Jerry Colangelo will be in Chicago today to meet with potential investors in an effort to bid on and purchase the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs will be put up for sale at the end of the season after Sam Zell purchases the Tribune Co. The total price tag for the Cubs, including Wrigley Field, may come out at a record $800 million.  As the East Valley Times reports:

Colangelo initially met with the Cubs’ new owners last week but would not characterize those discussions. He also has had discussions with several potential investors.

“If an opportunity presented itself it would kind of be like me coming full circle,” Colangelo said Wednesday. “I've always thought that Chicago was one of the greatest cities in the world.”

Colangelo said he has been overwhelmed by the amount of support his bid has received in Chicago and nationwide.

“The newspapers, the talk shows. I’ve seen all that stuff that’s been reported,” he said. “It makes you feel good that you’re not forgotten. It makes you feel good that a lot of people feel I’m the leader in the clubhouse as far as being the choice, but I also know the reality is there are some very strong groups, one with unlimited resources.”

Dayn Perry also covers the sale of the Cubs for the Chicago Sports Review this week. Within it, he has a sidebar of who might potentially bid for the storied franchise, and breaks down other aspects of the sale, including how decoupling WGN from ownership may impact bidding for broadcast rights in the future. As reported by Perry:

There's one factor that will have bearing no matter who the new owner is: the team's media contract with WGN. The Cubs and WGN, of course, are currently under the same corporate umbrella, which means the value of said media contract is a moot point (it's all going in the same pocket, anyway). However, once the Cubs are no longer part of the TribCo's holdings, there'll be a chance for the team to cash in.

"By disassociating the Cubs from ownership of WGN, it may create higher bidding for broadcasting rights," explains Maury Brown of BizofBaseball.com and Baseball Prospectus. "With the prior ownership structure … strong bidding tactics would have been removed. With that structure removed, requesting higher fees would not be out of the realm of possibility."

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