After nearly two years of intrigue, the billionaire Ricketts family has emerged as the winning bidder to purchase the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. for about $900 million, sources close to the situation said this evening.
The family will now complete negotiations with Tribune Co.
The family edged out Chicago real-estate investor Hersch Klaff and New York private-equity investor Marc Utay, a Chicago native, for the chance to follow Tribune Co., the Chicago-based media conglomerate, as owners of the storied yet hard-luck franchise.
The Ricketts family effort, led by Tom Ricketts, who lives in the Chicago area, still has a number of hurdles to cross before taking ownership of the Cubs, including receiving approval from 23 of the league’s 30 owners.
Cubs officials have said they hope to have sale completed by the start of the new season in April.
Late today, the Ricketts family released the following statement:
The deal would represent a return to family ownership for the Cubs. Before Tribune took control of the team in 1981, the Wrigley family, founders of the chewing-gum company, owned the Cubs for 65 years. The clan sold the team and Wrigley Field to the media company, which owns the Chicago Tribune, for $20.5 million.
In Chicago, the Ricketts family is hardly as well known as the Wrigleys, or any of the current owners of the city’s major professional sports franchises, but certainly that would change quickly for the new custodians of one of the country’s best-known teams, as well as one of its most storied stadiums. Along with the Cubs, the Ricketts are buying Wrigley Field, and a 25 percent stake in a regional cable sports network.
The family patriarch, J. Joe Ricketts, grew up in Omaha and started a discount stock brokerage. In the 1990s he transformed the company into an Internet trading powerhouse now known as TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. He is ranked among the world’s billionaires, according to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion. Shares of the company are also owned by his wife and four children.
The family’s pursuit of the Cubs was led by Tom Ricketts, 43, the second-oldest child. An investment banker, he resides in Wilmette with his wife and five children. Two of his siblings also live in the Chicago area.
The Ricketts family would control one of baseball’s most popular franchises, despite the team not having won the World Series since 1908. The team draws more than 3 million fans to an aging ballpark that is beloved for its charm but lacks modern stadium amenities. Forbes estimated the team’s value at $642 million last year, fifth highest in baseball.
Tribune Co.’s 28-year stewardship of the Cubs was marked by mediocrity on the field but success outside the lines. The company added lights and night games to Wrigley Field, expanded its seating capacity and increased stadium sponsorship without destroying its allure.
Tribune Co. put the Cubs up for sale in April 2007, upon announcing that it would go private in a debt-laden $8.2 billion transaction led by Chicago real-estate mogul Sam Zell. Selling the Cubs is needed to pay down debt.
