Too bad: Mark Cuban isn’t in Cubs’ future
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A story from the Wall Street Journal indicates that because of the economic climate, it appears that Tribune Company may sell only a half-interest in the Chicago Cubs instead of the entire franchise. Fair enough. Times are hard. Coming up with $1 billion or so might not be quite as simple as it was at the start of the season.
But the real bad news for baseball came out of Dana Point, where the general managers have been meeting. Indications are that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will be frozen out of the list of potential buyers for the club.
Of the possibility that Cuban is a viable buyer, a source told Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times, ‘There’s no way Bud [Selig] and the owners are going to let that happen. Zero chance.’
That’s just the kind of thinking that’s going to keep baseball sliding downhill on the American sports landscape. The recently completed World Series drew an average 8.4 TV rating, the lowest Series rating in history. Games are now started so late that half the viewers who do turn in are asleep before the final out.
Cuban has been a thorn in the side of NBA Commissioner David Stern, but in terms of generating fan interest, there’s little doubt that he’s the kind of individual who would be good for baseball. Not simply good, he’s the kind of owner baseball needs, someone who can inject some life into a sport that isn’t speaking to younger fans. This video on Cuban points to that.
Baseball can go ahead and keep its exclusive club filled with owners who think alike, but it will be at its own peril.
-- Mike James
