Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf might sit atop the Bulls’ and White Sox’ ownership groups, but in some instances, the teams operate very differently.
After a report surfaced Wednesday that said Reinsdorf was “open to selling” the Sox, the question around the United Center was, if the story was true — some in the know have strenuously dismissed it — what would it mean for the Bulls?
The answer: very little.
The Sun-Times reported last year that Jerry and son Michael Reinsdorf see owning an NBA team as an investment to keep in the family, not only because of the league’s salary cap, but because it continues to grow in value with new national-television deals and looming expansion.
One of the reasons that Jerry all but passed the Bulls’ major day-to-day operations to Michael years ago was to make sure that the team stayed in the family.
Jerry still has the final say in major decisions for both organizations, but it was Michael who allowed John Paxson to step down from his executive post and hired Arturas Karnisovas to replace him.
Jerry has been public about Major League Baseball dooming itself without a salary cap. And while baseball is his first love, those who know him have always believed that the Sox would be sold at some point. Just not now.