Other reported contenders include Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, food service company Aramark Corp., New York corporate lawyer Miles Prentice and developer Frank McCourt, perhaps the most intriguing candidate.

McCourt wants to solve the controversy over a new Fenway Park by building a stadium along the South Boston waterfront, which he is developing. It's unclear, though, whether he has enough cash.

After bids come in Wednesday, lower bids will be weeded out, and once the season ends, final bids solicited.

Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College in Northampton, said the Dolan, O'Donnell and Werner groups are the most likely to prevail.

"I think they all have strong financing, meaning they wouldn't have to rely heavily on debt to make their offer," he said. "I think the combination of connections within Major League Baseball and to other industries which have synergy with baseball makes those groups the most likely."

A spokeswoman for Dolan had no comment Tuesday, and O'Donnell did not return a phone message. A woman who answered the phone at Werner's office said he was not available.

King is known to be a Red Sox fan -- one of his books is titled "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" (a former Red Sox pitcher) - but there is no evidence he is preparing a bid. He did not respond to a recent request for comment.

From 1933 to 1976, the Red Sox were owned by Thomas A. Yawkey. After his death, his widow Jean tried several ownership arrangements, including the Jean R. Yawkey trust, which has controlled the team since 1994.

The winner gets a New England institution that's been a pennant contender in recent years and is setting attendance records this season.

But there are also headaches: still unresolved plans to replace Fenway Park, the oldest and smallest stadium in the Majors, and appeasing some of the world's most demanding fans, who haven't enjoyed a World Series title since 1918 and still haven't forgiven the team for selling Babe Ruth to the hated New York Yankees.

Owning any team requires a special kind of irrationality and patience, said Rick Burton, a sports marketing expert at the University of Oregon-Eugene.

"It's almost a cave-man appeal," he said. "The guy who owns a sports team owns a pretty cool cave."

Zimbalist acknowledges the ego factor, but says the Red Sox could still be a good investment, particularly for those who could leverage the franchise to boost other parts of the businesses, such as Dolan's cable interests, for example.

"What you're getting when you invest in a sports franchise more than anything is exposure and connections," he said. "Part of it is you get to invite the mayor or the governor or the president of the United States once a week to your box."

And not even a famous company like Microsoft could get four pages of coverage in the morning papers each day, he says.

Plus, Burton says, if things don't work out, all you need is a "greater fool" to unload the team onto.

"In the case of egomaniacal men who want to own sports teams, there's probably no shortage of fools," he said.