Comments on: Welcome Back Baseball, Zell Hell and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, 1 and 2

By: Jose

Jose — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:29:02 +0000

I would be okay if the purchasing company names it presents by. For example, International House of Wing presents Wrigley Field Home of the Chicago Cubs. They would also need to do some major fan friendly upgrades to Wrigley Field. However, if they completely remove the Wrigley Field name, count me in. I will boycot that company. Somethings just ain’t right.

By: Nick J.

Nick J. — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:03:03 +0000

Joe, I read there was “minor discussion” about the Rays signing Bonds. Good move or bad move?

By: Robt

Robt — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:48:05 +0000

Zell’s no dummy. He could very well simply be driving up the price of Wrigley Field. He may not want to be the one who sells the name, but the naming rights are an asset that the next Wrigley Field owner will acquire from Zell/Tribune. If WF is worth $400 million today, but is worth $400 million plus naming rights when it is sold, then it should sell for that higher price.

In other words, whether Zell really plans to sell the naming rights or not, he wants to be able to increase the selling price by making it clear the next owner will be getting more than just the building. That alone could drive up the selling price by $20 million or more. If the new owner keeps the Wrigley Field name, Zell will have made a cool $20 million pretty cheaply, don’t you think?

By: michael forest

michael forest — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:34:09 +0000

Yeah I think it will probably get sold. Truth be told, it’s named after a company already. William Wrigley didn’t name it after himself or his grandma. It was his company. Of course the company he named after himself but that’s what people do. Though it will be hard to shake the name, unlike Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, or other such baby stadiums. I agree that whoever buys it will be committing a minor act of suicide, but it wouldn’t last long cause by and large people are lazy with short term memories and it would be business as usual a year later.

If I were a GM I would still look at Bonds. At least as a DH in the AL. The guy is still an 800lb gorilla at the plate and I’m pretty sure he’s drank enough water to be clean now. As much of the money as possible would be pushed to the end of the contract with a strict ‘no payment upon conviction’ clause included.

By: Nick J.

Nick J. — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:02:56 +0000

Face it, the name Wrigely Field is going to get sold, it is not even worth our time worrying about it. Move on.

By: gwood

gwood — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:59:17 +0000

I must say that I agree with Rick Morrissey when he said this morning that any company who buys the naming right to Wrigley is not making an intelligent business decision. The most likely result is that the millions upon millions of Cub fans would boycott the company’s product in retaliation for desecrating Wrigley.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080228-cubs-naming-rights-rick-morrissey,1,3707234.column