The Chicago White Sox will stay in Chicago for one reason regardless of who owns the team
If a new stadium is built, the team will stay according to one local baseball reporter.
Chicago White Sox fans ramped up the calls for the team to be sold after enduring a miserable and historic 121-loss season.
A recent report in the Athletic suggests owner Jerry Reinsdorf might finally give up his prized possession, which he has run into the ground.
It comes with a possible catch--the team could be relocated, especially if rumored bidder Dave Stewart acquires the team.
The former Oakland Athletics ace and Arizona Diamondbacks general manager has been heavily involved in trying to get an expansion team in Nashville. Now that his hometown Athletics has left Oakland, there is speculation he could buy a franchise, relocate it to the Bay Area, and return baseball there.
He was involved in a bid to buy partial ownership of the Oakland Coliseum with the angle of redeveloping into a suitable park to keep the A's in Oakland. However, he could just want to own any team as it would mean he would be the first majority black owner in baseball.
However, if his group does end up purchasing the club, relocation rumors will persist unless Stewart declares the team is staying as Chicago's AL team.
Relocation rumors are not something new to the fanbase.
At least, to the generations of fans who were around in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
This wouldn't be the first time the spectre of relocation haunted a potential Sox sale. Bill Veeck came in at the 11th hour in 1975 to prevent a sale that would have moved the team to Seattle. Failed sale to De Bartolo in 1980 had the poss. of a move to New Orleans or Denver
— Rob Hart (@RobHartWBBM) October 16, 2024
There was also the potential that the Sox would move to Milwaukee in the late 60s. The team even played a few home games at Milwaukee County Stadium in 1968 and 1969 as a trial run.
Reinsdorf infamously nearly moved the club to Tampa in the late 1980s until an 11th-hour deal was cut by state lawmakers to build Jerry New Comiskey Park, now Guaranteed Rate Field.
The status of Guaranteed Rate Field is at the center of whether the Sox would stay in Chicago long-term or be moved to another market.
Building another new stadium is what will keep the Sox in Chicago.
That is according to long-time local baseball reporter Bruce Levine. Jerry is hoping to construct a new park in the South Loop on a plot of land known as the 78.
He wants the Illinois taxpayers to foot at least $1.7 billion of the estimated $1.9 billion cost. Jerry is reportedly willing to chip in $200 million of his own money, barely a fraction of the cost. He is getting resistance from lawmakers as the climate has changed since the late 1980s.
Publicly funded stadiums are becoming less popular and rarely deliver on the economic impact promised. The governor is also not a diehard Sox fan. Plus, Illinois and Chicago have plenty of funding issues, such as properly funding public education.
Also, more and more stadiums are being built through private money, or at the very least, with the team chipping in at least half of the costs.
The reason Reinsdorf or any potential new owner wants a new ballpark is the lease at Guaranteed Rate Field expires in 2029. While the park itself is still in great shape, it is outdated by today's standards.
The Sox still have to fight the stereotype that the Rate is located in an unsafe neighborhood. Plus, the area around it has all the charm of a parking lot which is because the park is surrounded by them.
You have to go to 33rd Street to find something that resembles what the Chicago Cubs have at Wrigley Field.
In today's baseball economics where the regional sports network money is trying up, owning large swaths of land around the ballpark is the new trend for sports teams to rake in the cash.
Fans might love their tailgating, but paying the team's parking lot prices does not bring in nearly the revenue as posh neighborhoods with condos, luxury apartments, and restaurants. Why do you think Jerry Reinsdorf's other team, the Chicago Bulls, is teaming up with the Chicago Blackhawks to develop the parking lots around the United Center?
The Sox might have a partner in their quest to build on the 78, although this partner has a different opinion on funding it.
The Chicago Fire, the city's MLS team, has recently come out with news of wanting to build a new soccer stadium. Team owner Joe Mansueto is kicking around the idea of building the stadium on the 78.
The site's developer, Related Midwest, is willing to accommodate both teams. The conflict is Mansueto believes teams should cover the entire cost of building the stadium.
I wrote about how Related Midwest wants both the White Sox and Fire to build on Project 78, but they are working with two owners who have much different views in achieving that dream.
— Josh Nelson - Sox Machine (@soxmachine_josh) October 18, 2024
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That could pose a problem for Jerry or any ownership group that buys the Sox. The leverage play is to threaten relocation if the financial demands are not met for a new ballpark. It will be kind of hard to make the threat to state and local government when another billionaire, with an even less well-known team in the area in a less popular sport, is willing to fully fund his project.
Hey, maybe Mansueto, who Forbes estimates to be worth $7.2 billion, might be interested in buying the Sox and then working with Related Midwest to develop Chicago's newest neighborhood and rake in the profits from it.
However, the costs of owning an MLB team are much bigger than an MLS club. There is more fame and attention in owning a baseball team, but it comes with an economic system where player costs are not controlled, unlike the MLS system. The MLS system cost control around players makes it easier to turn a profit.
While Stewart is the only reported potential buyer, there are other very wealthy Chicagoans who have been speculated to be interested in buying the Sox if they are indeed for sale. Even if a local buyer purchases the club, the team's ballpark situation must be resolved.
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