77 Hitmen

I have some general questions about all of this: Since Jerry has full controlling interest in the team, what difference does it make that Ishbia is buying up a good chunk of the non-controlling interest in the team from other shareholders? Couldn't JR (or his sons after his death) hypothetically just decide to sell his controlling interest to someone else? Is Jerry's 20% or so stake in the team valued higher than the remaining non-controlling shares? If so, how much more? How does Ishbia buying out a majority of shareholders impact Reinsdorf's dream of a new ballpark in the South Loop? Maybe some of these questions have a "well, duh!" answer to them, but just wanted get all this sorted out in my mind.

Oh, I agree that there's no doubt why he'd choose the Sox over the Twins. But I was responding to the following suggestion: "Ishbia dropping out of the Twins race was less about him acquiring the Sox and more that maybe the Twins was a bad investment." If buying the Sox was not on the table for him, I was wondering why he would have decided that buying the Twins was a bad investment. IMO, if there wasn't a pathway to ownership of the Sox presented to him, he wouldn't have suddenly dropped his Twins bid.

What would make the Twins a bad investment? And why would this only occur to Ishbia very late in the process of purchasing the team? I know there was a comment earlier saying that Target Field and the area around the ballpark aren't exactly the best, but that's the first I have heard that there are problems with the ballpark and its location. I admittedly have never been there, so others can confirm if their stadium situation is rather lackluster. Being an MLB owner is a very exclusive club - there are only 30 teams and it's not every year that a franchise goes up for sale. I can think of a number of MLB teams that would be worse to own than the Minnesota Twins, who play in a mid-sized, relatively vibrant market and aren't plagued by stadium issues. I think their biggest problem with fan interest in recent years has been their owner (sounds familiar). I still think that Ishbia would rather own the Twins outright than have no pathway to ownership of the White Sox - even if that pathway is several years away.

Yeah I miss read what was posted. Thanks for the clarification. Nonetheless, it's not unreasonable to think that, even though Jerry has been telling him no over the past 5-10 years, that things are different now. Perhaps he didn't want to lose Ishbia as a potential successor since he was about the buy the Twins. Or maybe he sees that he's reached a dead end with the state over funding for a new stadium and needs a deep-pocketed investor. Or maybe Jerry has finally decided it's time to start putting a succession plan in motion even if he wasn't ready for this a few years ago.

10 years ago, Reinsdorf was in his late 70s and I'm not surprised he had no interest in selling. Now, he just passed his 89th birthday and he's surely thinking about succession plans given that he's already said that he wants his family to sell the Sox after he dies. Though he's apparently healthy now, at his age a sudden decline in health can come quickly. So, him telling Ishbia no 5 or 10 years ago doesn't necessarily tell us much about the current situation IMO.

Target Field is 15 years old - it opened in 2010. And I agree on the 2nd part I bolded.

I'll take my chances with a multi-billionaire who is rooted in Chicagoland and who is apparently willing to spend big time on his teams as the next Sox owner any day of the week and twice on Sunday....even if he and his brother have made mistakes in their first couple of years owning the Suns. The idea that he might actually buy the Sox almost sounds too good to be true to me.

Agreed. Assuming this is all true and not some total pipe dream, I don't expect to hear any additional information about this for quite a while. If the eventual transfer of ownership to Ishbia is indeed going to happen, this is when I'd expect we'd get more information: 1. When Uncle Jerry is officially ready to announce a succession/sale plan - which could be at least a year from now if not longer. 2. If some tentative agreement is reached for a new South Loop ballpark that involves new ownership paying for most, if not all, of the stadium itself with the city/state agreeing to pay for infrastructure. 3. A sudden change in Reinsdorf's health that forces disclosure of this plan.

I get the concerns about what PE firms do to some companies, but I have serious doubts that, if Ishbia were to buy the Sox, it would be comparable to a PE firm buying (for example) Red Lobster.

Good question. If (and that's a massive *IF*) he were able to get ISFA to agree to another long-term sweetheart deal, perhaps that helps the value of the franchise. But other than that, I'd have to imagine that the team would be less valuable to potential buyers if they're locked into the current location for another couple of decades. At the end of the current lease, the stadium will be approaching 40. Add another couple of decades and a buyer would be locked into a ballpark until it's close to 60 years old and in a neighborhood that has no history of drawing visitors looking to spend entertainment dollars outside the park itself in any meaningful way. Probably moot as I don't see any new long-term lease coming while Jerry is still in charge.

For better or for worse, this is the trend in MLB ballparks. The proposed new A's stadium in Vegas will seat only 33k if I'm not mistaken. The proposed new Rays stadium in St. Pete would also seat in the low 30s. The Guardians renovated Progressive Field a few years ago and dropped seating capacity by quite a bit to about 35k or so.

If that means the Bears will privately finance a new AH stadium with the state paying for infrastructure, it probably sets in motion a similar deal for a Sox park in the South Loop (assuming the Ishbia rumor is true, and he commits to private financing of a new ballpark). I believe the Governor wanted stadium funding (infrastructure) for both teams to be covered in one package.

Castro died at age 90. Jerry is about to turn 89.....and we're on the 8th Presidential administration since Jerry and Eddie bought the Sox. And yeah, this means absolutely nothing, but I'm just pointing that out.

I know I'm wasting my breath on this response, but the article says nothing about the unsuitability of the 78 parcel for construction and doesn't suggest that as the reason why U of I pulled out. That's not to say that we should fork over taxpayer money to billionaire Jerry for a new stadium, but that's not the question here.

Yes, JR wanted to build a stadium in Addison, but when that feel through, I thought it was Harold Washington that insisted that the Sox accept the current location of "The Rate" as the location for a new ballpark in order to get the city's support.

Illinois lawmaker proposes the "BEARS Act" which would require teams to have a winning record to get public funding. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/illinois-lawmaker-proposes-bears-act-requiring-teams-to-have-winning-records-for-public-stadium-funding/#:~:text=The short version of the,years that you've played.

.....and may God have mercy on our souls.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, has died at age 100. He lived longer than any other POTUS and also had the longest post-presidency (which would have been 44 years in a few weeks). And he certainly made the most of his life after leaving the White House. https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/jimmy-carter-death-news-12-29-24/index.html

I read about a month ago or so that the Fire might be joining in with plans for a soccer stadium at the 78 along with a Sox ballpark. So, this news isn't totally new. IIRC, with U of I pulling out of the site and moving their research center to the tech center being developed at the old US Steel South Shore site, the developer has said that there is now room for a soccer stadium at the site along with the other things they already have planned for there.

To be fair, you could call a vast majority of MLB and NFL stadiums "Taxpayer Field". Maybe some day people in every city and state will finally say no to taxpayer handouts to billionaire owners who just keep getting richer.

If the name is supposed to reflect the product on the field, Jerry's team is a far cry from being second rate. If we're lucky, the team will improve enough in 2025 or 2026 to be considered second rate, but that would require a huge improvement.

The closest thing Jerry will get to a new stadium short of paying for it himself.

At this rate, before too long there will be a player with enough money to build a new ballpark for Jerry Reinsdorf.

That's how I feel about it. Forget competing with the Dodgers, Jerry won't even compete with Cleveland, Minnesota, and Detroit.

If you're working for Jerry, it's not just snow that you'll be asked to shovel.