Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf met with Chicago lawmakers earlier this week to make a pitch for $1 billion in funding for a new stadium. However, it is what he said in a recent interview that has brought him criticism from White Sox fans, and from local media. That includes hosts Dan Bernstein and Laurence Holmes of 670 The Score in Chicago.
In a one-on-one interview with Greg Hinz of Crain’s Chicago Business, Reinsdorf stated that a new stadium is a “must” for the team to stay in Chicago. Otherwise, talks could move to a potential relocation of the team. He even said that his son, Michael Reinsdorf, would likely need to put the team up for sale after his death if there is not a new stadium for the team.
“When I’m gone, (Michael) will have an obligation to do what’s best (for the other investors),” Reinsdorf said. “That likely means putting the team up for sale. The team will be worth more out of town.”
Reinsdorf then alluded to the lack of attendance at their current stadium being the problem, saying that they can not currently generate the revenue required to pay top player salaries, referencing the contract Shohei Ohtani got from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“The economics of baseball have completely changed with top ballpayers signing contracts worth as much as $700 million,” Reinsdorf added. “At the location we’re at now, we cannot generate the revenue needed to pay those salaries.”
Bernstein and Holmes broke down Reinsdorf’s comments in the interview on their radio show Thursday, ripping him for blaming the fanbase for their financial restrictions instead of the poor product they are putting on the field.
“The audacity of using the Ohtani contract when you laughed at it,” said Holmes. “You laughed at it. This is the kind of stuff that I have been trying to warn people about. They love a good smear campaign, they love it. And now you are going to go number two on a neighborhood that has held you down for over 100 years?
“A neighborhood that is your identity. That you try and sell over and over and over again. It’s those people’s faults? It’s those generations of people’s fault that you won’t spend any money? Since the 2007 season, have you really invested in players? The lack of shame and awareness. As a South-sider, I am embarrased for him.”
Bertstein then chimed in, adding that the media has played a role in this narrative that he believes Reinsdorf is creating in his own head, particularly about his projections about how much revenue this new stadium will generate for the city.
“It also bothers me too that the media is complicit in this. This is what bothers me. The projections about the stadium, these inflated promises, these phony studies that are commissioned by lobbying firms. Bullcrap, they are always bullcrap. Don’t print this, don’t be complicit in the lying. Behind the scenes, there will be a lot of pockets greased.”
To Holmes’ point, the White Sox have largely not been competitive for the better part of the last decade, with only one winning season in the last ten years.
If Reinsdorf and the White Sox front office put a winner on the field more consistently, loyal Chicago fans would undoubtedly be coming to more games.
Instead, Reinsdorf appears to be using their attendance numbers as a threat in negotiations for a new stadium, which is a bit shameless.
