The Chicago Cubs scored a major victory Wednesday in their decade-long battle with the Wrigley rooftop owners when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against the team by two of the rooftop owners. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall dismissed all nine counts in the suit filed in January by the Skybox on Sheffield and the Lakeview Baseball Club.
Kendall ruled in favor of the Cubs based on the word expansion in the original contract between the Cubs and the rooftop owners. Kendall also agreed with the team that the renovation of the bleachers and the addition of the scoreboards constituted an expansion, which was allowed in the contract.
Kendall also sided with the Cubs ability to install additional signage because the contract allowed it based on "governmental approval" which came from the City of Chicago and Mayor Rahm Emanuel who helped steer the project towards a successful conclusion once the Ricketts family agreed to fund the project themselves, rather than asking for public help to subsidize the renovation plans.
[RELATED: A look inside the Cubs' rooftop contract]
In January 2014 we broke the story on the rooftop contract in a Comcast SportsNet Chicago exclusive. No one had publicly revealed the wording used in the agreement until we acquired a copy of the contract from an impeccable source and had it reviewed by multiple attorneys.
After talking with those lawyers we came to the conclusion that the Cubs would win a protracted legal fight because of the word expansion and the subsequent governmental approval that the contract spelled out and the Cubs obtained.
Wednesday, when Judge Kendall issued her ruling those were the linchpins of her decision. Kendall's ruling essentially ends any hope that the rooftop owners had to defeat the Cubs and win monetary relief from the franchise. They can still appeal the decision but with the cost of legal fees continuing to mount, sources close to the rooftops situation do not expect them to pursue further legal maneuvering.
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As one rooftop owner said to me on Thursday, "the case is over. I can't see anyone wanting to continue to pour money into a battle that they probably have very little chance if any of winning."