Mariotti Vs. Reinsdorf






(from left to right : talking head, living dead)

The Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti has critical of White Sox ownership, and the club recently returned fire when Chisox mouthpiece Ken Harrleson blamed Mariotti for spreading ill will at the team's recent Fan Fest. According to the Sun-Times' Ed Sherman, the rancor between Mariotti and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is unlikely to subside now that the former has an AM chat gig on WMVP, the White Sox' broadcast rights holder.

Reinsdorf is fuming over the station's new on-air personality, while WMVP says it has lost millions of dollars because of the poor performance of Reinsdorf's White Sox and Bulls in recent years. The dispute could result in the teams going elsewhere when their contracts with WMVP expire in two years.

Things came to a head when WMVP recently hired Jay Mariotti as host for its 9-11 a.m. slot. If the Sun-Times columnist is indeed a polarizing personality, as station general manager Bob Snyder describes him, then Reinsdorf's dislike of Mariotti is far, far south of Antarctica.

Mariotti has battered Reinsdorf early and often through the years. This is a hate-hate relationship. Short of buying the newspaper, there is little Reinsdorf can do about Mariotti at the Sun-Times. The chairman of the Sox and Bulls, however, thought he had a voice in what airs on WMVP.

WMVP shells out more than $7 million per year to broadcast Sox and Bulls games. As the station's most important business partner, Reinsdorf expects to have a say in programming outside of the games. According to sources, the original 10-year contract Reinsdorf signed with the station in 1996 gave him some control over the station's on-air personalities, but that language was taken out when ABC purchased the station in 1998.

Reinsdorf declined to address the issue personally, opting to express his views through White Sox public relations director Scott Reifert.

"The thing we question is that they have invested millions of dollars in promoting these teams," Reifert said. "Now they are bringing in somebody who has made it his business to devalue those investments. It doesn't make sense from a business perspective."

Reifert acknowledges the nature of sports talk radio and says the teams don't have a problem accepting criticism from on-air personalities. But Mariotti, he contends, has demonstrated an agenda that precludes him from giving "a balanced and fair representation."

Posted: Sun - February 15, 2004 at 05:42 PM      

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