The Cubs yesterday unveiled images and descriptions of three new club areas at Wrigley Field set to open for the '19 season. The premium spaces are the Maker's Mark Barrel Room along the first base line, The W Club down the third base line and the Catalina Club in the upper deck behind home plate. The Maker's Mark and W Club have views of the visitors and home team batting tunnels, respectively, and the Catalina Club has views of the skyline and Lake Michigan. The club spaces, designed by Populous, will have a combined capacity of 900 patrons. The design of the Maker's club reflects the classic Chicago speakeasy days of Prohibition, while the W Club celebrates Wrigley Field traditions with images of past and present Cubs players and memorabilia on display, said Cubs VP/Ticketing Cale Vennum. The Catalina Club, meanwhile, is themed after Catalina Island in California, where the Cubs held Spring Training from roughly '21-51 on property owned by the Wrigley family, the team’s former owner.
MOVING FORWARD: The team is talking to current season-ticket holders to gauge interest in those clubs and ticket prices will be established in the future, Vennum said. The ticket prices for the clubs will cover the cost of food and drink, including beer and wine. In the Maker's Mark Barrel Room, hard liquor is included in the ticket price, but it is a separate fee in the other two clubs. Naming rights for the Barrel Room are part of the legacy partnership that Beam Suntory, the bourbon brand's parent firm, signed with the Cubs. That deal was announced in January. The premium spaces join the American Airlines 1914 Club, the 7,200-square-foot indoor lounge that opens next season for 600 season-ticket holders sitting behind home plate. The average ticket price for the ballpark’s most exclusive club is $495 a person, covering the cost of all food and drink. The Cubs are currently selling those seats and expect it to be sold out by Opening Day for existing season-ticket holders and new buyers, Vennum said. Ticket prices for the three additional clubs will be priced lower than the American Airlines lounge, he said (Don Muret, Staff Writer).
BREAKING IT DOWN: In Chicago, Lewis Lazare noted the American Airlines 1914 Club will be the "largest and swankiest" new area. The Cubs said that when all the new spaces are up and running in '19, club seating will "account for less" than 5% of the ballpark's overall seating capacity (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/7). Vennum said, "As we've worked through the designs of each of these spaces they've really all developed a unique personality and unique set of features that really set them apart from each other while staying in line with the traditions of Wrigley Field and Chicago." He added, "Our tone all the way through is to update these amenities and elevate the experience for our fans coming to the game while making sure we don't disrupt what makes iconic Wrigley Field great." Vennum said when offseason construction continues on that club and begins on the new ones, the home and visiting dugouts will be moved down the lines "about one section's worth" beginning with the '18 season. In Chicago, Chris Kuc notes the dugouts are also "expected to be expanded" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/8).
STILL THE FRIENDLY CONFINES? In Chicago, Terrin Waack reported the consensus among Cubs fans is that recent renovations to Wrigley Field have been "mostly positive, but there were some suggestions for improvement." Some fans "agreed that Wrigley could be more kid-friendly." Whether that "involves a batting cage or just a small jungle gym, there should be more for young fans to do inside the ballpark." Some "suggested that the new video boards also should engage more with the fans." But all "agreed that Wrigley is a special place, better than it ever has been" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 6/7).
