The Denver Post to sell its share of the Colorado Rockies

In other news, the Denver Post owns a share of the Colorado Rockies:

The Post holds a 7.3 percent state in the major league baseball club that is majority owned by brothers Dick and Charlie Monfort. Ed Moss, CEO of the Denver Post, said Digital First Media, which operates MediaNews Group, owner of the newspaper, is seeking to sell the minority stake in the Rockies as the Post focuses on core print and digital business.

It always seems strange to me when newspapers own chunks of businesses which constitute a significant part of the news they cover. I mean, the Rockies don’t make the news randomly, in situations where a brief disclaimer can clear up a potential conflict of interest. They’re assured to be a day-in-day-out part of the Post’s sports section. To my knowledge nothing untoward has ever come of this relationship, but one wonders what the coverage of the Rockies would have been like if their ownership group found itself in a Frank McCourt or Wilpons/Madoff situation.

As for the sale: heck, with franchise values ascending like they are right now, it might not be a bad time for minority owners to cash in. There’s a huge bubble in team values these days and while it may not burst violently like the housing market did, no investment appreciates forever. Oh, and newspapers, in this day and age, could use some cash.