CHICAGO | Wrigley Field Redevelopment News

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by aaron38

I was born in Iowa, grew up in the Quad Cities. I grew up a Cubs fan because we got WGN and WGN played Cubs games. That's why I grew up watching Sandberg, Dawson and Maddox and not (I won't even pretend I can name any Sox 80's players besides Ozzie Guillen). I think I was 12 before I even knew the White Sox existed because the Cubs and Sox never played each other back then, I only watched Cubs games and didn't care about the AL.

I'm not the only Iowa white boy who was only exposed to the Cubs and not the White Sox. That's due to the reach of WGN more than anything else.

Same story, except for the Iowa part, but come on man... Carlton Fisk? Though that's probably just because I collected baseball cards.

[Kumdogmillionaire]

Originally Posted by Freefall

Here's a map of baseball loyalties, broken down by zip code and county.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...-baseball.html

And the proof is in the pudding, thanks

[ardecila]

^ yeah, because all those Cub fans in Iowa and Indiana are clearly all rich fratty white dudes.

Here’s the thing: Wrigley crowds are not reflective of the fan base. It is a small ballpark (average sized for MLB but w/e) in a big city and tickets are in high demand, not just for average-joe fans but for wealthy corporations and organizations too.

Also access to Wrigley is difficult for families and pretty much everyone else too, so you’re gonna get a higher percentage of childless North Side residents (who have the easiest time getting to the ballpark) in the crowd than most other clubs would draw.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by ardecila

^ yeah, because all those Cub fans in Iowa and Indiana are clearly all rich fratty white dudes.

Here’s the thing: Wrigley crowds are not reflective of the fan base. It is a small ballpark (average sized for MLB but w/e) in a big city and tickets are in high demand, not just for average-joe fans but for wealthy corporations and organizations too.

Also access to Wrigley is difficult for families and pretty much everyone else too, so you’re gonna get a higher percentage of childless North Side residents (who have the easiest time getting to the ballpark) in the crowd than most other clubs would draw.

Agree with this

[aaron38]

I don't know if I agree with the access part. Last time we went to Wrigley as a family, we parked on Belmont and walked. Time before that, parked on Irving Park and walked. Both walks were for me more pleasant (and felt shorter), than parking way out in the Great America lots.
I don't know what drives that psychologically, but people will walk across a massive parking lot and not complain, but if they have to walk from Belmont to Addison, that's too far.
Go look at a map. From the back of the Great America lot (and I've parked there) to the gate, is basically the same distance as Belmont to Addison, half a mile.

[glowrock]

To me, it's really quite simple. The Cubs fan base is certainly more diverse, both economically and ethnically, than the fans that regularly attend the games at Wrigley Field, for many of the reasons already stated above. Most importantly, tickets are expensive because of high demand. Let's face it, going to the ballpark, especially for a family, is an expensive proposition! I don't think it's so much the location of/access to Wrigley Field itself, but rather the simple cost of tickets.

Probably doesn't help that Wrigleyville has a pretty well-known history for being a bit "rough around the edges" due to having so many large bars in a small area, not exactly making it the ideal location for lots of kids to be around much before or after the games, though of course that is definitely changing with the yuppification of the Clark/Addison/Sheffield mass construction zone.

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Steely Dan]

i'd love to take my wife and kids to a game at wrigley, but i have more pressing financial needs (mortgage, daycare, car payment, insurance, utilities, groceries, etc.) for the $400 that it would cost.

and it's a damn shame because my love for cubs baseball was cultivated by my mother who used to take me and my sister to dozens of those weekday afternoon day games back in the '80s when you could get upper deck nosebleed day of game tickets for 5 bucks!

5. measly. freaking. bucks.

so for $15 admission, and an additional $15 for a hot dog and peanuts and a pepsi for each of us, my mom and sister and me got to see cubs baseball at wrigley on a very regular basis (usually 3 or 4 games a summer) for a grand total of 30 bucks a pop.

sadly, my kids will not have that same experience. they'll be lucky to get into wrigely once or twice as a true splurge.

[maru2501]

you can sometimes still get prices close to that low if you go during the week and wait until right before the game. You are close enough

[woodrow]

Originally Posted by glowrock

.......

Probably doesn't help that Wrigleyville has a pretty well-known history for being a bit "rough around the edges" due to having so many large bars in a small area, not exactly making it the ideal location for lots of kids to be around much before or after the games, though of course that is definitely changing with the yuppification of the Clark/Addison/Sheffield mass construction zone.

Aaron (Glowrock)

That is changing somewhat. I cannot get over the number of families in the area now. The Ricketts are really working on expanding the type of offerings - not just sports bars. Of course, they are not expanding the price point. Expensive, and probably getting more so.

Plus on non-game days, there is yoga, farmer's markets, movies, little league events, etc.. On weekend mornings the Park at Wrigley is super lively. Like, people are using it as a meeting place, hang out spot, plus the steady stream of tourists. Kind of mind boggling.

[Freefall]

You can still get Cubs tickets for $6. I do it all the time. Not on weekends though.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Freefall

You can still get Cubs tickets for $6. I do it all the time.

please enlighten me.

at only $24 bucks admission, i'd definitely take my kids to wrigley often.

[Freefall]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

please enlighten me.

at only $24 bucks admission, i'd definitely take my kids to wrigley often.

Go on Stubhub the day of the game for a weekday game. Best time to get tickets is 1 to 6 hours before the game. People start panic selling when the game gets closer and they haven't offloaded their tickets yet.

There's already weekday tickets on Stubhub for $14. Even after fees that's less than $20. Come game day, those tickets will be less than half what they are now. And if you want to save on food/drinks, just purchase them somewhere and bring them into the park (just don't open drinks before you get into the stadium).

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ Bingo, it's weekday games that you can easily get in on, especially in spring or fall when it's still chilly out.

Maybe I'm a rich white guy because I get tickets thrown at me all the time by people who are like "my bosses' title company's owner's brother has season tickets and needs to get rid of them today". But its always for like a 10:43 AM game on a Monday morning or some weird ass time that most people can't get away to watch a ballgame for a couple of hours.

If you have a day off work in the summer, just check and see if you can get a deal. It's not like your kids are going to be in school or have their own busy agenda (though maybe they do since they are in the suburbs and need to be in like 12 leagues year round).

[maru2501]

I am a mile west of the ballpark and do this all the time. Especially night games I check and see if it's cheap enough for my wife and I to walk over.

and some of those games especially if it is not ideal weather, the upper deck is nowhere near full, so you can walk and get pretty good seats in the upper level behind home plate

same thing for the white sox by the way, which is just a quick red line ride, and you can walk down and basically sit in the ondeck circle for $10

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

i'd love to take my wife and kids to a game at wrigley, but i have more pressing financial needs (mortgage, daycare, car payment, insurance, utilities, groceries, etc.) for the $400 that it would cost.

It’s an inalienable truth that sports and entertainment cost more these days than they used to and that attending a game at Wrigley with the whole family is like planning a vacation.

People will tell you that tickets are dirt cheap on stub hub and that’s true at moments....for like a few minutes or so. And sure that’s worked nicely for me for World Series tickets and platinum glass tickets to the hawks, but that was those few sporadic situations I was happy to be single and that is downright impossible to engineer when you have a family. Before I became a homeowner and choosing my lending offer, I was sure to make sure my Blackhawks and Cubs budget would be well funded.

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by Hayward

People will tell you that tickets are dirt cheap on stub hub and that’s true at moments....for like a few minutes or so. And sure that’s worked nicely for me for World Series tickets and platinum glass tickets to the hawks, but that was those few sporadic situations I was happy to be single and that is downright impossible to engineer when you have a family. Before I became a homeowner and choosing my lending offer, I was sure to make sure my Blackhawks and Cubs budget would be well funded.

There is a lot of truth to this. However, you could certainly find cheap tickets for the 5/2 or 5/9 home games, they are both on Wednesday afternoons early in the season. The Thursday, June 7th game against the Phillies will also be reasonably priced. Obviously, if you have kids in school it adds another layer of difficulty (or you all play hookie together).

[Vlajos]

^ thanks, I couldn't remember what was being built there. I ride by every day on the El.

[KWillChicago]

For cubs tix try craigslist day of the game. Sounds questionable I know, especially with authentication but you can tell fakes from reals if you do some research. Truth is season tix holders would rather make some money if they cant get full price, instead of the tickets going to waste. But most likely you'll have to meet the sellers in person for the transaction. So if your not into that, maybe use another choice.

I do it with concert tickets all the time. Especially big ones like lolla.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Photo by @wrigleyaerials

[the urban politician]

^ WOW. What a shot!

Really shows the transformation.

I would love to see this vantage point 3 years ago compared to today