Three bidders make final cut to buy Cubs

NEW YORK - Tribune Co. is inviting at least three potential buyers who each submitted bids for the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field near or above $1 billion to participate in a second round of proposals, according to a person involved in the process.

Several bidders offering between $700 million and $900 million for all the properties have been excluded from the second round, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of nondisclosure pacts governing bid talk.

A Tribune spokeswoman said the baseball team would not have any comment on the status of the sale, which also includes the team's minority stake in a Chicago regional sports TV network.

Included in the second round are Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; the Ricketts family, which founded the online brokerage that is now TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.; and a group led by Sports Acquisition Holding Corp. that includes former baseball home run king Henry Aaron and former Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. The last group is believed to be teaming with another bidder who submitted an offer in the initial round. All three of the reported potential buyers refused Thursday to comment publicly.

The Cubs are expected to fetch more than the record $660 million paid for the Boston Red Sox in 2002. Tribune paid $20.5 million for the team in 1981. It's now seeking to sell the team and Wrigley Field to help pay off the $8.2-billion cost of going private last year. Wrigley Field apparently has been harder to value, since it may require hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations.