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Judge Blocks Wrigley Rooftop From Selling Cubs Game Tickets
A federal court bars the last independent rooftop operator from profiting off views of Chicago Cubs games without a team deal.
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Court decision
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Wrigley View Rooftop, a business across the street from Wrigley Field, may not sell tickets for fans to watch Chicago Cubs games. The Cubs sued the rooftop operator in 2024, contending it was making money from the team’s property without any agreement. Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found that the defendants earned revenue from ticket sales to view Cubs games while contributing nothing financially to the contests and without any right to sell the team’s product. She described that approach as unfairly capitalizing on another’s work and costs in a way that runs counter to justice, equity, and good conscience. The Cubs said they were pleased with the outcome and that it safeguards their intellectual property while confirming businesses cannot commercially profit from Cubs games or use team intellectual property without authorization. A lawyer for owner Aidan Dunican declined to comment.
Rooftop history at Wrigley
Wrigley Field sits in a residential neighborhood on Chicago’s north side, where fans have long watched games from building tops beyond the outfield walls. Wrigley View Rooftop has operated for around 30 years and was the final rooftop without either an agreement with the Cubs or ownership by the Ricketts family, which owns the club and the ballpark. The Ricketts family purchased the team in 2009 and has bought and now runs 11 rooftop buildings beyond the left- and right-field bleachers, selling tickets to home games. Ties between the club and rooftop operators have often been tense, with repeated lawsuits over ticket sales rights and the team’s control of stadium signage and related profits. The rooftop sits beyond the left-field foul pole and had maintained that the Cubs could block its view into the park but could not control how the property itself was operated.
Expired deal and next steps
From 2004 to 2024 the rooftop shared revenue with the Cubs, paying the team 17 percent of its revenues. After that deal ended and no replacement was reached, the Cubs filed suit. That same year the club installed translucent screens behind the third-base grandstand that partially blocked the rooftop view without wiping it out entirely. Wrigley View Rooftop can appeal the ruling, negotiate a fresh revenue-sharing arrangement with the Cubs, or stop selling tickets for Cubs games.
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