Reinsdorf considers moving White Sox out of Guaranteed Rate Field or selling team

[The Grinder]

8 hours ago, Texsox said:

Probably the same reason no one pointed out my thread from October 2005 saying I wouldn't be surprised if Jerry talks about a new stadium. It's a reoccurring thread. 

 

Did something remarkable  happen in Oct 2005? 

[WBWSF]

1) In the 1980s JR wanted  a stadium built in Dupage County on land that he owned. 2) JR moved the White Sox spring training from Florida to Tucson Arizona. The stadium was built on land owned by JR. 3) JR just  spent  $17 million on land by the United Center. JR owns half of the United Center and its parking lots. The United Center was built with private funds. 4)  I think its fair to say JR wants the stadium to be built by the United Center on land that he owns. The present stadium was paid thru the hotel/motel tax and the stadium will be paid  off in  6 more years. I would think JR would want the same hotel/motel tax to be extended for the new stadium. I can't see him paying millions if not billions of dollars for a new domed stadium that will be privately financed like the United Center was. I wouldn't put it past him to move the team out of state if he doesn't get what he wants.

[Texsox]

18 minutes ago, The Grinder said:

Did something remarkable  happen in Oct 2005? 

Someone got shot in the neighborhood. 

[tray]

3 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

1) In the 1980s JR wanted  a stadium built in Dupage County on land that he owned. 2) JR moved the White Sox spring training from Florida to Tucson Arizona. The stadium was built on land owned by JR. 3) JR just  spent  $17 million on land by the United Center. JR owns half of the United Center and its parking lots. The United Center was built with private funds. 4)  I think its fair to say JR wants the stadium to be built by the United Center on land that he owns. The present stadium was paid thru the hotel/motel tax and the stadium will be paid  off in  6 more years. I would think JR would want the same hotel/motel tax to be extended for the new stadium. I can't see him paying millions if not billions of dollars for a new domed stadium that will be privately financed like the United Center was. I wouldn't put it past him to move the team out of state if he doesn't get what he wants.

United Center is too far for most of us in the Sox fan base. I seldom go to Hawks games because of the distance from the South suburbs. The acquisition of land around the UC is to buffer the roughest neighborhoods of the City on the West side and protect the investment in the UC. Bridgeport is nothing like the West side and has seen a good deal of gentrification over the past 20 years or so.

Two things that Sox ownership should do at this point to address rumors, concerns, etc.

1. Clarify that the Sox will have continuity of ownership like the Bears have had with the Halas/McCaskey families. Perhaps start to delegate more ownership level decisions to Michael Reinsdorf  and/or bring in some other investors that will be committed to keeping the Sox in Chicago.

2. Make it clear that the Sox will not leave the Southside of Chicago or SW suburban areas where the majority of our fan base is located.

3. (optional) Put some away games on WGN Channel 9 or 32. Give away a few dollars to grow the fan base.

[Lip Man 1]

2 hours ago, WBWSF said:

1) In the 1980s JR wanted  a stadium built in Dupage County on land that he owned. 2) JR moved the White Sox spring training from Florida to Tucson Arizona. The stadium was built on land owned by JR. 3) JR just  spent  $17 million on land by the United Center. JR owns half of the United Center and its parking lots. The United Center was built with private funds. 4)  I think its fair to say JR wants the stadium to be built by the United Center on land that he owns. The present stadium was paid thru the hotel/motel tax and the stadium will be paid  off in  6 more years. I would think JR would want the same hotel/motel tax to be extended for the new stadium. I can't see him paying millions if not billions of dollars for a new domed stadium that will be privately financed like the United Center was. I wouldn't put it past him to move the team out of state if he doesn't get what he wants.

It'll be hard for him to do anything in six years since he is likely not to be around. 

[Lip Man 1]

2 hours ago, tray said:

United Center is too far for most of us in the Sox fan base. I seldom go to Hawks games because of the distance from the South suburbs. The acquisition of land around the UC is to buffer the roughest neighborhoods of the City on the West side and protect the investment in the UC. Bridgeport is nothing like the West side and has seen a good deal of gentrification over the past 20 years or so.

Two things that Sox ownership should do at this point to address rumors, concerns, etc.

1. Clarify that the Sox will have continuity of ownership like the Bears have had with the Halas/McCaskey families. Perhaps start to delegate more ownership level decisions to Michael Reinsdorf  and/or bring in some other investors that will be committed to keeping the Sox in Chicago.

2. Make it clear that the Sox will not leave the Southside of Chicago or SW suburban areas where the majority of our fan base is located.

3. (optional) Put some away games on WGN Channel 9 or 32. Give away a few dollars to grow the fan base.

The Sox can not do point #1 because JR has made it clear that he's told his family to sell the Sox and keep the Bulls because the salary structure in the NBA enables Michael to "make money." (But don't think for a nanosecond the Sox aren't making money too...)

Point #2 while notable no business would box themselves in like that.

Point #3, this may be possible since the NBC Sports Chicago deal is up relatively soon but again I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Chicago White Sox]

3 hours ago, tray said:

United Center is too far for most of us in the Sox fan base. I seldom go to Hawks games because of the distance from the South suburbs. The acquisition of land around the UC is to buffer the roughest neighborhoods of the City on the West side and protect the investment in the UC. Bridgeport is nothing like the West side and has seen a good deal of gentrification over the past 20 years or so.

Two things that Sox ownership should do at this point to address rumors, concerns, etc.

1. Clarify that the Sox will have continuity of ownership like the Bears have had with the Halas/McCaskey families. Perhaps start to delegate more ownership level decisions to Michael Reinsdorf  and/or bring in some other investors that will be committed to keeping the Sox in Chicago.

2. Make it clear that the Sox will not leave the Southside of Chicago or SW suburban areas where the majority of our fan base is located.

3. (optional) Put some away games on WGN Channel 9 or 32. Give away a few dollars to grow the fan base.

Why in the world would you want continuity of ownership?  And Michael Reinsdorf is a complete boob…let him f*** around with the Bulls and stay clear of our Sox.

[greg775]

No offense but isn't the area around the United Center ghastly? Not good.

Even though Jerry owns that land, he's a suburban kind of guy. If the team stays in Illinois, it's headed to suburbia baby. I wouldn't be shocked at another Arlington Heights report. I bet u the Bears don't move there after all and it'll be White Sox country. Unless Naperville or Lisle pull it off. isn't the White Sox academy in Lisle? Buy out that golf course and build it all there in Lisle.

[Texsox]

10 hours ago, bmags said:

I’ll take the warehouse and jobs over the decrepit gambling site personally.

I'm not certain if the races or Amazon has cost be more. 

[Green Line]

If they move to the suburbs they're going to completely cede any relevance they have with young-ish Chicagoans to the Cubs.  There are hundreds if not thousands of White Sox fans living on the north side who take the red line to the game on a regular basis.  They're not going to drive out to Naperville.

If they really must move though, they should go to Orland Park (or Crestwood like I said before).  I believe the former site of the massive Andrew Corporation headquarters in Orland is still sitting vacant after 20 or so years.

[Milkman delivers]

17 minutes ago, greg775 said:

No offense but isn't the area around the United Center ghastly? Not good.

Somebody will probably quote a skewed stat to say otherwise, but yes. You don’t want to be there longer than absolutely necessary.

[ron883]

55 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Why in the world would you want continuity of ownership?  And Michael Reinsdorf is a complete boob…let him f*** around with the Bulls and stay clear of our Sox.

At least Michael has gone outside the org and hired what seemed to be competent people. I liked his hires of Billy Donovan and AKME initially. Obviously it has been a complete disaster. I wonder if Michael told AKME that he wanted to win now, or if it was all on AKME. Regardless, those seemed like good acquisitions at the time. Nothing like what Jerry does. 

[ron883]

7 minutes ago, Milkman delivers said:

Somebody will probably quote a skewed stat to say otherwise, but yes. You don’t want to be there longer than absolutely necessary.

East of Ogden/Ashland is fine, if not a hot commodity. I always wondered if the UC area will get hot with how ridiculously expensive the West Loop/Fulton Market area is. 

[Milkman delivers]

2 minutes ago, ron883 said:

East of Ogden/Ashland is fine, if not a hot commodity. I always wondered if the UC area will get hot with how ridiculously expensive the West Loop/Fulton Market area is. 

The problem is that the UC is not East of that and the area West of the UC is no bueno.

[South Side Hit Men]

32 minutes ago, Green Line said:

If they move to the suburbs they're going to completely cede any relevance they have with young-ish Chicagoans to the Cubs.  There are hundreds if not thousands of White Sox fans living on the north side who take the red line to the game on a regular basis.  They're not going to drive out to Naperville.

This. If they leave the city, they will be dead to me and most of the city.

They also need to cease using our city name Chicago. This must be reserved for teams representing our actual city.

This team has over two million fans wanting to attend and support the team each season. Jerry Reinsdorf sabotages interest time and again.

1. Hire qualified competent people.
2. Give them a proper budget.
3. Stay the f*** out of the way.

It’s that easy. 

[Bananarchy]

55 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

This. If they leave the city, they will be dead to me and most of the city.

They also need to cease using our city name Chicago. This must be reserved for teams representing our actual city.

This team has over two million fans wanting to attend and support the team each season. Jerry Reinsdorf sabotages interest time and again.

1. Hire qualified competent people.
2. Give them a proper budget.
3. Stay the f*** out of the way.

It’s that easy. 

Let me see if I get this straight:
1) Hire people you can manipulate

2) Be cheap

3) be involved in every transaction

 

Did I get that right?

[South Side Hit Men]

2 minutes ago, Vacheron said:

Let me see if I get this straight:
1) Hire people you can manipulate

2) Be cheap

3) be involved in every transaction

Did I get that right?

Yes, and he has no demonstrable  knowledge of the sport, despite this being his primary business for 42 years, and proclaiming on multiple occasions how smart he is and how dumb his competitors are.

His bragging is worse than Hahn’s throughout the years. They are all unqualified insular morons, and it looks as though Getz has been chosen to carry the torch.

[WBWSF]

The game at Baltimore tonight drew  a little over 12,000. The team with the best record in the league is averaging 23,000  a game. The lease on Camden yards expires  next year. From what I've been reading the owner of the Orioles isn't too enthused about renewing the lease. The owners son lives in Nashville and  there is speculation he wants to move the team to Nashville. The owner said the other day he won't be able to keep this Orioles team together when they become free agents. I can't help but wonder if the days of the Orioles in Baltimore are coming to an end. They could be the team moving to Nashville.

[Milkman delivers]

1 hour ago, South Side Hit Men said:

This. If they leave the city, they will be dead to me and most of the city.

They also need to cease using our city name Chicago. This must be reserved for teams representing our actual city.

This team has over two million fans wanting to attend and support the team each season. Jerry Reinsdorf sabotages interest time and again.

1. Hire qualified competent people.
2. Give them a proper budget.
3. Stay the f*** out of the way.

It’s that easy. 

Being able to walk to the games is just about the only draw for me. If it involved any type of travel, I’d probably never go. The food isn’t even much of a draw anymore.

[Quin]

1 hour ago, WBWSF said:

The game at Baltimore tonight drew  a little over 12,000. The team with the best record in the league is averaging 23,000  a game. The lease on Camden yards expires  next year. From what I've been reading the owner of the Orioles isn't too enthused about renewing the lease. The owners son lives in Nashville and  there is speculation he wants to move the team to Nashville. The owner said the other day he won't be able to keep this Orioles team together when they become free agents. I can't help but wonder if the days of the Orioles in Baltimore are coming to an end. They could be the team moving to Nashville.

I am certain about one thing.

Now that the A's have moved to Vegas, so many owners are gonna be pissed once a team moves to Nashville.

[tray]

13 minutes ago, Quin said:

I am certain about one thing.

Now that the A's have moved to Vegas, so many owners are gonna be pissed once a team moves to Nashville.

Especially those who watch Fox  "everyone is moving to Nashville" News.

The  grass is not always greener on the other side.

[Highland]

All the talk about a new stadium gets to me when I look at the condition of this team. Face it. The Sox have one great player --Robert. That's it. The pitching staff is a mess, and you have under-achieving on the left side of the infield. Screw JR and a new stadium. Get a real team first. Then JR can pay for his own stadium. But right now, this team is in worse shape than when the Reinsdorf-Einhorn group bought the team in 1981. Then JR said he needed a new stadium to compete. He got one. Then what we get? A strike. A White Flag Trade. Yeah, let's hope for a new stadium.

[Texsox]

3 hours ago, Highland said:

All the talk about a new stadium gets to me when I look at the condition of this team. Face it. The Sox have one great player --Robert. That's it. The pitching staff is a mess, and you have under-achieving on the left side of the infield. Screw JR and a new stadium. Get a real team first. Then JR can pay for his own stadium. But right now, this team is in worse shape than when the Reinsdorf-Einhorn group bought the team in 1981. Then JR said he needed a new stadium to compete. He got one. Then what we get? A strike. A White Flag Trade. Yeah, let's hope for a new stadium.

How about JR moves the team he owns to Mexico City and we embrace a new *expansion* team? 

[Chicago White Sox]

Tex in full troll mode this morning

[South Side Hit Men]

3 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Tex in full troll mode this morning