Tribune Company to sell Cubs, new owners have big plans!

[Deleted]

Executives from the Tribune Company today have announced that they will be selling the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise.The sale was long rumored after the dramatic events of October of last year when stock prices plunged on what investors are calling Black Monday and analysts began to question the future of print media ever since Al Gore invented the internet. The new buyers of the Cubs are the Pritzker Brothers, who have made their fortune with the Hyatt Hotel chain. "We felt the time was right" said Jay Pritzker when asked by the media about what led to the decision. "Clearly it's time for new leadership. Wrigley Field, while being the historic old stadium that we've all loved for centuries hasn't had a facelift since 1914. We've got lots of changes in mind moving forward including installing lights so we can play night games. As much as we've all loved our day baseball on WGN, it's really time we move in to the 20th century. It takes its toll on the players and the lack of championships speak directly to how hard it is on our players bodies. It's really a decided disadvantage". The Cubs just had one of their worst seasons in club history and are coming off of 7 straight losing seasons. Clearly fans have noticed as attendance has plummeted since the Cubs last won their division back in 1979. Pritzker also talked about plans to make renovations to the stadium itself. He announced the Cubs will be adding 12,967 seats, taking Wrigley from it's current capacity of 45,000 to 57,967. They plan to start a long term renovation plan to Wrigley beginning with renovating the concourses and adding numerous amenities, including an upgrade in the bathrooms and adding new concession stands and bringing in new food vendors. "Cubs fans are tired of the losing, and we're right there along with them. For us to improve we need to increase our revenue so we can spend with the big boys, and our goal is to do that while at the same time improving the fan experience. We look forward to bringing a consistent winner to the field as we head towards the 21st century". The Pritzkers are saying the right things and they certainly have the money to make it happen. We'll see if the financial commitment will lead to wins on the field.

Concourse and Amenity Expansion:50 million
Addition of 12,967 seats:29,368,000

Flat Fee:20 million

I believe I have cash in my stadium account to cover everything except the flat fee which I'd propose paying off at 5mil per year for four years.

[Reddington]

level 1 stadium upgrade Fan loyalty +1 / Interest + 20 (max of 70)
50000000
45-50 7500000
50-55 10000000
55-57967 11868000
20 mil to break ground

99,368,000 - current bank leaves 19,998,924
6 payments of
3,333,154
3,333,154
3,333,154
3,333,154
3,333,154
3,333,154

fyi - Chris asked me to go over all financials for him as, family stuff

And yes you can pay it off faster if you so choose

[CSCommish]

7 pts for article.

79,369,076 Down Payment Completed.

[CSCommish]

1989 Payment Completed; 5 Payments Remaining.

[CSCommish]

Cubs move into renovated/expanded stadium; Fan Loyalty increased by 1 slot from Fair to Average; Fan Interested increased by 20 from 50 to 70.

[CSCommish]

1990 Payment Completed; 4 Payments Remaining.

[CSCommish]

1991 Payment Completed; 3 Payments Remaining.

[CSCommish]

1992 Payment Completed; 2 Payments Remaining.

[CSCommish]

1993 Payment Completed; 1 Payment Remaining.

[CSCommish]

1994 Payment Completed (in Spreadsheet). No more payments. Project Complete.