Tribune owns Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs and is in the process of selling the team, and when it filed for Chapter 11 on Monday, it was sure to note that the Cubs were not in any way involved in the bankruptcy case. This is an important fact for a number of reasons, but perhaps most significantly because Tribune is likely doing all it can to keep the sale price of the team from dropping significantly.
Tropicana, however, can't say the same about the sale of the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., (pictured) once the bankrupt gaming company's largest asset until the New Jersey Casino Control Commission stripped it of control roughly a year ago. Tropicana has been fighting tooth and nail to get the casino back, to no avail. It has no control over a sale or what price the Tropicana AC will fetch.
Now under the care of conservator Gary Stein, the Tropicana AC already has an offer on the table from Baltimore-based real estate developer Cordish Co., and Stein has been cleared by the NJCCC to hire J.H. Cohn LLP in preparation for a sale that would take place in bankruptcy court (presumably through a Chapter 11 petition filed by the Tropicana AC). Tropicana's management, led by Scott Butera, has been on a crusade against the Cordish deal and any sale of the Tropicana AC in bankruptcy court because of the prospect of a transaction that undervalues the Garden State's largest casino. The company, however, appears at this point to be powerless to stop a sale.
Tribune still controls the Cubs' fate, at least until its biggest creditors weigh in. Granted, the bankruptcy court will still have to approved a sale of the team, regardless of whether or not it is included in the filing.
But Tribune, at least, can lord over the auction, even if done under Section 363 of the federal bankruptcy code, and attempt to set a floor on the bidding, along with other guidelines. Tribune had reportedly been receiving offers worth anywhere from $850 million to $950 million for the team prior to filing for bankruptcy. Will those offers fall, given the economy and Tribune's weakened stature? More than likely.
At least the Chicago-based media company can, in concert with its creditors, decide what to do at that point.
Tropicana has no similar recourse. - Ben Fidler
Ben Fidler is a senior bankruptcy reporter for The Deal.
Comments
Both Tribune Co. and Tropicana Entertainment LLC are in bankruptcy, but casino operator Tropicana likely wishes it was in the position the Chicago-based newspaper publisher and television broadcaster is. 
Every year in the United States, about 10 million households declare bankruptcy. A lot of people try to blame the payday loan industry, and cite that there are more payday loan stores than McDonalds or Starbucks. A lot of negative media coverage has been inflicted on the payday loan industry, especially since the industry has become so popular and prevalent. A good deal of media coverage likes to link the two things, claiming that getting payday loans causes bankruptcy. This isn't really good thinking, since it is relatively common knowledge that just because two things coincide, doesn't mean that they are linked. The Vanderbilt Law School's Assistant Professor Paige Marta Skiba found that applicants that were approved for payday loans were more likely to file for bankruptcy than those who didn't. Now, that isn't surprising – the people who applied for payday loans needed money! People who don't need money, don't apply. In other words, people who need money are more likely to declare bankruptcy. Anybody could have told us this. A payday loan is like any other debt – you take out the loan and you have to pay it back responsibly, and those people who borrow and spend irresponsibly are the ones who are the most likely to wind up with bankruptcy. It is unfair, and not really logical to blame payday loans for the rate of bankruptcy – instead of irresponsible financial planning.