http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=4832665
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Ricketts outlines Wrigley upgrades
<HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1>By Melissa Isaacson
ESPNChicago.com
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CHICAGO -- Among the much needed revisions to Wrigley Field, Tom Ricketts promised Saturday at the Cubs Convention one thing that would not change.
<!-- INLINE MODULE -->ESPNChicago.com baseball blog
The latest news from baseball beat reporter Bruce Levine. Blog
<!-- END INLINE MODULE -->"What everyone should know is that the way you see the game from your seat is the way you're going to see the game from your seat," said the new Cubs chairman during a Q&A session at the Hilton Chicago. "What we're really talking about is trying to find ways to get better food options, better restroom facilities, get more fan-friendly things where you can take your kids to play around a little bit, just more space for people.
"It's also about preservation too. It's [almost] 100 years old. There's work that needs to be done."
The "good news," said Ricketts, is that the park structurally is in "OK shape."
"It's got legs," Ricketts said, "and it can still keep going for quite a period of time. There are parts that are going to have to be replaced sequentially over time. It can all be done in the offseason. It's going to be expensive, but I think we have 50 more years there, so we're pretty confident."
Ricketts was sympathetic but unapologetic about raising ticket prices by an average of 10 percent, saying competing for talent with teams like the Yankees and Red Sox in free agency measn the Cubs are, "going to have to be financially flexible."
The Ricketts family plans to look into the issue of brokers making it difficult to buy single-game tickets.
"We're sensitive to that," Ricketts said. "We are looking at a couple of different ways to shake up the process. We've done surveys and sometimes 25 percent of the people have bought their tickets, got them through a ticket broker. We'd like to do everything we can to make sure people get access to those tickets on a direct basis. A lot of people paid a lot more for their tickets than we ever saw, so that doesn't help us pay contracts or fix up the stadium."
Ricketts cited the importance of the Cubs improving their spring training facilities.
"Our goal is to have the best facilities in baseball," he said. "Spring training is about winning baseball games during the season and I think what has happened the last few years is other teams have leap-frogged us, so they have a better platform to get their veterans ready, to evaluate their young talent and much better facilities to rehab players who are injured.
"That said, we have a 57-year relationship with Mesa that has gone extremely well and we're respectful of that."
Todd Ricketts drew applause by saying the team was "lobbying pretty hard" for the 2014 All-Star Game to be played at Wrigley, the year of its 100th anniversary. The 2014 All-Star Game is scheduled to be played in an American League city.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Ricketts outlines Wrigley upgrades
<HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1>By Melissa Isaacson
ESPNChicago.com
<!-- template inline -->
CHICAGO -- Among the much needed revisions to Wrigley Field, Tom Ricketts promised Saturday at the Cubs Convention one thing that would not change.
<!-- INLINE MODULE -->ESPNChicago.com baseball blog
The latest news from baseball beat reporter Bruce Levine. Blog
<!-- END INLINE MODULE -->"What everyone should know is that the way you see the game from your seat is the way you're going to see the game from your seat," said the new Cubs chairman during a Q&A session at the Hilton Chicago. "What we're really talking about is trying to find ways to get better food options, better restroom facilities, get more fan-friendly things where you can take your kids to play around a little bit, just more space for people.
"It's also about preservation too. It's [almost] 100 years old. There's work that needs to be done."
The "good news," said Ricketts, is that the park structurally is in "OK shape."
"It's got legs," Ricketts said, "and it can still keep going for quite a period of time. There are parts that are going to have to be replaced sequentially over time. It can all be done in the offseason. It's going to be expensive, but I think we have 50 more years there, so we're pretty confident."
Ricketts was sympathetic but unapologetic about raising ticket prices by an average of 10 percent, saying competing for talent with teams like the Yankees and Red Sox in free agency measn the Cubs are, "going to have to be financially flexible."
The Ricketts family plans to look into the issue of brokers making it difficult to buy single-game tickets.
"We're sensitive to that," Ricketts said. "We are looking at a couple of different ways to shake up the process. We've done surveys and sometimes 25 percent of the people have bought their tickets, got them through a ticket broker. We'd like to do everything we can to make sure people get access to those tickets on a direct basis. A lot of people paid a lot more for their tickets than we ever saw, so that doesn't help us pay contracts or fix up the stadium."
Ricketts cited the importance of the Cubs improving their spring training facilities.
"Our goal is to have the best facilities in baseball," he said. "Spring training is about winning baseball games during the season and I think what has happened the last few years is other teams have leap-frogged us, so they have a better platform to get their veterans ready, to evaluate their young talent and much better facilities to rehab players who are injured.
"That said, we have a 57-year relationship with Mesa that has gone extremely well and we're respectful of that."
Todd Ricketts drew applause by saying the team was "lobbying pretty hard" for the 2014 All-Star Game to be played at Wrigley, the year of its 100th anniversary. The 2014 All-Star Game is scheduled to be played in an American League city.