Many baseball Congress Theatre owners would probably rank Cuban the

Many baseball summarizes congress theatre owners would band tickets indicates probably rank Cuban the least palatable bidder, largely because of his running conflict with NBA Commissioner David Stern. The commissioner has fined Cuban more than $1. 4 million in the seven years he has owned the team, mostly for his public criticism of league policies and officials. Tribune sources say there are at least half a dozen other candidates with strong business and financial credentials. They declined to name them all, but the list is known to include a group associated with J. Joseph Ricketts, the Omaha-based founder of discount brokerage TD Ameritrade. Cuban declined to comment on the sale process. Canning and Ricketts did not respond to requests for comment. In an interview this week, Selig disputed suggestions that he was trying to steer the bidding toward Canning or that the league would move faster on a Canning bid than any other. "None of that is true," he said "We would take a look at any bid. Nobody will get faster approval than any other guy. "As for the Red Sox sale, he acknowledged that the John Henry group's connections with the league "played a role" in the deliberations. Henry owned the Florida Marlins at the time, his partner Tom Werner had been an owner of the San Diego Padres and a third principal, Larry Lucchino, had been president of the Padres and the Baltimore Orioles. "In the Boston situation, the people were in baseball and they were highly regarded," he said "Did [that] play a primary role? No.

But it's helpful when you know somebody. "Under Zell's influence, Tribune may be signaling that it would not be willing -- or couldn't afford -- to accept a similar underbid. "Notwithstanding Major League Baseball's desire to be in business with John Canning," a person close to the transaction said, "he's got to pay what the asset is worth. "Conventional wisdom holds that Tribune is under pressure to complete a Cubs sale quickly, preferably before New Year's the congress theatre . A quick transaction clearing several hundred million dollars would help alleviate the $12-billion debt burden of the Zell deal concerts . Tribune's first-round financing includes a requirement that $750 million of the principal be paid down within 18 months, and another $750 million six months after that. Moreover, any asset sales completed after Tribune is taken private would incur costly tax penalties because of the structure employed. Tribune sources say some potential buyers may believe they can exploit the apparent urgency by offering a speedy closing in exchange for a price break concerts 2009 . But they say they would pay down the principal from other sources of cash if they could get more for the Cubs by waiting concert . The tax liabilities conceivably could be worked around by tweaking the corporate structure to leave the Cubs in a tax-paying affiliate even as the rest of the company goes private. "There are buyers who would like to pick this asset off while we're doing the larger transaction," a Tribune source said. "But we don't have a gun to our head. "For the record, Tribune stands by its original timeline. "We've said we hope to have the sale completed by year-end," said spokesman Gary Weitman. The Cubs sale involves four related pieces.

In addition to the team, Wrigley Field and the stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Tribune also owns several parcels of land in the stadium neighborhood currently devoted to parking, food-service warehousing and other low-return uses . The 25% interest in Comcast SportsNet might have sizable stand-alone value congress plaza. Regional sports networks have soared in value in recent years, matching or exceeding the worth of their related teams in many cities. As much as half of the Red Sox price may have represented the franchise's 80% ownership of New England Sports Network, a cable channel that carried Red Sox games congress plaza hotel . NESN had recently been shifted from the premium-pay tier to the basic package of local cable systems, a move that increased its potential subscription base nearly sevenfold. It is also possible that Tribune under Zell might choose to upgrade Wrigley Field before selling to make it more appealing -- much as a homeowner upgrades a kitchen or paints a house to make it more presentable on the block Congress Theatre . "It's a great time to own the asset," a person close to the transaction said. "But that doesn't mean we should let someone else do five or 10 things to the asset that we could do to maximize its value. "--michael. hiltzikbill. shaikinThe Cubs deal may develop into an unusual public spectacle. Congress Theatre tickets Unlike most franchise sales, which involve groups of private individuals as buyers and sellers, this one involves a public corporation that has a fiduciary duty to obtain the best return for shareholders by accepting the highest offer, regardless of the bidder's identity Congress Theatre - congresschicago . On the other hand, as a group of private franchise owners engaged in a joint undertaking, Major League Baseball has a clear interest in approving sales only to buyers with whom the owners are comfortable -- not necessarily the highest bidders. The transfer of any franchise requires the approval of 23 of the 30 team owners. "You're asking to be a member of a club, and the club has a right to say no, a former MLB executive said Congress Theatre - congresschicago .