. Cuban, who has owned the NBA's Dallas Mavericks since January of 2000 and is known for his free-spending ways, told the newspaper he sent the paperwork in last week.

Cuban's efforts to enter the already crowded field to purchase the team is being met with some speculation. The Tribune summed up Cuban's efforts to buy the team in its Thursday edition as follows: "And while Internet billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has expressed interest, most observers think Major League Baseball would balk at a potential owner as unpredictable and outspoken as Cuban."

When e-mailed by the Tribune to respond to the sentence, Cuban replied via e-mail: "I never comment on 'most observers' reports. It's like responding to a random blog post, a waste of time."

The Tribune Co. announced it would sell the team at season's end in April, after the ailing media conglomerate announced its acquisition by billionaire investor Sam Zell. It put one of sports' most storied and star-crossed franchises on the block, a year shy of the 100th anniversary of its last World Series le.

Zell, a real estate magnate who already owns part of his hometown Bulls and White Sox, did not comment about why he's was not interested in keeping the Cubs in connection with the $8.2 billion deal. The team is one of Tribune's richest assets.

Cuban faces some stiff compe ion among suitors for the Cubs. The Tribune reported Thursday that the Ricketts family, which founded discount broker TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., has joined the list of potential bidders.

Sources close to the situation said the Ricketts family is readying their application MLB requires for all parties wishing to bid on a franchise. The group is led by Thomas Ricketts, 41, who is the founder and chief executive of the Chicago-based investment firm, Incapital Holdings LLC.

Thomas Ricketts is the son of J. Joe Ricketts, an Omaha billionaire who founded Ameritrade. Forbes Magazine this year estimated the Ricketts' family worth is $2.3 billion.

The Tribune reports other bidders include John Canning, who heads the Chicago-based private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners and is a part-owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. Additionally, a partnership of restaurateur Larry Levy and Chicago business owner Craig Duchossois is also thought to be interested in entering the fray.

Don Levin, who owns the Chicago Wolves minor league hockey team has said he is interested in bidding for the team, as is a partnership of Chicago attorney Thomas Mandler and area businessman Jim Anixter. A group led by industrialist and private-equity investor Thomas Begel may also try bidding on the Cubs, the newspaper reports.

Bidding for the ballclub and historic Wrigley Field, however, is certain to be fiercely compe ive. Analysts have estimated the Cubs could fetch $600 million or more, a far cry from the $20.5 million Tribune paid in 1981.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[Jimcs50]

It was reported that Angelina Jolie also was interested in buying the Cubs as well.




But after further investigation, it was later determined that she did not want to buy the Cubs, but rather to adopt them, because she felt sorry for them, and confused the term free agents with the word refugees.

[Mr Dio]

Cuban...

I'm unsure who a bigger idiot is, Cuban or the morons who worship him.

Here's to an awesome regular season record you cross eyed idiot, hope it helps u win a ring. One day....

[tsb2000]

I think he's got a real shot at getting the Cubs. Financing isn't an issue for him. He doesn't need to go out and ask all of his rich buddies to be part of the investment group like most of the would-be suitors.

I hope he gets them.

[exstatic]

I think he's got a real shot at getting the Cubs. Financing isn't an issue for him. He doesn't need to go out and ask all of his rich buddies to be part of the investment group like most of the would-be suitors.

I hope he gets them.

It's not about the money. I'm sure they would approve any consortium before they would approve Cuban. Baseball is the last old boys club. They don't like New Money posers who jump on scorer's tables at their league's showcase event and scream at their commissioners that the league is fixed.

[Melmart1]

Cuban will never be the owner of such a proud, vaunted franchise. However, it would be funny if he did get the club, because it would seal his commitment to never winning a championship.

[FromWayDowntown]

As a baseball fan, I wish that he would purchase the Pirates or the Royals. He's got ties to Pittsburgh and (I think) had been mentioned in some rumors concerning a possible purchase of the Pirates. It would be great to see someone committed to winning take over one of those great old franchises and make an effort to bring them back to respectability.

Of course, the very fact that such an effort would need to be made in both cases is precisely the reason why Cuban is unlikely to buy either team. For the capital it takes to buy any major league team, the investment value of the Pirates is pretty small.