Let’s say Tom Ricketts and family decide to complete depart from Chicago Cubs history and seek a naming-rights deal for Wrigley Field. How much are naming rights worth? The answer: $15-20 million a year, according our old college classmate David Kaplan at CSNChicago. That sounds about right: the Cubs are a national team with a […]
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Wrigley Field renovations could mean more football at Friendly Confines
Upcoming renovations to Wrigley Field will make it possible to host football once again at the historic venue, as several college teams look at placing games at the home of the Chicago Cubs. There’s a proud tradition of pro football at Wrigley Field — the Chicago Bears have played more games at Wrigley Field than […]
Ricketts: We’re taking long-term view for Wrigley Field improvements
Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts addressed the ongoing silence between the team and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, saying any disagreements won’t matter in the long run. The team hasn’t made any headway on efforts to secure public financing of improvements to Wrigley Field since the political activities of family patriarch Joe Ricketts regarding a perceived smear […]
Spat between Cubs, Mayor Rahm continues
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says there’s been no contact between his office and the Chicago Cubs for the past five months, after the two sides disagreed over the political activities of Joe Ricketts. Ricketts is the family patriarch; the trust he set up owns the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. After Emanuel went out on […]
Cubs pitch new seating behind Wrigley Field home plate
An already intimate ballpark would be even more cramped if the Chicago Cubs receive approval to move in the brick backstop at Wrigley Field and add an extra row of seats behind home plate. Not quite sure it’s a big deal either way. Right now it’s a reported 60.5 feet from home plate to the […]
Ballpark nanny: Wash your hands!
Talk about obsessive: a dentist, his wife and a crew of germaphobes visited 26 MLB ballparks to tally how well fans washed their hands in the restrooms — and hung out there to research the hard numbers. In general, washing your hands is a good idea when there’s the chance to pass around something nasty, […]
Ballpark proposal goes awry when girlfriend goes on beer run
Greg Altringer thought he had things perfectly set up at Wrigley Field by arranging for a marriage proposal on the center-field scoreboard crawl — but the plan went bad when this girlfriend missed it because she was on a beer run. Altringer, of Great Falls, Mont., arranged with the Cubs to run the scoreboard message: […]
Can Bud Selig warm relationship between Cubs, politicians?
We’re not entirely sure Bud Selig will be able to patch things up between the Ricketts and Chicago politicians, but he reportedly will take a crack at lobbying for public money toward Wrigley Field renovations — holding an All-Star Game as an enticement. The Chicago Cubs ownership, led by Tom Ricketts, wants to spend $500 […]
Twins waiting for word on 2014 All-Star Game
With the 2012 All-Star Game in the books and the 2013 game slated for Citi Field, the fate of the 2014 match — eyed by the Minnesota Twins for Target Field — will be a continuing font of discussion. We won’t see MLB Commissioner Bud Selig make a decision about 2014 for several months, though […]
Cubs: Following the Fenway Park recipe for renovations
The Chicago Cubs have been following the Fenway Park blueprint save one major difference: the Ricketts sought public money for the project. Will that doom Wrigley Field upgrades? Emulating what Boston has done isn’t a bad move for the Cubs: under the John Henry ownership group, the Red Sox have put winners on the field […]
The Week That Was: May 20
Tearing down ballparks, Chicago politics of all sorts and the future of the Oakland Athletics made the list of the most popular stories of the past week on Ballpark Digest, as measured by page views. WSJ: Tear down Wrigley Field now! Upper deck of PNC Field coming down this week Logos released for NAL’s Sonoma […]
Ricketts family political activity threatens to scuttle Cubs reno plans
The political activities of Joe Ricketts, part of the Chicago Cubs ownership and father of Tom Ricketts, could, but probably won’t, kill city efforts to help the Cubs renovate Wrigley Field. Ricketts, who made billions after founding TD Ameritrade, has emerged as a major player in conservative politics, establishing a Super PAC seeking to limit […]
Reports: Mets to host 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field
Not exactly a surprise: New York media outlets are reporting Major League Baseball will be announcing that the 2013 All-Star Game will be played at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. It’s been expected for months that the Mets would land the 2013 game. MLB awards the game alternately between the league; the […]