UPDATE 1-Tribune creditors favor Ricketts for Cubs -source

NEW YORK/CHICAGO Jan 22 (Reuters) - Tribune Co's creditors favor the bid of Tom Ricketts, the head of a Chicago investment bank, to buy the Chicago Cubs baseball team, a source familiar with a key creditors meeting said on Thursday.

The process is not over, however, as rival bidders may still choose to raise their bids and Major League Baseball must approve any group before the deal can close, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the sale is still ongoing.

That means a group led by Marc Utay, a managing partner with New York-based private equity firm Clarion Capital Partners LLC, is still in the game.

A bid by Chicago real estate executive Hersh Klaff had fallen behind the other two, sources said.

Tribune declined comment. (Additional reporting by Robert MacMillan, editing by Matthew Lewis)