That cheap prick JR is seeking $1 Billion from us taxpayers

[jacoby1us]

Helluva demand for a subpar product on the field.

[Fantastik_Goat]

This is JR we’re talking about. He doesn’t really want the money, he just wants to feel like he has a chance at the money up until the last couple weeks and then miss out.

[fleet]

do we have to call him a cheap prick when what he's asking for is pretty standard amongst every sports franchise owner in every league?

Sell the team.


There is nothing I would want more as a lifelong Sox fan than a modern cutting edge yet classic styled ballpark (Don't get me started on JR's crappy stadium builds). As an Ex Sox fan, there is nothing I would oppose more for Jerry Reinsdorf than the same ballpark. Every franchise owner in every league doesn't conduct business the way Jerry does. He's never signed a big money contract in his tenure unless you count Lavine, never for the Sox, and so there is no reason the public should feel generous about buying him a ballpark so he can keep raking in extra dollars for himself. There is nothing in it for the fans, only Jerry, therefore a bad deal. Insufferably stupid, yet arrogant baseball and basketball man will suffice. I tell ya, him laughing about 'Never gonna sign Ohtani' like it is some great joke that only he finds the humor in was the last straw for me. If I'm being honest it was the eigthteenth straw.

[drosestruts]

do we have to call him a cheap prick when what he's asking for is pretty standard amongst every sports franchise owner in every league?

Sell the team.


There is nothing I would want more as a lifelong Sox fan than a modern cutting edge yet classic styled ballpark (Don't get me started on JR's crappy stadium builds). As an Ex Sox fan, there is nothing I would oppose more for Jerry Reinsdorf than the same ballpark. Every franchise owner in every league doesn't conduct business the way Jerry does. He's never signed a big money contract in his tenure unless you count Lavine, never for the Sox, and so there is no reason the public should feel generous about buying him a ballpark so he can keep raking in extra dollars for himself. There is nothing in it for the fans, only Jerry, therefore a bad deal. Insufferably stupid, yet arrogant baseball and basketball man will suffice. I tell ya, him laughing about 'Never gonna sign Ohtani' like it is some great joke that only he finds the humor in was the last straw for me. If I'm being honest it was the eigthteenth straw.

have you adopted some new basbeall team to follow after swearing off the White Sox? If so, do you find this new team to operate differently than the White Sox?

[madvillian]

There's a ton of nuanced and deep discussion on this over at Soxtalk.com if anybody is interested.

[Jcool0]

Read on Twitter

[Bandit King]

What is wrong with the old park??

[Jeffster81]

I'm serious, reinsdork is one MJ away from being the worst owner in sports. But as a con man, Reinsdorf is elite.

[1985Bear]

Pro sports teams have become the toy of choice for Billionaires. Billionaires should get no help from the public and can afford to build their own damn playground.

If you can’t afford to build a stadium on your own, sell the team to someone who can.

The end.


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[OzmanTheWizard]

Hopefully the city calls Jerry’s bluff and tells him to kick rocks and relocate the Sox.


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[lostonbase]

Let him take the SOX and The Bulls out of the city, it will make it easier to quit 2 addictions that are bad for my health.

[Dan Z]

All owners want taxpayer money, it's just how things are now done.

That said, it's hard to imagine an owner having less leverage than Reinsdorf in this scenario. The Sox are a second class citizen baseball team that the city wouldn't lose all that much if they left. They'd still have the vastly more popular Cubs and still have baseball in Chicago.

If Chicago was fighting the Bears, which would actually be a pretty big deal if they left, then they have to simply just be laughing their asses off at the White Sox.

I agree that the Bears and Cubs are huge here, they need Chicago more than the city needs them.

The Nebraska Cubs...who would care?

I hope Chicago calls his bluff. I wish more cities would do that.

[jnrjr79]

All owners want taxpayer money, it's just how things are now done.

That said, it's hard to imagine an owner having less leverage than Reinsdorf in this scenario. The Sox are a second class citizen baseball team that the city wouldn't lose all that much if they left. They'd still have the vastly more popular Cubs and still have baseball in Chicago.

If Chicago was fighting the Bears, which would actually be a pretty big deal if they left, then they have to simply just be laughing their asses off at the White Sox.

I agree that the Bears and Cubs are huge here, they need Chicago more than the city needs them.

The Nebraska Cubs...who would care?

I hope Chicago calls his bluff. I wish more cities would do that.

FWIW, it's currently the state that's being asked to rejigger hotel and sales taxes to fund the project. Maybe there will be a separate ask to the city eventually, but right now it's not "Chicago" that's being asked to contribute here. If anything, I'd think that makes this harder to negotiate, since much of the IL legislature represents people who won't care one bit about a Chicago stadium project, but we'll see.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

Pro sports teams have become the toy of choice for Billionaires. Billionaires should get no help from the public and can afford to build their own damn playground.

If you can’t afford to build a stadium on your own, sell the team to someone who can.

The end.


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I think this is a little off, a sports team is a very good investment that outperforms capital markets for the last decade or so. They don’t buy them as toys by and large, they buy them to add to their investment portfolio.
There’s that Mets owner that spends a ton of money and people think it’s because he’ll do anything to win or whatever, the reality is that there’s an opportunity to make the Mets the bigger brand in town if he outspends Steinbrenner. When this strategy fails, we’ll see what the Mets payrolls look like. It’s already scaled back.

I’ll reiterate the point that we as citizens shouldn’t want them to build them all on their own. There are real opportunities for public-private-partnerships in which the public stands to gain and the local residents stand to gain; and a sports arena sure seems like a better than building a **** mall or something. Like I said I just want the city to tell them to kick rocks at this 78 site and coerce the team into developing Bridgeport and bronzeville if they want public money.

[jnrjr79]

Pro sports teams have become the toy of choice for Billionaires. Billionaires should get no help from the public and can afford to build their own damn playground.

If you can’t afford to build a stadium on your own, sell the team to someone who can.

The end.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think this is a little off, a sports team is a very good investment that outperforms capital markets for the last decade or so. They don’t buy them as toys by and large, they buy them to add to their investment portfolio.
There’s that Mets owner that spends a ton of money and people think it’s because he’ll do anything to win or whatever, the reality is that there’s an opportunity to make the Mets the bigger brand in town if he outspends Steinbrenner. When this strategy fails, we’ll see what the Mets payrolls look like. It’s already scaled back.

I’ll reiterate the point that we as citizens shouldn’t want them to build them all on their own. There are real opportunities for public-private-partnerships in which the public stands to gain and the local residents stand to gain; and a sports arena sure seems like a better than building a **** mall or something. Like I said I just want the city to tell them to kick rocks at this 78 site and coerce the team into developing Bridgeport and bronzeville if they want public money.

Again, unless and until the city is actually being asked to put money into the deal, this is not a thing it can do. Right now Reinsdorf's ask is to the State of Illinois. I highly doubt the IL legislature cares what neighborhood the White Sox decide to build in.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

Pro sports teams have become the toy of choice for Billionaires. Billionaires should get no help from the public and can afford to build their own damn playground.

If you can’t afford to build a stadium on your own, sell the team to someone who can.

The end.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think this is a little off, a sports team is a very good investment that outperforms capital markets for the last decade or so. They don’t buy them as toys by and large, they buy them to add to their investment portfolio.
There’s that Mets owner that spends a ton of money and people think it’s because he’ll do anything to win or whatever, the reality is that there’s an opportunity to make the Mets the bigger brand in town if he outspends Steinbrenner. When this strategy fails, we’ll see what the Mets payrolls look like. It’s already scaled back.

I’ll reiterate the point that we as citizens shouldn’t want them to build them all on their own. There are real opportunities for public-private-partnerships in which the public stands to gain and the local residents stand to gain; and a sports arena sure seems like a better than building a **** mall or something. Like I said I just want the city to tell them to kick rocks at this 78 site and coerce the team into developing Bridgeport and bronzeville if they want public money.

Again, unless and until the city is actually being asked to put money into the deal, this is not a thing it can do. Right now Reinsdorf's ask is to the State of Illinois. I highly doubt the IL legislature cares what neighborhood the White Sox decide to build in.

maybe not and it's an analogy for the kind of development that feeds the downtown machine at the expense of neighborhoods. you would hope that lawmakers have learned lessons about tearing down major institutions and not replacing with with anything. I will be writing a letter to my representative (former athlete kam buckner who might have a stake in this debate) stating something along the lines of the state shouldn't be giving money away to develop land that the private sector will do on its own volition. if the White Sox leave Bridgeport, it's 30 years of progress flushed down the drain of trying to turn that area from concentrated public housing projects into a middle class neighborhood. if the state is going to invest this kind of money, it should actually serve the public. illinois and chicago have the leverage in this situation. Reinsdorf or whoever owns the team after his death doesn't want to leave Chicago for **** Nashville or Salt Lake City. whether or not there's another team in this city, ballparks connected to freeways and public transportation, a couple miles from one of the most economically productive downtowns in the country, don't exactly grow on trees.
point is, the state and city should give them money to build a ballpark and develop on the 100 acres of parking lots, not on "the 78" and there should be some serious strings attached.

[meekrab]

The state of Illinois could buy the Sox for less than a billion dollars, lmao. Take your minor league team and go home, Jerry, you're drunk.

[Mk0]

I think Reinsdorf wants to move the franchise to Nashville. Chicago should let him.

Just remember. outside of 2005, the White Sox have not won a playoff series since 1917. Reinsdorf is literally the worst and WS fans deserve better.

lolwut? no.. cmon.. that can't be real. They didn't have a series win since 1917!?
Good lord

[drosestruts]

The White Sox as recently as two years ago were an up and coming darling. They have made the playoffs two years in a row and people thought they were on the verge of breaking out - they had:

Jose Abreau
Luis Robert
Eloy Jiminez
Tim Anderson
Dylan Cease
Lucas Giolito
Michael Kopech

They won 93 games the season before and won the division and then they just.... aren't good. They go .500 and then last year only win 61 games.

Saying they've always been bad is just such a hindsight take used to fit a narrative about your dislike of the ownership.

[jnrjr79]

I think Reinsdorf wants to move the franchise to Nashville. Chicago should let him.

Just remember. outside of 2005, the White Sox have not won a playoff series since 1917. Reinsdorf is literally the worst and WS fans deserve better.

lolwut? no.. cmon.. that can't be real. They didn't have a series win since 1917!?
Good lord

It's true, though for context, for much of this time the World Series was the only playoff series and then later you had the ALCS and NLCS, but no divisional series or wild card games before that, so playoff appearances were a lot harder to come by, and if you got in, you were basically up against the best in baseball.