Since 1988, the city of South Bend, Indiana has been in the empire business as a member of the Midwest League. First came the White Sox, then the Diamondbacks, and now the newest empire, the Chicago Cubs. Originally named the Silver Hawks after a Studebaker car model made in South Bend, the name changed with the affiliation with the Cubs in late 2014 and will remain so through at least 2018.
The team is owned by Andrew Berlin, of Berlin Packaging, who recently purchased a minority stake in the Chicago Cubs. Shortly after buying the South Bed franchise in 2011, Berlin signed a 20 year agreement with the city and made upgrades to Four Winds Field using his own money (this sounds familiar).