Since 1985, the Chicago Bulls have been owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, a real estate magnate who purchased the franchise for $16 million. But Bulls fans feel as though a change in ownership is well overdue. Reinsdorf is a polarizing figure in the Windy City who has made his fair share of blunders as the chief decision-maker for one of the most well-known NBA franchises in the globe. His prominence in the city of Chicago is doubled since he also owns the Chicago White Sox franchise in the MLB.
To put it lightly, Reinsdorf is not a popular figure at all among White Sox fans. The White Sox are coming off the worst season in MLB history in terms of total losses — a drastic drop-off from where the team was not too long ago. And it's looking more and more likely that the franchise's ownership changes hands, with Reinsdorf reportedly “open to selling” the MLB team from the South Side of Chicago.
Perhaps with this development, Reinsdorf could be more willing to let go of vice grip over the Bulls franchise — a team that's currently treading water. However, there seems to be no such reprieve available right around the corner for Bulls fans. As Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times referenced (via HoopsHype), they reported last year that the Reinsdorfs see owning an NBA team as an “investment to keep in the family” due to the fast-rising values of NBA franchises.
The Reinsdorfs see the presence of a salary cap in the NBA as a means for them to reduce costs and improve the bottom line, while the league should only grow in value with the more expensive national television deals as well as the inevitable expansion of the league to 32 teams coming in the near future.
To begin the 2023-24 season, the Bulls ranked sixth in Forbes' NBA franchise valuation rankings. The Bulls franchise was worth $4.6 billion and they had the fifth-best operating income ($115 million) last year, so business is thriving, and the Reinsdorfs, from a financial perspective, have no reason to sell. This won't stop the Bulls fans' loud clamors for a change in ownership, however, especially if the team continues to straddle the line of mediocrity — the worst place to be in the NBA.
Bulls fans patiently await return to contention
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Thanks to Michael Jordan, Jerry Reinsdorf's stint as the Bulls' owner isn't too bad. They won six rings under his stewardship after all. But the way Reinsdorf handled the break-up of his title-winning teams left such a bad taste in the mouth of many fans who haven't seem to forgiven him for not giving the Last Dance Bulls another chance.
Since the 1998 NBA Finals, the Bulls have only made it to the Eastern Conference Finals just once. Now, they have been beset by some bad luck (see Derrick Rose). But the way the Bulls have been managed over the past few years have renewed the fans' fury. Now, all fans can do is wait for their team to draft someone who can drag the team out of mediocrity, the same way Jordan and Rose did.
