Cubs File Suit Against Rooftop Owner, Test Banners To Block View

The Cubs have "filed a lawsuit -- and started testing decorative banners that block the bird's-eye view of Wrigley Field -- to punish the owner of three rooftop clubs who is refusing to honor" an '04 agreement to share 17% of his profits with the team, according to Fran Spielman of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Club Owner Tom Gramatis "failed to share any of his 2007 profits with the Cubs" at one location, and at the other two locations Gramatis is "trying to cut a better deal because the buildings are new and cost more than he originally anticipated." The lawsuit "seeks to hold Gramatis to the 2004 profit-sharing agreement or force him to shut down." Cubs Chair Crane Kenney: "We hoped to be beyond that aspect of our relationship with the neighboring rooftops and have been for four years. (But) if we let him operate without a license, he's gonna be able to take advantage of all the other partners. He wants a better deal. Why should we (give it to him)? He's essentially got the same economic prospects that the other rooftop owners have." Because the suit may not be settled by Opening Day, Kenney said the team is pursuing "self-help" remedies including "dark decorative banners hung from a pole in foul territory along the right-field line to block the views from Gramatis' two new rooftop clubs" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/17).

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