Huge, Huge Day

Today is a big day for the owners of the Chicago Cubs. The Tribune Corp. will have a Board of Directors meeting today at which the future of the company will likely be determined.

As the Tribune papers report:

Sources close to the situation expect Tribune Chairman and Chief Executive Dennis FitzSimons to present a plan at the meeting to unwind two complex partnerships that lay at the heart of the months-long dispute with the Chandlers, the company's largest shareholder.

If accepted, that in turn would enable the board to consider other restructuring options that had been prevented by the partnerships--most notably a tax-free spinoff of Tribune's local television stations that has been advocated by the Chandlers since June.

The Chandlers also are expected to present their strategies for boosting the company's lagging stock price. But despite heavy pressure from a number of quarters to spin off the Los Angeles Times, FitzSimons this week signaled he has no intention of doing so.

The story tomorrow will be the Chandlers and what their proposal is. The other interesting angle is the spinoffs of the TV stations. Most of the past stories on this transaction have suggested that WGN would not be a part of such a move. If that were to change, the rational for owning the Cubs dissolves.

This story, of the eventual sale of the Cubs, is far from over. Today, things just get a lot more detailed.

And public.