(Adds details, background)

By Ben Klayman and Megan Davies

CHICAGO/NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - Real estate executive Hersch Klaff and media investor Leo Hindery are among the five groups Tribune Co approved to continue bidding on the Chicago Cubs baseball team, sources briefed on the matter said.

Tribune narrowed the potential list of bidders for the Cubs and the other assets on Wednesday, eliminating any groups that had bid less than $1 billion.

The other three approved bidders are Internet billionaire Mark Cuban; Tom Ricketts, chief executive of Chicago securities and investment bank Incapital LLC and son of the founder of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD.O: Quote, Profile, Research); and MVC Capital Inc (MVC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman Michael Tokarz, two sources said. Both requested anonymity because the sale process is ongoing.

The groups also are bidding on the Cubs' home ballpark, Wrigley Field, and a 25 percent stake in a regional sports TV network.

Hindery runs private equity firm InterMedia Partners and previously ran Yes Network, the TV channel of the New York Yankees baseball team, and AT&T Broadband. A spokesman for him had no comment.

Klaff could not be reached. He is president of a privately held Chicago real estate investment company focused on acquiring U.S. office and distressed retail space.

Also approved, but teaming up with Tokarz, is a group led by New York City taxi tycoon Andrew Murstein, said a third source, who also requested anonymity.