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+--- Thread: Open Letter from Tom Ricketts (/thread-5301.html)
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Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - Butcher - 05-04-2010
Dear Friends,
You've probably been hearing about the Toyota sign we've proposed for the back of the left field bleachers at Wrigley Field. As fans and neighbors, we want you to know why this is important to the team and how it can help preserve the Friendly Confines.
As you know, Major League ballparks have historically relied on in-park signage to generate revenue. Legendary Fenway Park, older than Wrigley Field, has added significant signage throughout its outfield - and two World Series championships - in the last six years. Most other MLB teams also receive substantial public subsidies; we do not. In our case, we have asked for one sign in the outfield.
When we became owners, my family and I anticipated the need to spend tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars over the years ahead to preserve Wrigley Field. This past off-season, before we saw a single game as owners, we invested $10 million to shore up the infrastructure of the aging ballpark, renovate and expand its bathrooms, preserve our beloved scoreboard and replace some of the less attractive features of the park, like the concrete panels on the Addison street façade. As long-time Cubs fans, we know Wrigley Field is a special place and our hope is for future generations to share the wonderful experience of visiting the Friendly Confines.
In addition to the dollars invested in the park, we have maintained one of the highest payrolls in baseball and increased our budget for scouting and development - the key to future success. Winning a championship requires significant financial resources and we are currently reinvesting all profits - from the Toyota sign and otherwise - to make this happen.
Beyond the economics, there is an important principle at stake here. Wrigley Field has thrived for years as a privately-owned facility, albeit one where public interest is keen. We believe the park continues to be well-served by this principle which has guided its operation for nearly a century.
We have also been very respectful of the City's landmark designation and the process we have undertaken to win approval has been thorough. We've worked with the City and made adjustments, including modifying the location and design of the sign at the request of preservationists and City zoning officials. We've also worked with the rooftop businesses and in fact chose the proposed location because it least impacts those rooftop partners with whom we have long-term agreements. The landmark designation was never intended to put Wrigley Field in a time capsule. It's intended to allow flexibility and growth, within reason, to help the ballpark stay alive for the decades to come.
Finally, much of the opposition is rooted in commercial interests of one particular building and is designed to protect advertising currently on a rooftop across the street from Wrigley Field. Protecting the interests of one rooftop advertisement does not help preserve Wrigley Field or put together a championship team.
We would welcome your help and support for this sign. If you would like to lend your voice in support, please e-mail us at cubsfanfeedback@cubs.com.
I hope this information is helpful. Efforts like this are important as we continue to invest in our team and our 96-year-old ballpark. Improvements to Wrigley Field and modest changes throughout the years have kept the Friendly Confines alive while other stadiums have come and gone. Working together as we have allows us to remain viable and continue to flourish.
Thank you again for your help. And Go Cubs!
Sincerely,
Tom Ricketts
Chairman
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - Butcher - 05-04-2010
I've already sent an email voicing my support.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - kbwsb - 05-04-2010
Whoever writes his letters for him is good.
Anyway, I'm a Rickett's fan, so far. He makes a point about explaining things? Wow. The Trib was like the KGB.
He makes a point to mention how important scouting and development are? Wow. He gets it.
As long as he's this up front about things, let him put up his money-making sign. It'll be fun to see an Aramis blast hit the thing.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - kbwsb - 05-04-2010
Let's win one in this lifetime.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - rok - 05-04-2010
Thanks for sharing, Butch. I thought I had read that this was resolved, but I guess not.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-04...c-ballpark-sign
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->"Wrigley Field is not a museum," he said. "We have to look for revenue opportunities."
Ricketts singled out one person for stirring up much of the opposition to the sign: Tom Gramatis, who owns four buildings overlooking the stadium. He has converted three into rooftop clubs that sell tickets to games and host groups. The fourth features an ad for an Indiana casino on its roof. The Toyota sign would partially obstruct the view of the ad from inside the stadium.
Gramatis belongs to a small group called the Wrigley Rooftop Association that opposes the sign, saying it would violate the ballpark's landmark features. The group issued a satirical video last week, which shows signs popping up all over Wrigley Field's ivy-covered walls and around its center-field scoreboard.
Ricketts said Gramatis wants to stop the sign because he would like to add rooftop seats to the fourth apartment building.
"If the way this works in the city, that one guy can stop a sign, then let's find out now," Ricketts said, adding that if the team does not gain city clearance, it would affect family investment decisions in the neighborhood.
"I don't see how it couldn't," he said. "It's going to color everything."
Gramatis did not return requests for comment. Rob Nash, a spokesman for the rooftop association, said the group is concerned that the Toyota sign may be the first of many. More signs in the outfield would threaten the livelihood of all rooftop owners.
But Ricketts said the family has no intentions of installing other signs along the outfield. The rooftop owners and the Cubs have a revenue-sharing agreement until 2023, which is an incentive to the team to not destroy the views from those perches.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - Rappster - 05-04-2010
Signage was often considered part of a ballpark's nostalgia...I know these are different times, but I'm pretty sure we can all deal with a little bit of marketing to pay the light bill.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - kbwsb - 05-04-2010
I would like to punch this Gramatis chode.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - Butcher - 05-04-2010
Fuck the rooftop owners, by the way.
I liked the rooftops a whole lot more when the people who lived in those buildings and their friends just carried lawn chairs up to the roof. Now it's a million-dollar industry that just leeches off someone else's product.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - kbwsb - 05-04-2010
In a way, I always feel for the little guy. I'm glad that this fellow can make a good living by doing the rooftop thing.
But don't tread on my Cubs!
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - Destined - 05-04-2010
For all the fuss that is going on to block the Horseshoe Casino sign, they're getting a ton of free publicity.
By the way, KB is right. Ricketts gets it.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - rok - 05-04-2010
The thing is these rooftop owners are not what I'd consider small business people in the traditional sense. They bank big time off of the fruits of others, and are opportunists, sucking off the teet that is Wrigley. Fuck them and screw this flunky Alderman too.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - Rappster - 05-04-2010
<!--quoteo(post=94761:date=May 4 2010, 04:56 PM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ May 4 2010, 04:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Fuck the rooftop owners, by the way.
I liked the rooftops a whole lot more when the people who lived in those buildings and their friends just carried lawn chairs up to the roof. Now it's a million-dollar industry that just leeches off someone else's product.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm with you on this...I have no issue with the small businessman, and understand that they add to some of Wrigley's flavor. Still, if they're standing in the way of the team's actionable profits, then they need to stand clear of the door...
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - jstraw - 05-04-2010
I share the sentiments of everyone preceding me in this thread.
I will email my support.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - veryzer - 05-05-2010
I was always loathe to support the tribune company in anything, but the roof top owners were and still are an exception. As Butchie said, they're getting rich off someone else's product and i'm not sure they even care about the Cubs. Fuck them. I say put a Jumbo-tron up and block all their views.
Open Letter from Tom Ricketts - Coach - 05-05-2010
If the sign gets shot down, maybe this is the first step to getting a new Wrigley.