http://www.sbnation.comhttp://www.sbnation.com/users/Endrick Posts made by Endrick on SB Nation http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/6/12/907368/interesting-conversation-on-wgn Endrick Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:17:32 -0000 <p>Last night I was listening to WGN Sport Central and wondered if anyone else heard it...<br /><br /> Basically the hold up with the sale seems to boil down to Sam Zell wanting the sale financed a certain way.<br /><br /> He wants Ricketts to do a majority of the sale with loans, saving Zell a buttload of taxes on the sale...<br /> By doing this it would saddle Ricketts with 30 to 40 million in interest per year...<br /><br /> Now considering the sale price of the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/CHC" class="sbn-auto-link">Cubs</a> is sitting at $1.1B to $1.2 Billion the 30 to 40 million<br /> doesn't seem like such a large amount except the Cubs are only making a profit of $30 Million a year.<br /><br /> So our buddy (* Tongue Firmly in Cheek *) Sam Zell, wants the new owner to use all the club profit to<br /> keep him from having to pay his taxes on the sale thus preventing the club from doing things like<br /> increasing the player payroll pool or make renovations to Wrigley without loosing money.<br /> What I found most interesting is that if Zell drags his feet long enough it is possible for the Banks to<br /> get impatient, set in and force the terms to get the sale done so they get their money and Ricketts<br /> could very well get the team for less than the original price...<br /><br /> What really amazes me is this...<br /><br /> Is Zell really that greedy or stupid to think the new owners, no matter who they were going to be would sacrifice<br /> the team profits to keep him from paying taxes???</p>