Deal would keep Cubs at Wrigley

SOLD FOR $1? | Team would have to stay under plan for state agency to buy, renovate stadium -- Daley slams idea, says solve transit first:

December 14, 2007
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com
Whoever buys the Cubs would be required to sign an "ironclad commitment" to keep the team at Wrigley Field for the next 30 years, under a plan entertained by Gov. Blagojevich and condemned by Mayor Daley to have the state acquire and renovate the landmark stadium, officials said Thursday.

Having the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, formed to build U.S. Cellular Field, officially acquire Wrigley for as little as $1 and finance a restoration in the $350 million-range -- with work completed during several offseasons so the team wouldn't have to move out -- would be a dream come true for Blagojevich, a die-hard Cubs fan.

Mayor Daley said today he is astounded that Gov. Blagojevich is entertaining the idea of having a state agency buy Wrigley Field.
(AP/Sun-Times files)
"We wouldn't do this deal without a guarantee that the new owner would stay in Wrigley Field for 30 years," said former Gov. Jim Thompson, chairman of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.

'No tax dollars' for Wrigley
But "it's not the same as 20 years ago when I kept the White Sox in Chicago by passing a tax on out-of-towners. This is much more challenging and complex," he said.

"In the end, it boils down to whether the political leadership in the state and city want to help ensure that the Cubs stay in Chicago and play in a restored ballpark that makes the team competitive."

After being approached by billionaire businessman Sam Zell, Blagojevich is exploring the idea. Well aware that the stadium would be turned over to the state for $1, the governor said through a spokesperson that he has "no intention of using tax dollars to acquire Wrigley Field."

Daley made the deal more complicated by ruling out any increase in hotel or restaurant taxes to retire Wrigley renovation bonds.

The mayor said he's astounded that Blagojevich is even entertaining the idea of having a state agency acquire and renovate Wrigley at a time when the General Assembly's failure to approve long-term funding for mass transit has CTA riders facing doomsday fare increases and service cuts.

Calling Wrigley Field a "gold mine," Daley said there is no danger of a new owner moving the Cubs and, therefore, no reason for a deal that would amount to "taxpayers helping out the Cubs."

"We can't even get any money for the CTA and they're worried about the Chicago Cubs? It's hard to believe," said Daley, who met with Zell to discuss the deal.

Zell would collect millions
The state acquisition scheme was reportedly conceived by Zell, who is exploring options to sell Wrigley separately from the Cubs as part of his $8.2 billion deal to acquire Tribune Co. and take the company private.

What's in it for Zell is the ability to get a huge up-front payment -- tens of millions of dollars higher than he might otherwise receive selling the stadium privately -- by having the sports authority use its power to issue longer-term bonds at a reduced interest rate. The bonds would be retired by stadium rent. Think of it as a stadium version of the Chicago Skyway windfall.

"You take 30 years of rent payments by the new Cubs owner and do a bond creating a present value for that... By using a municipal financing mechanism and the fact that the city and state aren't looking for profit -- that will improve the price we get on the stadium," said a Tribune Co. source.

Thompson said Daley is "quite right in saying that other priorities come first."

But if and when the transit crisis is solved, the Wrigley renovation -- and a 400-space parking garage promised to Wrigleyville residents -- could be financed by bonds retired by increased stadium revenues. That would include things such as sponsorship deals, naming rights and an increase from 62 to as many as 150 skyboxes.

"If ISFA issued bonds as they did for U.S. Cellular and Soldier Field, financing costs would be less. We would be doing for the Cubs and Wrigley essentially what we've done for the White Sox and Bears. The question is what does it cost, how do we pay for it and does everybody else in the process agree? And we're a long ways from that," Thompson said.

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