CHICAGO – In his ongoing battle with the rooftop owners near Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts fired another shot across the bow in comparing them to a neighbor watching television through your window.
“So you’re sitting in your living room watching Showtime, you’re watching 'Homeland,' you pay for that channel," Ricketts said Saturday morning on Day 2 of the Cubs Convention. "Then you notice your neighbor looking through your window watching your television. Then you turn around and they’re charging the other neighbors to sit and watch your television. So then you get up to close the shades and the city makes you open them.”
The comparison got a good laugh from the crowd, but it isn’t nearly complete. Ricketts didn’t mention any profits the homeowner would receive for doing nothing like the Cubs get from the rooftop owners. It amounts to 17 percent a year. And more importantly, it was the homeowner that agreed to let his neighbors watch through the window as the Cubs allowed with rooftop-goers in signing a contract with them that lasts until 2023.
In any case, rehabbing Wrigley Field is still in a holding pattern because of this fight.
“We got a lot done with the city last year in terms of a renovation plan for Wrigley Field,” Ricketts said. “We still have some details to iron out that we’re actively working on. We all remain optimistic we’ll get through them.”