Chicago Cubs to Sell to Ricketts Family

The Chicago Cubs will have a new owner, and it’s who everyone expected it to be back in January.

Tribune Co. said Friday that it signed an agreement to sell the iconic franchise to the Ricketts family. The family is paying about $800 million to acquire a 95 percent interest in a package of assets: the team, Wrigley Field and Tribune Co.’s 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, which broadcasts many Cubs games on cable television.

The agreement values the franchise and related assets at $845 million, less than the Rickett’s winning bid in January of $900 million. Tribune Co. will retain a 5 percent ownership stake in the joint venture.

“Our family is thrilled to have reached an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs, one of the most storied franchises in sports,” Joe Ricketts, a billionaire who founded the Omaha-based online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., said in a statement. “The Cubs have the greatest fans in the world, and we count our family among them. We look forward to closing the transaction so that we can begin leading the Cubs to a World Series title.”