Mark Cuban applies to buy Cubs

Nam Dekan · 07-13-2007, 01:15 PM

CHICAGO (AP) -- Add internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to the list of potential Chicago Cubs buyers.

"I submitted an app," Cuban said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Interested parties must submit an application to Major League Baseball to examine the team's finances. Cuban told the Chicago Tribune he sent in the application last week, although he wasn't sure of the date.

Tribune Co., which owns the team, announced in April it was selling itself for $8.2 billion to Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell, who made the deal contingent on shedding non-core assets. That means the Cubs will go on the auction block at the end of the season -- a decision Tribune chairman and CEO Dennis FitzSimons has conceded was difficult but one that "really makes sense for our shareholders."

Several potential deep-pocketed bidders are expected to vie for the Cubs and possibly for Wrigley Field, including Cuban and Chicago native Jerry Colangelo, the Phoenix Suns CEO who once ran the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Tribune, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday the family of Omaha, Neb.-based TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.'s founder Joe Ricketts also was considering a bid. Ricketts family representatives declined to comment on the report when contacted by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Forbes magazine recently valued the National League Cubs at $592 million, fifth-highest in baseball, although experts speculate the bidding could start at $600 million.

On the Net:

Chicago Cubs: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com

Tribune Co.: http://www.tribjobs.com/index.html

Old Soul · 07-13-2007, 01:23 PM

Selig won't let it happen with the way his Brewers' future is shaping up.

If he bought the Cubs he'd be fighting with Steinbrenner every year for the top FA's. No other owner would even try to compete.

I have mixed feelings about him buying my team. But he's very passionate about winning, which the Chicago Tribune is not.

Nam Dekan · 07-13-2007, 01:26 PM

Baseball needs a new owner like him with Steinbrenner getting up there in years.

Old Soul · 07-13-2007, 01:35 PM

From another article:

It's hard to picture Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who has seen Cuban's act in the NBA, remaining quiet during the bid process. It's one thing to have to deal with Cuban as a fellow owner; it's another to have to deal with him as a fellow owner in the same city. Selig takes his cue from the owners and is especially close to Reinsdorf. It's true there's a "Cub" in Cuban's name. It's also true there's a "ban." Stay tuned.

This is gonna be interesting. If reports are true ARod will opt-out and try to get 30-35 mil this year, and Cuban gets the Cubs, ARod is going to Wrigley.

SeeSon · 07-13-2007, 06:26 PM

I would love for Cuban to buy the Cubs. I would really like to see a world series in my lifetime and if we don't get owners who are passionate about winning, I doubt it will happen in the foreseeable future.

Nam Dekan · 07-13-2007, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Soul

Selig won't let it happen with the way his Brewers' future is shaping up.

If he bought the Cubs he'd be fighting with Steinbrenner every year for the top FA's. No other owner would even try to compete.

I have mixed feelings about him buying my team. But he's very passionate about winning, which the Chicago Tribune is not.

I guess one of the front runners is a close friend of Selig and would essentially mirror the ownership of the Tribune.

Old Soul · 07-13-2007, 08:13 PM

Yeah, the guy has a partial claim in the Brewers, too. I believe that's the guy.

What a dirty, dirty league.

Purple Haze · 07-13-2007, 08:30 PM

How can I submit an app?

Old Soul · 07-13-2007, 08:35 PM

From another board.

I may be way off but we all might be overestimating Selig's role in all this. To my knowledge the process works this way:
1. Prospective bidders apply to baseball for the right to bid. The league checks if they have enough money and that nothing in their backround would keep them from owning a team (such as when DeBartolo was blocked for supposed mob ties).
2. Those that meet the leagues approval submit bids to buy the team.
3. The team selects the bid they want and it goes to the ownership to be voted on and it almost always goes thru.
Selig only has control of one part of the process, the first one. Clearly Cuban has the funds. Thus if the league tries to block him it has to come up with a lot more than "we don't like him" or they'll get sued and lose their shirts. I don't see how they can deny him the right to bid.
If Cuban is truly willing to pay the dollars and outbid everyone else ( he might just scare off bidders as well) it'd be pretty hard for Zell not to give him the bid, he in this for the money and nothing else.
As far as the owners voting against him, I doubt it. His high bid will raise the value of every team in baseball. They'll gladly take his fine money and will likely pass regulations keeping him off the field. The Cubs are too important to the rest of the league to give them a owner without the will and means to keep them competitive. Would they allow the Yankees or Dodgers to become underfunded? I think Cuban has a lot better shot than you think. They may not like him but they'll LOVE his money.

Let's pray, Cub fans!

psunit · 07-13-2007, 10:15 PM

Ha now he wants to be part of baseball. I thought if he ever went to be a partial owner it would be for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They need a guy who will spend. Damn you Cuban.

Purple Haze · 07-13-2007, 10:21 PM

Is 500 bucks enough?

psunit · 07-13-2007, 10:32 PM

Whoa whoa. That would be considered over spending for the Buccos.

Nam Dekan · 07-13-2007, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Soul

From another board.

I may be way off but we all might be overestimating Selig's role in all this. To my knowledge the process works this way:
1. Prospective bidders apply to baseball for the right to bid. The league checks if they have enough money and that nothing in their backround would keep them from owning a team (such as when DeBartolo was blocked for supposed mob ties).
2. Those that meet the leagues approval submit bids to buy the team.
3. The team selects the bid they want and it goes to the ownership to be voted on and it almost always goes thru.
Selig only has control of one part of the process, the first one. Clearly Cuban has the funds. Thus if the league tries to block him it has to come up with a lot more than "we don't like him" or they'll get sued and lose their shirts. I don't see how they can deny him the right to bid.
If Cuban is truly willing to pay the dollars and outbid everyone else ( he might just scare off bidders as well) it'd be pretty hard for Zell not to give him the bid, he in this for the money and nothing else.
As far as the owners voting against him, I doubt it. His high bid will raise the value of every team in baseball. They'll gladly take his fine money and will likely pass regulations keeping him off the field. The Cubs are too important to the rest of the league to give them a owner without the will and means to keep them competitive. Would they allow the Yankees or Dodgers to become underfunded? I think Cuban has a lot better shot than you think. They may not like him but they'll LOVE his money.

Let's pray, Cub fans!

Yeah as far as I know only Reinsdorf has an issue with Cuban. He was the only vote against Cuban when he bought the Mavericks.

Homicidal Thoughtz · 07-14-2007, 02:53 AM

i would love to see cuban jump the fence and argue with the umps

Final Chapta · 07-14-2007, 08:39 AM

cubans like , yeah i submitted an app.

rofl.

like its 20 bucks.

anyway , i think this would make wrigley all the more disireable place for a ballplayer to play , with cubans backround. the guy isnt affraid to spend money - but he does it wisely. dude dont get scrubs , he wants to win. i think the competitiveness would be good for baseball and increase the chances for a ring in the windy city.

Old Soul · 07-16-2007, 12:28 AM

Didn't want to make another thread but we're going to the playoffs man we are on a roll. It's been a long time since we had a team with so much heart and since we put together a stretch like this.

07-13-2007, 01:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
Nam Dekan i got a tip in my pocket Join Date: Mar 1999 Location: Home Depot Posts: 58,201	Mark Cuban applies to buy Cubs CHICAGO (AP) -- Add internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to the list of potential Chicago Cubs buyers. "I submitted an app," Cuban said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Interested parties must submit an application to Major League Baseball to examine the team's finances. Cuban told the Chicago Tribune he sent in the application last week, although he wasn't sure of the date. Tribune Co., which owns the team, announced in April it was selling itself for $8.2 billion to Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell, who made the deal contingent on shedding non-core assets. That means the Cubs will go on the auction block at the end of the season -- a decision Tribune chairman and CEO Dennis FitzSimons has conceded was difficult but one that "really makes sense for our shareholders." Several potential deep-pocketed bidders are expected to vie for the Cubs and possibly for Wrigley Field, including Cuban and Chicago native Jerry Colangelo, the Phoenix Suns CEO who once ran the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tribune, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday the family of Omaha, Neb.-based TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.'s founder Joe Ricketts also was considering a bid. Ricketts family representatives declined to comment on the report when contacted by The Associated Press on Thursday. Forbes magazine recently valued the National League Cubs at $592 million, fifth-highest in baseball, although experts speculate the bidding could start at $600 million. On the Net: Chicago Cubs: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com Tribune Co.: http://www.tribjobs.com/index.html __________________ Juggs n Ruggs, we'll fuck up your mugs! Strip Club Dreams "Let me tell you something, sister, you serve two purposes in this house - you can give me a blow job or make me a sandwich. I'm not in the mood for head and I had a late breakfast, so you're shit out of luck. "-Tommy Gavin from Rescue Me

07-13-2007, 01:23 PM	#2 (permalink)
Old Soul Nipple Nibbler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: I'll stay below the surface, breaking bread with worms. It's depravity, not gravity, that anchors flesh to Earth......... Los Angeles, CA Posts: 27,037	Selig won't let it happen with the way his Brewers' future is shaping up. If he bought the Cubs he'd be fighting with Steinbrenner every year for the top FA's. No other owner would even try to compete. I have mixed feelings about him buying my team. But he's very passionate about winning, which the Chicago Tribune is not. __________________ The venom is inside of me, the reason Greece is fallin to pieces The whole world's callin for Jesus And I'll let him take a strike or three Then crush his skull with a tree from the Garden of Eden I know he has a high threshold for pain So I'll tie him to a bull's tail and drag his flesh over Spain An equisite work of art I'll drop his head at the Louvre I'm impossible to stop once I get in a groove

07-13-2007, 01:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
Nam Dekan i got a tip in my pocket Join Date: Mar 1999 Location: Home Depot Posts: 58,201	Baseball needs a new owner like him with Steinbrenner getting up there in years. __________________ Juggs n Ruggs, we'll fuck up your mugs! Strip Club Dreams "Let me tell you something, sister, you serve two purposes in this house - you can give me a blow job or make me a sandwich. I'm not in the mood for head and I had a late breakfast, so you're shit out of luck. "-Tommy Gavin from Rescue Me

07-13-2007, 01:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
Old Soul Nipple Nibbler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: I'll stay below the surface, breaking bread with worms. It's depravity, not gravity, that anchors flesh to Earth......... Los Angeles, CA Posts: 27,037	From another article: It's hard to picture Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who has seen Cuban's act in the NBA, remaining quiet during the bid process. It's one thing to have to deal with Cuban as a fellow owner; it's another to have to deal with him as a fellow owner in the same city. Selig takes his cue from the owners and is especially close to Reinsdorf. It's true there's a "Cub" in Cuban's name. It's also true there's a "ban." Stay tuned. This is gonna be interesting. If reports are true ARod will opt-out and try to get 30-35 mil this year, and Cuban gets the Cubs, ARod is going to Wrigley. __________________ The venom is inside of me, the reason Greece is fallin to pieces The whole world's callin for Jesus And I'll let him take a strike or three Then crush his skull with a tree from the Garden of Eden I know he has a high threshold for pain So I'll tie him to a bull's tail and drag his flesh over Spain An equisite work of art I'll drop his head at the Louvre I'm impossible to stop once I get in a groove

07-13-2007, 06:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
SeeSon Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Chicago Posts: 4,973	I would love for Cuban to buy the Cubs. I would really like to see a world series in my lifetime and if we don't get owners who are passionate about winning, I doubt it will happen in the foreseeable future. __________________ "A wise man told me not to argue with fools, cause people from a distance can't tell who is who" Hov

07-13-2007, 08:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
Old Soul Nipple Nibbler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: I'll stay below the surface, breaking bread with worms. It's depravity, not gravity, that anchors flesh to Earth......... Los Angeles, CA Posts: 27,037	Yeah, the guy has a partial claim in the Brewers, too. I believe that's the guy. What a dirty, dirty league. __________________ The venom is inside of me, the reason Greece is fallin to pieces The whole world's callin for Jesus And I'll let him take a strike or three Then crush his skull with a tree from the Garden of Eden I know he has a high threshold for pain So I'll tie him to a bull's tail and drag his flesh over Spain An equisite work of art I'll drop his head at the Louvre I'm impossible to stop once I get in a groove

07-13-2007, 08:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
Purple Haze Thelonious Monk, son Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 9,995	How can I submit an app? __________________ 18-1* best served chilled.

07-13-2007, 08:35 PM	#9 (permalink)
Old Soul Nipple Nibbler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: I'll stay below the surface, breaking bread with worms. It's depravity, not gravity, that anchors flesh to Earth......... Los Angeles, CA Posts: 27,037	From another board. I may be way off but we all might be overestimating Selig's role in all this. To my knowledge the process works this way: 1. Prospective bidders apply to baseball for the right to bid. The league checks if they have enough money and that nothing in their backround would keep them from owning a team (such as when DeBartolo was blocked for supposed mob ties). 2. Those that meet the leagues approval submit bids to buy the team. 3. The team selects the bid they want and it goes to the ownership to be voted on and it almost always goes thru. Selig only has control of one part of the process, the first one. Clearly Cuban has the funds. Thus if the league tries to block him it has to come up with a lot more than "we don't like him" or they'll get sued and lose their shirts. I don't see how they can deny him the right to bid. If Cuban is truly willing to pay the dollars and outbid everyone else ( he might just scare off bidders as well) it'd be pretty hard for Zell not to give him the bid, he in this for the money and nothing else. As far as the owners voting against him, I doubt it. His high bid will raise the value of every team in baseball. They'll gladly take his fine money and will likely pass regulations keeping him off the field. The Cubs are too important to the rest of the league to give them a owner without the will and means to keep them competitive. Would they allow the Yankees or Dodgers to become underfunded? I think Cuban has a lot better shot than you think. They may not like him but they'll LOVE his money. Let's pray, Cub fans! __________________ The venom is inside of me, the reason Greece is fallin to pieces The whole world's callin for Jesus And I'll let him take a strike or three Then crush his skull with a tree from the Garden of Eden I know he has a high threshold for pain So I'll tie him to a bull's tail and drag his flesh over Spain An equisite work of art I'll drop his head at the Louvre I'm impossible to stop once I get in a groove

07-13-2007, 10:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
psunit Hail to the Lions Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Middle of Nowhere, PA Posts: 2,392	Ha now he wants to be part of baseball. I thought if he ever went to be a partial owner it would be for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They need a guy who will spend. Damn you Cuban.

07-13-2007, 10:21 PM	#11 (permalink)
Purple Haze Thelonious Monk, son Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 9,995	Is 500 bucks enough? __________________ 18-1* best served chilled.

07-13-2007, 10:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
psunit Hail to the Lions Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Middle of Nowhere, PA Posts: 2,392	Whoa whoa. That would be considered over spending for the Buccos.

07-14-2007, 02:53 AM	#14 (permalink)
Homicidal Thoughtz Booga Rapswell Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 6,839	i would love to see cuban jump the fence and argue with the umps __________________ www.myspace.com/boogarapswell www.soundclick.com/homicidalthoughtz

07-14-2007, 08:39 AM	#15 (permalink)
Final Chapta End of Story Join Date: May 2002 Location: DM, Steady Posts: 10,362	cubans like , yeah i submitted an app. rofl. like its 20 bucks. anyway , i think this would make wrigley all the more disireable place for a ballplayer to play , with cubans backround. the guy isnt affraid to spend money - but he does it wisely. dude dont get scrubs , he wants to win. i think the competitiveness would be good for baseball and increase the chances for a ring in the windy city.

07-16-2007, 12:28 AM	#16 (permalink)
Old Soul Nipple Nibbler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: I'll stay below the surface, breaking bread with worms. It's depravity, not gravity, that anchors flesh to Earth......... Los Angeles, CA Posts: 27,037	Didn't want to make another thread but we're going to the playoffs man we are on a roll. It's been a long time since we had a team with so much heart and since we put together a stretch like this. __________________ The venom is inside of me, the reason Greece is fallin to pieces The whole world's callin for Jesus And I'll let him take a strike or three Then crush his skull with a tree from the Garden of Eden I know he has a high threshold for pain So I'll tie him to a bull's tail and drag his flesh over Spain An equisite work of art I'll drop his head at the Louvre I'm impossible to stop once I get in a groove

07-16-2007, 08:12 PM	#17 (permalink)
psunit Hail to the Lions Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Middle of Nowhere, PA Posts: 2,392 <