Wrigley and the Cubs Are a Package Deal - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

While Sam Zell has "threatened" to do a lot of things with the Cubs that Cubs fans aren't too fond of, like sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field, he's yet to actually do anything. Zell was hoping that he'd be able to sell Wrigley Field and the Cubs as separate entities in hopes of maximizing his profits, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen anymore.

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, led by former Illinois governor Jim Thompson, had put together a bid to buy the stadium that wouldn't have cost taxpayers anything. Unfortunately for Thompson and the ISFA, their new plan to finance a stadium just didn't sit well with Zell, and he rejected their offer.

But sources said Zell has rejected the state's proposed terms because it relies on a novel and untested financing plan: the sale of individual seats at Wrigley as if they were condominiums. The idea is called equity seat rights and has been advanced by Chicago area business executive Lou Weisbach, who has applied for patent rights on it.

Zell, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney and their advisers have concluded that the equity plan and its tax ramifications would violate both the Internal Revenue Service code and the rules of Major League Baseball, the sources said.

As a result of all this, it seems that the only way somebody can own Wrigley Field now is to buy the team that plays inside along with it. While Zell may lose out on some money because of it, I wouldn't exactly shed any tears for him. According to some people with a lot more knowledge of this stuff than I, Zell will still pull in around $1 billion when he sells the team.