People's court decision is in: Cubs are guilty

November 21, 2003

BY GREG COUCH SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Understand one thing about the Cubs ticket scalping scam: The decision is already in. We know the Cubs are guilty of setting up a bait-and-switch to cheat their fans. They are guilty of trying to rip off their peers, shortchange baseball on their revenue-sharing responsibilities. Guilty of setting up a dummy company, Wrigley Field Premium Tickets, as a way of skirting the state scalping laws.

On Monday afternoon, Judge Sophia Hall is expected to rule on a class-action suit that Cubs fans felt they had to file against their beloved team. Are the Cubs guilty of actually breaking scalping laws? That's still the million-dollar question, I suppose. But no matter what her ruling, we know what the Cubs are.

Guilty.

Hall knows it. The Cubs know it. You know it. I know it. Look, the Cubs have said all along that ticket brokers hurt fans. Then they told their lawyers to find a way for them to become one, too.

The Cubs tried to do two things. Hurt you and figure out a way to make it legal. Hall will rule only on the second one.

And if she finds them guilty, it might force the Cubs to stop. But it won't change who the Cubs are, what they think of their fans or how they treat them.

It's easier to see the difference between right and wrong than legal and illegal. But when Hall rules Monday, I believe it will be against the Cubs.

To be precise, it's not really the million-dollar question but the $1,047,766 question. Licensed ticket brokers are OK under state laws, but if you're selling tickets for more than face value to an event, you can't be the one holding that event. So the Cubs set up Premium and said they weren't selling over face value, Premium was. The Cubs shorted their ticket supply and pushed the best seats over to Premium. The top seat to a Yankees game was supposed to be $45, and that's even the price printed on the ticket. But the Cubs put it up at Premium for $1,500.

They told fans at the box office that a game was sold out, but ''we know where you can get tickets for a little extra down the block. Heh, heh.''

During the trial, the legal wranglings seemed to be over how Premium got its tickets in the first place. If it's a separate company from the Cubs, then it had to purchase the tickets from the Cubs.

But when Premium went into business, the Tribune Co., its owner, had set it up with only $1,000.

Yet somehow it managed to buy $1,047,766 worth of Cubs tickets.

A pretty neat trick.

The Cubs lawyers spent endless hours trying to explain that away. Team controller Jodi Reischl said under oath that the Cubs wrote $1 million under ''liabilities'' in Premium's books, and under ''assets'' in the Cubs books.

But no money ever changed hands, or even existed for that matter. It was all just done in the books.

''I haven't figured out how Premium has a million dollars to pay for the tickets ...'' Judge Hall told the Cubs' lawyers during Reischl's testimony.

The Cubs lawyers said they were trying to explain that, that it was recorded as ...

''Well, I appreciate that,'' Hall said. ''But I haven't seen Premium receiving a million dollars to pay for Cubs tickets.''

Premium didn't have the money. It got $1 million worth of tickets and the Cubs got a $1 million listing in their books.

Basically, they pretended that a sale was made.

''They pay each other through the intercompany account,'' Reischl said. ''It's a normal practice within the Tribune. When the entry is recorded through the intercompany account, it is considered cash being received by the other party.''

But was any cash actually received? No.

The Cubs' attorney, Jim Klenk, was fond of saying that that's how business is done in America today. A few weeks ago, I talked with Studs Terkel, Chicago author, historian and icon, and he mentioned that for years, Cubs box office flunkies used to go out on the street and scalp a few extra tickets.

But Studs didn't realize that the Cubs have now set up their own scalping shop in a separate building.

''You mean they are doing this as an organization?'' he said. ''You mean, this is part of their official business?''

Yes.

''Oh my god. That's Enron for Chrissakes. Oh my god. This is shameless.''

It's business in America.

And the Cubs are America's team. At some point, this had to have crossed Cubs president Andy MacPhail's desk. So his stamp is on this. The Cubs say this isn't a big deal, but someone had to authorize spending $500,000 in legal fees just to have a chance at not paying roughly $800,000 in penalties.

That's a pretty bad gamble. Why not just close the doors and settle?

Because they have big plans. The idea, according to Cubs VP Mark McGuire, was to join up with Chicago's other teams. Cubs, Bears, Bulls and others could all get together and scalp as one.

''No, I can tell you they haven't talked to us about that,'' Bears president Ted Phillips said. ''No.''

The Cubs have said, too, that if they win this case, it will change the way ticketing is done in this country. That sends shivers because other team CEOs have complained about this publicly, but only about the way the Cubs are figuring their revenue sharing. Major League baseball has written the Cubs about the same thing.

Realize they're not screaming about the actual sleaze, but only that they're not getting a cut of the Cubs' action.

No matter what the judge's ruling, we now have to question the Cubs' honesty forever. We didn't grow up cheering Cubs' ownership, but rather Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins. But it's not always easy to separate.

Hundreds of fans have e-mailed me about their struggle with that. One guy made bumper stickers saying ''Save Wrigley Field.'' Another passed out fliers at games expressing his anger. Another made up t-shirts with the Cubs' logo, replacing ''Cubs'' with ''Conned.'' And above that, ''Love the Team. Hate the Company.''

And in the final week of the season, the Cubs had a rainout and no games left to serve ticket holders as a makeup date. But fans went nuts, chanting and cursing because they don't trust the management anymore.

So if the Cubs are waiting for Monday's decision in hopes of validation, they shouldn't bother.

Guilty.

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