The Major League Baseball season kicks off next week, and new owner Tom Ricketts is preparing the Chicago Cubs for what he believes will be the team’s most successful season yet.
For Ricketts, success is measured not only on the scoreboard, but also on the balance sheet — both of which the previous Cubs owner, Tribune Co., neglected.
Cubs fans are notorious for faithfully attending games, even when their team can’t deliver a coveted Win. This seems to be something the Tribune Co. took advantage of. Under the company’s guidance, Wrigley Field – the home of the Chicago Cubs and one of the most visited baseball stadiums in the country – fell into disrepair.
New owner Tom Ricketts immediately set out to revamp Wrigley Field (Image via Dan Brennan)
In hopes of increasing its chances at getting to host events like the All-Star Game this summer, Ricketts and his family made improving the stadium their top priority. According to the Sports Business Journal,
The arrival of the Ricketts family has prompted an aggressive plan to revamp the 96-year-old Wrigley, with the first phase of work featuring a new, PNC Bank-sponsored club area done this past offseason. It will culminate in 2014 with the opening of a six-story, 400,000-square-foot building adjacent to the ballpark to house team offices, premium space, a team museum, hotel, retail shops, restaurants and other areas.
While the renovations will surely please fans, it is not necessarily what the team needs most. Last month, Sports Business Journal teamed up Turnkey to ask sports industry leaders what Ricketts should do first as new owner of the Chicago Cubs. More than 50% of those surveyed said that improving the team’s on-field performance should be focus number one. Renovating Wrigley Field came in third, with only 17% of the vote.
The last time the Cubs made it to the World Series was in 1946. That same season they were plagued by William Sianis' Billy Goat Curse. (Image via chibarproject.com)
According to SBJ, the Cubs have been working intensely to improve their season stats. The team started last year with the third highest Opening Day payroll ($135 million), and those at the top “have pledged to plow profits back into the team.”
“I don’t believe in ‘Lovable Losers,” Ricketts told SBJ. “And we don’t believe in curses or billy goats. It’s just not what we’re about.”
To read more about Ricketts and his plans for the future of the Cubs, click here.
