Cubs Win Legal Battle Over Wrigley Field Rooftop Viewing Business

Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs have won a legal dispute against a business owner who operated a rooftop viewing business outside their home stadium.

Sports media outlet ESPN reported on the 10th (KST) that the Cubs won the lawsuit filed against 64-year-old Aiden Dunican, who had been running a rooftop viewing business beyond the outfield wall of Wrigley Field for about 30 years.

A U.S. federal court ordered Dunican on September 30 to halt ticket sales for the rooftop viewing area.

Dunican purchased a building across the street from Wrigley Field's outfield wall for $400,000 in the 1990s, redeveloped it into a four-story building, and started the rooftop viewing business.

He installed sloped viewing seats on the rooftop so people could watch baseball games, charging admission fees ranging from $100 to $300 per person in exchange for providing alcohol and food.

The seating capacity was about 200 people, with annual revenue reaching approximately $1 million, equivalent to about 1.34 billion won.


Originally, Dunican's business was operated legally with the permission of the Cubs.

Dunican signed a contract with the Cubs in 2004 and paid about 17% of his revenue to the club until 2023.

However, conflict arose after the contract expired.

Dunican claimed that while he offered to extend the contract under the condition of paying 20% of his revenue, the Cubs demanded 30% of regular-season revenue and 40% of postseason revenue.

The Cubs filed a lawsuit in 2024, arguing that permission is required to generate profit utilizing the club's games.

The team also partially blocked the view of the field from Dunican's rooftop by installing translucent screens and large advertisements in the outfield stands.

Dunican is considering an appeal while also leaving open the possibility of selling the building.

When asked if he was willing to sell the building to the Cubs, he stated, "If it is a fair offer, I will consider it," adding, "We invested more than $2 million just in the building remodeling in 2010."

Wrigley Field is an old ballpark located in a residential neighborhood of downtown Chicago in 1914.

Because the inside of the stadium can be overlooked from the rooftops of buildings across the street from the outfield, many building owners have run businesses installing separate seats on rooftops and charging admission fees.

In response, the Cubs signed a 20-year contract with building owners in 2004 to receive about 17% of revenue, permitting the operation of "rooftop bleachers."

Since then, the Cubs have acquired 11 buildings around Wrigley Field and the rooftop viewing businesses altogether, and newly signed revenue-sharing contracts with some owners.

Dunican is the last business owner holding out, arguing that the new contract terms proposed by the Cubs are unfair.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.