Ill. official: No Wrigley deal without numbers

A deal to renovate historic Wrigley Field with a state-assisted $300 million loan stalled even before Illinois' ex-governor was caught up in a corruption charge involving the plan, an official said Tuesday.

William Brandt, chairman of the Illinois Finance Authority, told The Associated Press that the deal was never seriously considered because representatives of the Tribune Co., which owns the ballpark, never disclosed revenue projections to back it.

The federal government claims it has secretly recorded conversations of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich instructing aides to pressure Tribune to fire unfriendly editorial writers from its Chicago newspaper before he would OK a deal he believed would save Tribune owner Sam Zell $100 million in capital gains taxes.

In a Nov. 30 conversation overheard by the FBI, Blagojevich "discussed the importance of getting the IFA transaction approved at the IFA's December 2008 or January 2009 meeting" because Blagojevich was considering leaving office in January, according to a criminal complaint.

Brandt reiterated Tuesday that he was unaware of Blagojevich's alleged timetable or other wrongdoing; the fact that the IFA suggested Tribune make a presentation in December or January was coincidental.

Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested Dec. 9 and indicted last week on a wide range of federal allegations including trying to pressure Tribune to fire critical editorial writers in exchange for state assistance on Wrigley.

Brandt said the only time he talked about the baseball plan to the ex-governor, who was impeached and removed from office in January, was at a meeting last fall in which Blagojevich spoke to participants about the importance of a Wrigley deal.

The AP reported Monday that a Nov. 19 proposal Tribune floated called for IFA to sell $300 million in bonds, lend it to a newly created corporation and, through a complex venture, lease the stadium to a new owner for 30 years at $25 million a year.

The Tribune would get $45 million upfront and a 5 percent equity share in the lease. The IFA, through the new corporation, would maintain a 95 percent stake.

But the IFA grew frustrated about weekly meetings with rooms full of lawyers but no results, Brandt said. He said the authority needed to see several years' worth of revenue from ticket sales, vendors, parking, leases for other events, and perhaps television contracts.

The bid for the Cubs might have hamstrung Tribune. Brandt believes Major League Baseball would not allow Tribune to hand over the receipts until the team had a buyer.

Tribune's Dec. 8 bankruptcy filing also complicated matters, said Brandt, who still believes a deal for the century-old ballpark can be completed.

A Tribune Co. spokesman declined comment. No one associated with Tribune or the IFA is charged with wrongdoing.