Post by Fish Troll on Nov 8, 2008 16:10:05 GMT -5
If Mark Cuban sidles up to fellow Cubs fans at future Wrigley Field games, apparently he'll have to do so as a ticket buyer.
Cuban's bid to buy the team from owner Sam Zell? According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Internet billionaire and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks won't even make the final cut if commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball owners have their way.
"There's no way Bud and the owners are going to let that happen," a baseball source told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this week. "Zero chance."
Zell has yet to shorten the field of five potential buyers who submitted bids of about $1 billion to the Tribune Co. for the Cubs and Wrigley Field. The process has begun to drag: The Cubs were on the market at the start of the 2007 baseball season and a source told the Sun-Times that a deal before Opening Day 2009 is unlikely.
"Nothing's changed. I mean, it's a great opportunity," Cuban told The Associated Press before the Mavericks' game in Denver on Friday night. He would not comment further.
Major League Baseball must approve the sale of any team. During the past summer, Comcast SportsNet reported that Cuban was the highest bidder for the Cubs at $1.3 billion.
"The Cubs have got smart, smart people here. I mean they're winning, they're doing great things, I'll just stay out of the way," Cuban said in August, weeks after learning he had made the field of five bidders. "Believe it or not, I can stay out of the way."
Whether the deteriorating economy affects the final purchase price is unknown. Last summer, several bidders offering between $700 million and $900 million for all of the properties were excluded from the second round of consideration.
''We'll be standing here at next year's GM meetings,'' the source told the Sun-Times, ''and this will still be unresolved."
Cuban's bid to buy the team from owner Sam Zell? According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Internet billionaire and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks won't even make the final cut if commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball owners have their way.
"There's no way Bud and the owners are going to let that happen," a baseball source told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this week. "Zero chance."
Zell has yet to shorten the field of five potential buyers who submitted bids of about $1 billion to the Tribune Co. for the Cubs and Wrigley Field. The process has begun to drag: The Cubs were on the market at the start of the 2007 baseball season and a source told the Sun-Times that a deal before Opening Day 2009 is unlikely.
"Nothing's changed. I mean, it's a great opportunity," Cuban told The Associated Press before the Mavericks' game in Denver on Friday night. He would not comment further.
Major League Baseball must approve the sale of any team. During the past summer, Comcast SportsNet reported that Cuban was the highest bidder for the Cubs at $1.3 billion.
"The Cubs have got smart, smart people here. I mean they're winning, they're doing great things, I'll just stay out of the way," Cuban said in August, weeks after learning he had made the field of five bidders. "Believe it or not, I can stay out of the way."
Whether the deteriorating economy affects the final purchase price is unknown. Last summer, several bidders offering between $700 million and $900 million for all of the properties were excluded from the second round of consideration.
''We'll be standing here at next year's GM meetings,'' the source told the Sun-Times, ''and this will still be unresolved."
sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3687712
There goes all that hype of Cuban becoming the Cubs next GM.
