Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

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danh35
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Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

Post by danh35 »

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/ ... d-in-2013/

The Ricketts quote in the article doesn't seem to be a flat out denial, so there might be a chance that this is happening.

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JoeMcKim
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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

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The Cubs can get an early start on construction, it's not like they'll be using the stadium by early October anyways.

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cards2468
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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

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JoeMcKim wrote:The Cubs can get an early start on construction, it's not like they'll be using the stadium by early October anyways.
They can start on field renovations during the season. The fans won't notice the difference.

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OmahaCard79
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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

Post by OmahaCard79 »

the cubs playing in a home stadium that's actually been home to a championship winner? I hope the luck doesn't rub off on them.

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pioneer98
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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

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The scarier thing is the Cubs renovating Wrigley, and turning it into an even bigger revenue source.

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pioneer98
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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

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I think they should let the White Sox add the Cub wins to their total that year, so that Chicago might have a contender that year.

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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

Post by Hungary Jack »

pioneer98 wrote:The scarier thing is the Cubs renovating Wrigley, and turning it into an even bigger revenue source.
Meh. The cost of renovating that beast is going to be astronomical. Unfortunately, the Ricketts stand a good chance of getting public aid to do this because Chicago and Illinois are wonderfully profligate with taxpayer dollars, but even with public support the Ricketts will incur considerable costs here.

Assuming they borrow 100s of millions to fund their share, the debt service will soak up a big chunk of whatever incremental $$ come out of this. The seating is already maxed out, so barring gutting the thing and getting really creative, I am highly doubtful they can cram more seats into that shell. They will obviously add luxury boxes, but this will come at the expense of some general seating. And selling those things is not an easy proposition in today's economy, especially in Illinois, which is lagging.

Wrigley, for all its charms, is a financial albatross. Its partial local landmark status of the restricts some critical revenue opportunities:
The Cubs say they are hamstrung by a City Council decision to give landmark designation to parts of 97-year-old Wrigley — including the marquee, ivy, scoreboard, and bleachers. Their internal calculations found the team loses out on $30 million annually because sponsors can’t display advertisements on the hand-operated center-field scoreboard or ivy-covered outfield walls.
“If you’re going to restore and maintain the facility, you’re going to have to take parts of it down and rebuild it,’’ the Cubs’ president of business operations, Crane Kenney, said in 2008. “Landmarking authorization doesn’t let you do that.”

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pioneer98
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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

Post by pioneer98 »

You can say The Cell lacks personality, but it is a pretty nice, modern stadium. It has all the modern things that Wrigley doesn’t. A big video screen, electronic scoreboards, a sufficient number of modern bathrooms, tons of concession stands, a nice team store, gobs of luxury boxes, big open concourses, comfortable seating, great standing room views, and lots and lots of parking right smack next to the stadium.

In other words, Cub fans are going to hate it.

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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

Post by Transmogrified Tiger »

If they're renovating it to the point where it would require up to 18 months of construction, wouldn't you think that adding to the seating capacity would be on the table?

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Re: Cubs to play home games at US Cellular Field in 2013?

Post by pioneer98 »

Hungary Jack wrote:
pioneer98 wrote:The scarier thing is the Cubs renovating Wrigley, and turning it into an even bigger revenue source.
Meh. The cost of renovating that beast is going to be astronomical. Unfortunately, the Ricketts stand a good chance of getting public aid to do this because Chicago and Illinois are wonderfully profligate with taxpayer dollars, but even with public support the Ricketts will incur considerable costs here.

Assuming they borrow 100s of millions to fund their share, the debt service will soak up a big chunk of whatever incremental $$ come out of this. The seating is already maxed out, so barring gutting the thing and getting really creative, I am highly doubtful they can cram more seats into that shell. They will obviously add luxury boxes, but this will come at the expense of some general seating. And selling those things is not an easy proposition in today's economy, especially in Illinois, which is lagging.

Wrigley, for all its charms, is a financial albatross. Its partial local landmark status of the restricts some critical revenue opportunities:
The Cubs say they are hamstrung by a City Council decision to give landmark designation to parts of 97-year-old Wrigley — including the marquee, ivy, scoreboard, and bleachers. Their internal calculations found the team loses out on $30 million annually because sponsors can’t display advertisements on the hand-operated center-field scoreboard or ivy-covered outfield walls.
“If you’re going to restore and maintain the facility, you’re going to have to take parts of it down and rebuild it,’’ the Cubs’ president of business operations, Crane Kenney, said in 2008. “Landmarking authorization doesn’t let you do that.”
The Illinois government is a mess, and yes, Illinois unemployment is pretty high. But don’t kid yourself. The Cubs will sell every single luxury box they put in.

Your point about how much it will cost to renovate could be valid. I have no clue what it will cost, but I am confident the city of Chicago and state of IL will cough up a lot of money for the Cubs.

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