Chicago Cubs File Bankruptcy
The Chicago Cubs filed for bankruptcy today, in a move to help speed up the sale of the team and Wrigley Field, its home base, by the Tribune Company.
The Tribune Company, which operates newspapers around the country, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January, but left the Cubs off its list of assets.
The Cubs’ bankruptcy was expected by industry analysts, and is though to expedite the team’s sale to the Ricketts family of Omaha, NE.
In the bankruptcy filing, the Cubs’ largest unsecured creditors include JP Morgan Chase Bank, Merrill Lynch Capital Corp, Major League Baseball, the Chicago Cubs Charities, and former pitcher Luis Vizcaino, according to Reuters.
The Chicago Cubs are one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball, and have been playing out of Wrigley Field on the city’s north side for nearly 100 years. The team was bought by the Tribune Company in 1981 from chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley, after whom the team’s field is named.
If the sale to the Ricketts family is finalized, the Tribune will maintain a 5% interest in the team.
