Photo of a Chicago Cubs night game at Wrigley Field.

Image Credit: Arturo Pardavila (CC BY 2.0)

Day games have long been a tradition of both the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. In fact, the Chicago Cubs had never hosted a night game at Wrigley Field until August 8th, 1988 (8/8/88). To put that into better perspective, Wrigley Field opened in 1914. Crane Kenney, President of Business Operations for the Chicago Cubs, is now lobbying for more night games to be hosted at Wrigley Field. However, the city of Chicago limits the number of home games the Chicago Cubs can host.

Photo of a Phish concert at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.

Image Credit: Shannon McGee (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The reason? Wrigley Field is a popular venue for outdoor concerts and must obey a strict city ordinance. 9 concerts will be held at Wrigley Field this season. The team’s current agreement with the city of Chicago won’t expire for another 7 years. The Chicago Cubs are the only team in Major League Baseball that is limited by the number of night games it can host. The Chicago Cubs currently host 43 night games this season and would like to host an additional 11 night games. 54 is the average number of night games that other Major League Baseball teams host throughout their 162 game seasons.

Unfortunately, Crane Kenney and the Chicago Cubs don’t have much of a leg to stand on in regards to getting the agreement with the city amended. The Chicago Cubs originally wanted more day games so that they could host concerts at night. The organization gets to keep all of the revenue generated from concerts held at Wrigley Field. For Chicago Cubs home games, the team must split revenue with Major League Baseball. Being able to host two events at Wrigley Field on the same day helped the Cubs generate more money. Now, they’ve seemed to have changed their minds.

Not too long ago, the Chicago Cubs also wanted to shut down all of the streets immediately outside of Wrigley Field. The city was having none of that either. Wrigleyville residents have mixed opinions about the notion of more Cubs night games at Wrigley Field. Wrigleyville is a residential neighborhood but also a heavy party area with establishments such as the Cubby Bear and Murphy’s Bleachers.

 

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