Cubs Sale Hurt By Economy: Cuban

The economic tumult shaking the country will affect the sale of the Chicago Cubs, prospective buyer Mark Cuban said:

"Yeah, it's going to affect the deal structure. [...] Because of the way the deal was originally meant to be structured, it's going to create a challenge. So it'll certainly have an impact. Anytime the cost of capital goes up, the cost of assets goes down. Which is what you're seeing in the stock market."

"When Cuban says "deal structure," what he's really saying is price," Rick Morrissey writes in the Tribune. "Before the recent economic trouble, the price of the Cubs, Wrigley Field and broadcast properties was expected to rise above $1 billion. Now? ... No one has a clue."

Cuban also said there is not a new time-frame for the deal, which Tribune Company had initially hoped to have done this year, but has been delayed by the credit collapse.

"Oh, God, I have no idea," [Cuban] said. "Honestly, they'd be crazy to do something now. Because it's not optimal for them, and it's not optimal for the buyer. So there's not really a rush."

Comments

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

Sounds like Cuban wants something special out of this, like a taxpayer subsidized stadium, or socialism for the rich.

Just a thought.

[larry278]

What else is new? Maybe Mark is thinking of moving the Cubs to Indiana. Look at how Boss George played NJ & NYC to get a new Yankee Stadium. MLB is a business. The sport of MLB is in second place to the business of MLB.