Reinsdorf considering selling the White Sox

[MMC]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846656774281245177

Click to read more...

 

[x Tame Impala]

Yes please! The CHSN situation has been inexcusably sloppy. The Bulls have been drifting aimlessly in mediocrity and the White Sox have been an outright embrassment to professional sports.

Thanks for the 90's Bulls and the 05 Sox my man! Now GTFO

 

[LadyStanley]

https://sports.yahoo.com/white-sox-owner-jerry-reinsdorf-reportedly-in-discussions-about-selling-team-after-historically-bad-season-214446200.html

Bought team for $20m in 1981. Will have some capital gains.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

As has already been speculated, the name-dropped interested party is a group that pretty blatantly wants to move them to Nashville. Hopefully the risk of destroying his "legacy" (even more than he already has) and the fact that his family still wants Chicagoans to support the Bulls lead to them finding a Chicago buyer instead.

 

[Mightygoose]

Isn't Dave Stewart tied to a group wanting to bring a team to Nashville?

Edit: Saw above post. Apparently yes

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Isn't Dave Stewart tied to a group wanting to bring a team to Nashville?

Edit: Saw above post. Apparently yes

He is no longer in that group.

Report: Jerry Reinsdorf open to selling White Sox, in discussions with Dave Stewart

Jerry Reinsdorf is reportedly open to selling the White Sox, but that only clouds the team's future.

soxmachine.com

...and he’d been working with Music City Baseball, an investment group that has been championing the prospect of landing an expansion team it would call the Nashville Stars, until last November, when he left the group citing “philosophical differences.”

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Reinsdorf providing clicks for the Sun Times at least

 

[Teemu]

Jerry threatening to move the team? Haven't heard that one before

 

[KevFu]

Stewart is also an Oakland native. So he could be looking at Nashville and beating Music City to the punch based on his knowledge of the development of that project...

OR, he could be looking to replace the A's in the East Bay; And would he seek a "branding trade" with Fisher if he did so?

 

[Vegan Knight]

Stewart is also an Oakland native. So he could be looking at Nashville and beating Music City to the punch based on his knowledge of the development of that project...

OR, he could be looking to replace the A's in the East Bay; And would he seek a "branding trade" with Fisher if he did so?

So, Vegas White Sox with Fisher owning and the Athletics in Oakland or more likely Sacramento with Stewart and group owning and bringing Ranadive on board?

Isn't that sort of pie in the sky?

 

[Bjorn Le]

Stewart is also an Oakland native. So he could be looking at Nashville and beating Music City to the punch based on his knowledge of the development of that project...

OR, he could be looking to replace the A's in the East Bay; And would he seek a "branding trade" with Fisher if he did so?

I’m not sure the Giants will ever let another team come to Northern California once the A’s are gone. They’ll assert that it’s all their territory now and block anyone else just as they blocked the A’s from moving to San Jose.

Also doubt Reinsdorf would sell to anyone who doesn’t intend to keep the Sox in Chicago. While it’s been known for awhile that he thinks his family should sell the Sox (and not the Bulls) once he dies, I doubt he would be willing to sell them while alive to someone who will move them.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

A saving grace for Sox fans is that I get a feeling that the family selling to the team to someone obviously planning on moving them would lead to a fan backlash at their remaining portfolio, the Bulls, and that'd make them hesitant to do so.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

The value of the team instantly plummets with a move.

Why would anyone pay Chicago price to put a team in Nashville? And if MLB is intent on expanding, why would they let someone move a team there and line Reinsdorf's pocket, not their own?

 

[Vegan Knight]

The value of the team instantly plummets with a move.

Why would anyone pay Chicago price to put a team in Nashville? And if MLB is intent on expanding, why would they let someone move a team there and line Reinsdorf's pocket, not their own?

I don't think they should move and I don't think they will but this first argument is not genuine.

I hear this argument with the A's also but it's just a wrong argument. There's already a much more popular team in Chicago.

You aren't leaving Chicago market for Nashville, you're leaving the equivalent of maybe 30% of the Chicago market for Nashville.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I don't think they should move and I don't think they will but this first argument is not genuine.

I hear this argument with the A's also but it's just a wrong argument. There's already a much more popular team in Chicago.

You aren't leaving Chicago market for Nashville, you're leaving the equivalent of maybe 30% of the Chicago market for Nashville.

30% of the Chicago CSA is nearly 3 million people. The entire Nashville market is just over 2 million, and it doesn't have fanbase that spans generations already built up.

 

[Vegan Knight]

30% of the Chicago CSA is nearly 3 million people. The entire Nashville market is just over 2 million, and it doesn't have fanbase that spans generations already built up.

I agree with you they should, and I believe they will, find a way to stay in Chicago as I think it would be better for them, honestly I don't see a real possibility the move at all.

I'm just saying it wouldn't be leaving the full force of a 9-10 million market for a 2.5 million one. The Cubs being a juggernaut right there would play a role in their decision making.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

The thing is that the Sox have been so idiotically run for generations that they're more or less the poster boy for leaving money on the table. Leave the south and west sides and suburbs, and their fanbase numbers fall off a cliff due to decades of the team not even trying to cultivate fanbases in Northern, Central, and Southern Illinois and in Indiana, which one would think should be fertile grounds for a Chicago AL team. Hell, they should've been going after Cards fans in Southern Illinois and Little Egypt as an AL team given that it seems like an easy sell to a fanbase that doesn't like the Cubs or Royals.

A new ownership group in Nashville would probably make more money, but the thing is that a new ownership group in Chicago would probably make even more money, too.

 

[Voight]

As has already been speculated, the name-dropped interested party is a group that pretty blatantly wants to move them to Nashville. Hopefully the risk of destroying his "legacy" (even more than he already has) and the fact that his family still wants Chicagoans to support the Bulls lead to them finding a Chicago buyer instead.

I dont think the MLB would allow it given the teams history.

Yes, the A's were a much more successful franchise but they had moved twice before and I just think this situations different. White Sox moved once and have been in Chicago for over 120 years.

 

[joelef]

It’s good to see cheapskate owners outside league

 

[KevFu]

So, Vegas White Sox with Fisher owning and the Athletics in Oakland or more likely Sacramento with Stewart and group owning and bringing Ranadive on board?

Isn't that sort of pie in the sky?

Well, of course it's pie in the sky, because the first generic rumors are a time for seeking the ideal (saving Oakland) as opposed to the terrible (TWO markets lose their teams). No offense to the Sox fans of Chicago for that.

I assume it's all posturing for a stadium deal, but still...

I’m not sure the Giants will ever let another team come to Northern California once the A’s are gone. They’ll assert that it’s all their territory now and block anyone else just as they blocked the A’s from moving to San Jose.

Also doubt Reinsdorf would sell to anyone who doesn’t intend to keep the Sox in Chicago. While it’s been known for awhile that he thinks his family should sell the Sox (and not the Bulls) once he dies, I doubt he would be willing to sell them while alive to someone who will move them.

I think that there's still room while the A's are in Sacramento to put a replacement team in Oakland. If Dave Stewart buys the A's from Fisher and Fisher buys the Sox from Reinsdorf and Stewart negotiates an Oakland stadium deal while the Sox move from Chicago to Las Vegas... the A's "never left." If Stewart buys the Sox and then they swap franchises, it's the same thing.

The Celtics and Buffalo/Clippers did it in the NBA.

The value of the team instantly plummets with a move.

Why would anyone pay Chicago price to put a team in Nashville? And if MLB is intent on expanding, why would they let someone move a team there and line Reinsdorf's pocket, not their own?

I agree completely. I think it's mostly posturing for a stadium deal because the Bears are also trying to get a stadium deal done and Reinsdorf isn't exactly beloved to get a deal done.

 

[Headshot77]

I dont think the MLB would allow it given the teams history.

Yes, the A's were a much more successful franchise but they had moved twice before and I just think this situations different. White Sox moved once and have been in Chicago for over 120 years.

The MLB has not given a single f*** about history. If they think it's best for business so be it.

 

[Voight]

The value of the team instantly plummets with a move.

Why would anyone pay Chicago price to put a team in Nashville? And if MLB is intent on expanding, why would they let someone move a team there and line Reinsdorf's pocket, not their own?

Nashville works best with an expansion team. Their minor league baseball stadium is nowhere near MLB standards and they'd be better off getting an expansion team and then beginning construction on a ballpark. Sort of what the Kraken did, once the league allowed them to apply for an expansion team, city council approved their plan for Key Arena.

Nissan Stadium wouldn't work as even a temporary home (I mean, I guess anythings possible but it would be a disaster)

The MLB has not given a single f*** about history. If they think it's best for business so be it.

I just dont see them being OK with someone moving a franchise that's been located in the city for over a century.

 

[KevFu]

Nashville works best with an expansion team.

I'm really not sure it does. Nothing against Nashville at all, I just think that an NFL, NHL and MLB team is A LOT of money needed to support those teams.

Cincinnati is not a robust market financially in the NFL or MLB, and they have more people and no NHL team to support.

I just dont see them being OK with someone moving a franchise that's been located in the city for over a century.

It's not like there's any kind of special demarcation for 100 years vs 50 or 75 or any other number.

St. Louis Browns (51)
Philadelphia Athletics (53)
Oakland Athletics (56)
Washington Senators (59 and kinda also 71)
Brooklyn Dodgers (68)
New York Giants (74)
Boston Braves (76)

They'll pretend to care about that stuff while counting money.

 

[ponder719]

Well, of course it's pie in the sky, because the first generic rumors are a time for seeking the ideal (saving Oakland) as opposed to the terrible (TWO markets lose their teams). No offense to the Sox fans of Chicago for that.

I think that there's still room while the A's are in Sacramento to put a replacement team in Oakland. If Dave Stewart buys the A's from Fisher and Fisher buys the Sox from Reinsdorf and Stewart negotiates an Oakland stadium deal while the Sox move from Chicago to Las Vegas... the A's "never left." If Stewart buys the Sox and then they swap franchises, it's the same thing.

Setting aside the likelihood of this happening, which I think we all agree is fairly low, your main objection to the As leaving Oakland seems to be that the Giants become a financial monster if they own all of NorCal. Doesn't the same thing happen if the Cubs become the only Chicago team? I can't help but think the only way to prevent those teams from becoming a Yankees/Dodgers/Mets/Red Sox level powerhouse is for them both to continue sharing their market, and with the Itinerant As on the move to Vegas, the only way to ensure both happens would be for Oakland (or another Bay Area team) to get an expansion franchise, not the White Sox.

 

[KevFu]

Setting aside the likelihood of this happening, which I think we all agree is fairly low, your main objection to the As leaving Oakland seems to be that the Giants become a financial monster if they own all of NorCal. Doesn't the same thing happen if the Cubs become the only Chicago team? I can't help but think the only way to prevent those teams from becoming a Yankees/Dodgers/Mets/Red Sox level powerhouse is for them both to continue sharing their market, and with the Itinerant As on the move to Vegas, the only way to ensure both happens would be for Oakland (or another Bay Area team) to get an expansion franchise, not the White Sox.

The difference between the Cubs and Giants if left alone is three-fold.

#1 - The first being the limited size of the Wrigley footprint really curtails a lot of revenue-generation. The Cubs did a masterful job with the renovation project to get more revenue out of the old building, but there's only so much you can do compared to a brand new park like the Giants built 25 years ago.

#2 - It's the sheer population difference of the territory. What makes the Red Sox a powerhouse is they have all of New England paying for NESN. The Chicagoland area is where like 80% of the state lives. You leave the Chicago suburbs and it's 3 hours of nothing until Bloomington or Peoria. You go three hours from the Bay Area, and you have a slew of 50-150 markets: Sacramento, San Jose, Fresno, Stockton, Napa, Santa Cruz, Monterrey. Reno... up to Oregon.

We consider San Jose and Sacramento "Bay Area" because TV and fan wise and transportation wise, they are... but Milwaukee is 88 miles from Chicago, so that "mega region" really has THREE teams, not two.


Grand scheme of things, I don't think it's wise for Chicago to go to one team; but I said what I said because it's far better for Chicago to have one team than for the Bay Area to have one team.