Sox, Bears could foil Wrigley Field rehab

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The Cubs' plan to use 35 years' worth of amusement tax growth to renovate Wrigley Field could be foiled by the Bears and White Sox.

Two major players could end up blocking the plate, preventing the Cubs from scoring with their plan to use 35 years' worth of amusement tax growth to renovate Wrigley Field: the Bears and White Sox.

Sources said the Cubs' financing plan calls for a 2 percent hotel tax to backstop the Wrigley bonds when bonds used to finance Soldier Field and U.S. Cellular Field are paid off.

Bonds for the Cell will be paid off in 2021. Soldier Field bonds will be retired in 2031. If amusement tax growth is not great enough by then to retire the Wrigley bonds, the Cubs intend to borrow from the hotel tax and pay it back by extending the life of the bonds.

That could force the city and state to forfeit amusement tax growth for even longer than 35 years.

But here's the catch: If the Cubs move to the head of the line, the Bears and Sox could be deprived of the money they may need to complete stadium renovations.

"They're assuming we won't need any major work at Soldier Field and U.S. Cellular Field. These are assets of the state and city that need to be upgraded," said a source familiar with the deal.

"Twenty years from now, the Bears may say, 'For us to stay, we need this and this.' ... The Cubs are saying, 'When the bonds run out, it'll go to us. The hell with you.'"

The Bears and Sox are withholding comment until they know more about the Cubs' financing scheme.

Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf opposed the Soldier Field deal until he got something out of it -- the right to sell naming rights of the former Comiskey Park to finance continued renovations.

Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for the Ricketts family, owner of the Cubs, refused to discuss the financing scheme. It reportedly calls for $300 million in bonds to be issued in two layers to reduce the pressure on the Cubs to raise ticket prices.

Culloton would only say, "The two other teams should have no concerns because the Ricketts family has a prudent financial plan. It's based on conservative assumptions of attendance levels below the last five years for the team and ticket prices [that would] escalate at a level below the [6 percent] MLB average over the past 10 years. The bonds would be paid off through the amusement tax [growth] generated by those tickets' prices."

Earlier this week, the Cubs asked the city and state to forfeit at least 35 years of amusement tax growth to finance a $200 million renovation of 96-year-old Wrigley Field -- a slight twist on a plan Mayor Daley rejected two years ago.

Friday, mayoral press secretary Jacquelyn Heard said Daley remains "concerned about the impact this would have on Chicago taxpayers."

Two mayoral challengers echoed those concerns.

"While many Chicagoans feel affection for Wrigley Field and the Cubs, I have reservations about asking taxpayers to provide funding to a private company at a time when basic city services like our education and public safety systems are being impacted by the state of the city's finances," said Rahm Emanuel.

Gery Chico also said, "I don't think that's the proper way to fund any renovation of Wrigley Field. Those monies go for essential municipal services -- whether it's police, fire or Streets and Sanitation."

State Senate President John Cullerton is on board with the Cubs' plan and has agreed to sponsor it. But the General Assembly may not be the final word.

Since the city and county would be deprived of amusement tax growth for the next 35 years or longer, the deal may also need City Council and County Board approval.