77 Hitmen

If the Sox are such a money loser, why has the franchise value gone up significantly over the years? The latest I've read put their value at around $2B and around middle of the pack among MLB teams. I'm not a business guy or an accountant, but how can such a thing be true if the team has been losing money for several years now? Serious question - not just a rhetorical one. Maybe there's a great explanation for this. According to this site, they've gone up $400M in value since 2020, in other words, since Covid started. https://www.statista.com/statistics/194606/mlb-franchise-value-of-the-chicago-white-sox-since-2006/

Oh absolutely. I'm not advocating for a continuation of a Reinsdorf ownership of the Sox in any way. I was just wondering about his motivation for saying such a thing and, given his reluctance to talk to the press, how often he's actually expressed this desire.

Well summarized. One thing I don't get is why would he care if any of his offspring own the White Sox after he's gone? I keep hearing that, but why would he care what business decisions they make after he's dead? Surely Michael or any other Reinsdorf children are old enough and experienced enough to make their own decision on this. Are there multiple sources and/or interviews to confirm this? Or is this based on one comment he made one time?

The trend nationwide is toward stadiums without the acres of parking lots around them. See what the Mets and Phillies/Eagles are proposing. Even if the Sox stay at GRF, I expect much of the parking lots to be converted to mixed use development at some point.

IMO, this will be the make-or-break issue for the Sox and Bears proposals. It's one thing to get public funding solely by extending the current hotel tax, but who picks up any shortfalls? It should be the teams that are on the hook for this. Infrastructure costs will be another issue that'll need to be settled. Some of that would certainly come from public funding, but how much of that could be justified and approved? I know that some people will argue that there shouldn't be a single dime spent even on infrastructure needed for these projects, but I think that's an easier sell to the public. I guess we'll see.

According to the Sun-Times, the Bears proposal would still leave enough money from the hotel tax to fund a new Sox ballpark. So, I don't see this as the Bears beating the Sox to that funding source. https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024/04/23/bears-new-stadium-dome-lakefront-soldier-field

Oh, absolutely I think a new Sox owner would want the team to play at the South Loop site instead of being locked in long-term at Guaranteed Rate Field in an area that just doesn't draw much visitors outside of attending a baseball game. Catering to fans who want a ballpark surrounded by a sea of parking lots isn't working out and isn't a good business model going forward. My guess is that if the team was sold in the next year or two (let's say Jerry suddenly passes) and The 78 lot was still available, they'd find a way to come up with $1B or so in private funding to make that ballpark happen because they realize that would boost market share and revenue for this team plus give a huge boost to the value of the franchise. As far as whether a new owner would move them out of state. I wouldn't say the chances of it are zero. The other markets don't compare to Chicago now, but they are booming. What if the new owner has roots in North Carolina or San Antonio? It's not implausible that they'd buy the team and move it to their home state. Utah has given the green light to spend $900M in public funds toward a new MLB stadium - do people really think that there isn't a buyer out there who wouldn't jump at the chance to play there instead of being the forgotten stepchild in Chicago being forever overshadowed by the Cubs and playing at what will soon be a 40-year old generic ballpark with not much around it?

In his mind, Eddie was never wrong about anything. He was right about SportsVision being a gold mine and he was right about Tropicana Field in St. Pete being a gold mine for MLB. What a visionary! Interesting quote from Jerry. That's about as close to admitting a mistake as he'll ever get. And note how his wording puts the blame back on the fans. It was us fans who weren't ready for their business model! It's like when someone says "I'm sorry you took it the wrong way" when they make a non-apology.

Yes, wasn't the subscription price something like $21/month? That's in 1982 dollars! It's equivalent to $68/month today. I don't remember if that was for both ON-TV and SportsVision and if there was a cheaper price for just SportsVision.

Wow - Sox fans advocating for the demise of our franchise so that Chicagoans can make a "Super Cubs" franchise a possibility. Simply incredible. I've said it before and it's worth repeating, the Sox must have the only fan base with diehards practically offering to drive the moving trucks out of town. I guess that's what 43 years of emotional abuse at the hands of Jerry and Eddie will do.

Agreed. There's no way this is going forward without JR committing a significant amount of private financing toward this project. Surely the city and state officials have made this clear to him and he'd have to be delusional to not realize this. Even the Royals are committing about $1B in private funds toward their new stadium proposal. Of course, we don't know all that's being discussed behind closed doors - and I don't expect all the finer details of what's being discussed in opening discussions to be made public. And I realize that Uncle Jerry didn't become a billionaire by conceding his final offer at the start of negotiations. But, in the end, I expect that Jerry or a new Sox owner will have to come up with something like $1B in private financing to make this happen.

The city has rejected a proposal by the White Sox to use the city's amusement tax as part of the funding stream for the new stadiums. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/chicago-bears-white-sox-new-stadium-revenue-source-rejected-city

Jerry owes every Sox fan an apology.

Interesting. That would explain what's going on with this team, which is more than Jerry's usual level of incompetence.

I agree, but Jerry is 88 years old and will be 93 when the Sox current lease is up. Even if the South Loop ballpark goes forward, there's a very good chance he won't be around to see its opening. He's also said his family will sell the team after he's gone. Ownership change is coming. Of course, some might say that a new owner could be even worse than the way JR has run this team, but unless they move the team out of town, I don't see how that's possible.