Cubs next owner won't meddle like Steinbrenner, but he will be focused

OK Cubs fans, we know virtually everything there is to know concerning the background of Tom Ricketts, the last man bidding for ownership of the Cubs and Wrigley Field.

Now for the juicy stuff.

Just what kind of owner will this guy be?

"A very good one," said Jim Bianco, president of the market research firm Bianco Research LLC in Chicago and a friend and business associate of Ricketts. "He's a delegator. He'll definitely put people in charge and let them make decisions.

"He won't be off somewhere reviewing tapes and deciding who to trade. He won't be George Steinbrenner. He's very low-key; you won't see him on 'Apprentice' or anything like that.

"What we have here is a Cubs fan who loves the team."

And a guy who adores Wrigley Field, but realizes the old gal is getting a little rickety.

"He met his wife at Wrigley - he loves that place," Bianco said. "He's going to try and keep a structurally sound version (of it around). But it's obvious the status quo can't stay. Something's got to happen. The question is not if, it's what."

While the financial world can be ruthless, Ricketts, who reportedly bid $900 million for the franchise, doesn't play the game that way, according to his former college roommate Curt Conklin.

"He's a man among men," Conklin said. "You could search the world over and not find a guy who'd say a bad word about him."

And though he came from wealth, his father Joe Ricketts was the founder of hugely successful TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., 43-year-old Tom Ricketts is "definitely a regular guy," who has proved his business acumen on his own, according to Bianco. Forbes has estimated the family's net worth at more than $2.3 billion.

"He started as a runner at the Board of Trade and built his own brokerage system from the ground up," he said. "He has shown ability and a track record of building his own business from scratch."

Bianco, who has known Ricketts for more than a decade, realizes what baseball fans desire from an owner.

"What everyone wants is a $200 million payroll and a cut in ticket prices," he said with a laugh.

While that's probably not going to happen, Bianco believes Ricketts will try to generate money in less traditional ways rather than increased advertising in Wrigley Field or annual spikes in ticket prices.

"He's going to look high and low for ways to try and generate more revenue away from ticket prices and PSLs (personal seat licenses)," Bianco said. "His thing is 'How can we generate revenue away from the park?' "

Those in the know believe the potential partnership of Ricketts and the Cubs could be a match made in heaven.

"I'm ecstatic for him," Bianco said.

"He's been passionate about the Cubs for a long, long time," Conklin said. "There couldn't be a better person to own the team than Tom Ricketts and his family.

"They're humble, selfless, regular people who are low-key, and that's the way they're going to run the team."