And it’s not even the dog days of August, when pennant races heat up.

Talks to sell the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team have reopened with a rival bidding group even as negotiations continue with the Ricketts family, tapped in January as the winning bidder with a $900 million offer.

Cubs owner Tribune Co, which filed for bankruptcy in December due to its heavy debt load and the weak publishing sector, is now also negotiating with private equity investors Marc Utay and Leo Hindery, three sources familiar with the situation said.

The National League team, popular for its “lovable losers” image and national following, as well as its iconic home park Wrigley Field and a stake in a local sports TV network, have been on the block since April 2007, when Tribune Co agreed to an buyout led by real estate magnate Sam Zell.

Some of the sources, as well as analysts, believe by adding Utay and Hindery’s group to the mix, Tribune Co is seeking to pressure the Ricketts family to settle at terms desired by the media company. Sources had previously said the Ricketts family wanted to mark down the value of the Cubs’ broadcast contracts.

But the Cubs are used to pressure. After all, their fans have been waiting for a World Series title for more than a century and this year has not gone according to plan as the team has struggled to a losing record.

(Reuters photo)

John Canning Jr, who came up short last year in his bid for the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team, made a shocking admission on Tuesday.

The chairman of Chicago private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, speaking about his industry at a breakfast meeting, said he roots for the cross-town rival White Sox.

"The only thing that I was able to come out of the closet on was I'm actually a White Sox fan. God, what a relief not to buy the Cubs," he said as the audience of several hundred local executives laughed.

In a town where Cubs and White Sox fans mock each other as not true baseball fans, such a statement could be viewed as blasphemy. 

Canning, a minority owner in the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, called the bidding process for the Cubs "strange", acknowledging his group had submitted the lowest offer in the early round of bidding before it was eliminated. He added that the Cubs owner, Tribune Co, was likely relieved to eliminate Canning's group because it had been perceived as the favorite due to his long friendship with Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

A $900 million offer made by a group led by Tom Ricketts, the head of Chicago investment bank Incapital LLC and son of the founder of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp, was selected the winner in January and the deal is expected to close in the next couple months. Canning said the Ricketts family would be great owners, adding baseball officials preferred the stability of family ownership.

(Reuters photo)