Approved to Operate for 2020 Season, Wrigley Rooftop Seats Selling for $350 (Update: Prices Have Gone Up)
The rooftop clubs overlooking Wrigley Field know better than to let a crisis go to waste, especially when demand for their product far outstrips supply. Approved by the city to operate at 25% capacity for the Cubs’ 30 home games this season, you can bet they’ll be hot tickets for baseball-starved fans and COVID truthers willing to endure price gouging just to own the libs.
As Twitter user Jeff Everson — whose primary claim to fame is that he’s never logged off — noted Wednesday, tickets were being advertised at a starting price of $250. Want a weekend game? That’ll cost you another Benjamin.
Just got a sales e-mall for rooftop tickets: for the low, low price of $250 (or $350 for a weekend game) you can kind of see live Cubs baseball from 600 feet away from home plate
— Armchair Manager Jeff Everson (@EVR551) July 8, 2020
The specific location in this case is Wrigley View Rooftop, which indeed has tickets listed at either $250 or $350 for 18 games through the end of August. According to the site, they have already sold out the season opener against the Brewers and the August 21 game against the White Sox. In case you’re not familiar, this is the building way out beyond left field in what would be foul territory extended.
Wrigley Rooftops, the collection of 11 buildings owned and operated by a local family of bootstrappers that has reportedly struggled with big losses due to the pandemic, does not have tickets available at this point. That will obviously change before long, as evidenced by the “Check back soon for 2020 tickets” message that greets website visitors.
I’d imagine the owners are waiting on additional information regarding the availability of their premier property’s seats before promoting voyeurism from the neighbors. After all, it’d be quite the mess if they started selling expensive tickets to the rooftops to people who could have grabbed a spot inside Wrigley for much less. Or maybe just a little less. Even if the ballpark is empty, they can easily undercut at least one external competitor.
As wild as it is to pay up to $350 for a rooftop seat, I can understand why some folks are apparently more than willing to do so. I mean, if that’s the only way you’re able to experience live Cubs baseball, so be it. And truth be told, I actually think the rooftops are pretty fun. Having food and drinks included is probably the biggest benefit, plus they’ve got plenty of spots to watch the Cubs and other games on TV.
Provided you’re there for more of a social gathering than to truly pay attention to the game, you’re unlikely to be disappointed. That said, I still lament the fact that I was never able to sit shirtless in a lawn chair on a steaming hot tar-paper roof with an Igloo cooler chock full of Old Style.
Update: Perhaps because of the publicity they’ve received, Wrigley View has increased prices to $350 and $400 depending on the matchup.
