Billionaire Hearst Discloses League Details
November 7th, 1982 - ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eccentric billionaire, Rex Hearst, disclosed publicly his plan to organize his own "renegade" major league last night, in Denver, Colorado. Hearst mentioned the eight cities to form the league, and fielded questions from reporters on regards to potential problems with the MLB. "I could care less about the MLB. They obviously could care less about their fans. They keep limiting the competition to just a handful of teams each year. I'm tired of seeing the Yankees win the World Series every year. I'll bring the best players from all over the world to this league. I'll steal the best free agents from MLB, ***, and Mars if I want to!" Hearst said.
The eight tentative cities to host CBL franchises will be Houston, Denver, San Antonio, Phoenix, Chicago, Boston, Long Island, and Miami. Popular belief is that Hearst is going to have a very difficult time convincing current fan bases in Houston, Chicago, and Boston to convert to a new home team. None of the eight cities have formally agreed to host a ball club, but Heart's main selling point is offering a lucrative tax-incentive package to be offered to each city for hosting a team. Cities are further encouraged by the fact that they own the playing facility and will have to rent it out to Hearst at their pleasure. This puts Hearst at a disadvantage, for each city can technically charge whatever they like. But never to have his spirit broken, Hearst replied back with, "I have all the money in the world. I'll buy the city, bulldoze it, and then build my stadium." It was widely believed that Hearst was highly under the influence of alcohol and psychoactive drugs.