The Last Independent Wrigley Rooftop Loses Its Fight With the Cubs

For about 30 years, Wrigley View Rooftop sold tickets to watch the Cubs from across the street. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that it can't anymore.

Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the Northern District of Illinois sided with the Cubs, who sued the business in 2024 for profiting off their games without a deal with the team.

Unfairly capitalizing on another's labor and expenses offends principles of justice, equity, and good conscience.

"The undisputed facts show that Defendants profited from ticket sales to watch Cubs games, without contributing financially to the ballgames and without acquiring a right to sell Plaintiff's product," Coleman wrote.

One holdout left

The rooftops are part of what makes Wrigley Wrigley. The park sits in a residential North Side neighborhood, and fans have watched from the buildings beyond the bleachers for decades. They've also been the source of years of lawsuits over who gets to profit from the view and over the team's signage.

The Ricketts family, which bought the team in 2009, now owns and runs 11 of the rooftop buildings and sells tickets to them itself. Wrigley View, beyond the left-field foul pole, was the last one that had neither signed an agreement with the Cubs nor been bought by the family.

Its argument was that the Cubs could block its view into the park, but not tell it how to run its own building. The judge didn't buy it.

The Cubs said the decision "protects our intellectual property rights." A lawyer for owner Aidan Dunican declined to comment, so it isn't clear yet whether he'll appeal.