Less than a month before the home opener, the Chicago Cubs are preparing to block the view of the playing field from the only rooftop business bordering Wrigley Field that has not agreed to share its revenues with the team.
Cubs President Andy MacPhail declined to say Saturday how the Cubs would block the views from Skybox on Waveland, a 125-seat rooftop business down the Wrigley Field third-base line, 460 feet from home plate.
“We’ll do something that is not a distraction to our fans or an impediment to our other rooftop partners,” MacPhail said. “It will be more sophisticated than windscreens.”
Twelve of 13 rooftop businesses have settled with the Cubs after fighting for years over the right of businesses outside the ballpark to sell views of Cubs games.
But Skybox on Waveland intends to “fight all the way” and “never pay anything” to the Cubs, the company’s attorney, Chris Gair, said Saturday.
Gair said he intends to go to trial as the last defendant in the Cubs’ nearly 2-year-old lawsuit over rooftop sales of ballgame views. The Cubs’ suit charged that the business owners stole its product and infringed on its copyright.
A court hearing is scheduled for April 8, four days before the Cubs’ home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Chicago Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), who has refereed disputes between the Cubs and the Wrigleyville neighborhood, said the Cubs’ announcement amounted to “hardball tactics” that detracted from months of successful negotiation.
“The Cubs need to continue to build goodwill in the community,” Tunney said. “I don’t think this helps.”
Tunney said the Cubs had not approached him with the idea of blocking the Skybox on Waveland view. He said he did not know if the Cubs’ plan would require city permits, adding that he hopes the team and the business would reach an agreement to avoid an Opening Day spectacle.
MacPhail charged Skybox on Waveland with “looking to get a free ride” while other rooftop firms recently agreed to a revenue-sharing plan that would give the Cubs an estimated $1.2 million to $1.7 million a year in exchange for granting legal access to the skybox businesses. Skybox on Waveland did not accept the compromise.
Cubs officials estimated that the rooftop owners grossed $8 million to $10 million a year when the team was spending nearly $80 million in player salaries and millions more to operate and maintain Wrigley and finance baseball operations.
The Cubs are owned by Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune.
George Loukas, head of the Wrigleyville Rooftop Owners Association and owner of the Cubby Bear bar, said other rooftop owners won’t feel sorry for Skybox on Waveland if its stadium view is blocked.
“Their future is in their hands,” Loukas said. “You’ve got 13 rooftops and 12 have settled. What’s wrong with this picture?”
