U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall on Thursday ruled the Cubs "can move ahead with installation of outfield advertising signs and video boards that could block views into Wrigley Field from nearby rooftop businesses," according to Jared Hopkins of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The decision "averts a disastrous setback in the Cubs' already-delayed" $375M upgrade of the ballpark. It also means rooftop operators "now face the uncomfortable scenario of selling tickets without guaranteed views when the season opens April 5." Kendall said that the rooftop owners, Lakeview Baseball Club and Skybox on Sheffield, "did not meet the burden of demonstrating 'irreparable' harm should the signs go up," because they "had not provided any data or evidence that they'd lose money or ultimately 'collapse.'" She added that instead they "showed 'the vague possibility' their bottom line might be affected." Cubs spokesperson Dennis Culloton afterward "declined to say when signs will go up because their installation is connected to work on the bleachers." The ballclub has said that the bleachers "won't reopen until at least May" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/20). In Chicago, Mitch Dudek writes the Cubs "breathed a sigh of relief" on Thursday following Kendall's ruling. The victory "may be fleeting, however, as the case will be back in court in the coming weeks." Apart from the federal case, a civil suit brought by rooftop owners "is pending against the Cubs at the county level" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/20).
NO SURPRISE HERE: Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said that Thursday's ruling "came as little surprise to the baseball operations department assembled in Arizona for spring training." Epstein: "The business side has done a great job of executing their plan to make a lot of progress this winter with the ballpark project. And they’re humming along as far as we’re concerned." He added, "I don’t think that we really considered anything a real significant threat" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/20).
