Cubs moving to Milwaukee?

[monty57]

Most Cub fans I know would much rather drive north to Miller than south to whatever the Sox are calling their stadium this year. I'd guess there'd be several fatalities if they played 81 games at US Cellular.

 

If the Brewers were able to keep parking revenue and just enough of the tickets / concessions to pay expenses, they'd bring in a boatload of money. They'd likely be able to add at least $10MM to payroll, not to mention the added revenue to the city.

 

As for madjeff's point above, it would be easier to fit the Brewers/Cubs into one stadium than the Cubs/Sox, as they play 20 or so games against each other during the course of the year.

[jeffy]

Cubs and Brewers play 16-17 games against each other, Cubs and Sox play 6, so the difference is only 10-11.

[DoorCountyBadgers]

Go Cubs Go

Hey Chicago what do ya say

the GREAT Chicago Cubs are gonna win today

[temke]

Back when the Mets and Yankees played together at Shea in the mid 70's, doubleheaders were much more common. Looking it up on baseball-reference, there were 19 double headers at Shea in 1974 and 15 in 1975. The ideal these days would be zero. That means if the Cubs played all of their games at US Cellular, they would need to block out 162 days out of a possible 179 (taking 3 out for the all-star break) Day-night DH's for make-up would be a possiblity, but having each team play on the same day would be real problematic except in an emergency.

 

I suspect the logistics would be much easier if they played one series a month in Milwaukee (18 games), making 144 dates work at the Cell would be much easier than 162.

it would make more sense to me to have the stadium host a DH if necessary. cubs play the day game...sox play the night game. that would actually be pretty cool.

 

[PaulRigdon]

I am pretty sure that the cubs and sox are never play home games the same days as it is, so the whole scheduling things shouldn't really be a problem.

[Fatter than Joey]

Any opportunity for increased revenue should be jumped on....not to mention its a good chance to see more baseball and root against the Cubs!

 

Agreed. It would sure dump a lot of revenue into Milwaukee.

 

I really do not see a downside to this

[jeffy]

I am pretty sure that the cubs and sox are never play home games the same days as it is, so the whole scheduling things shouldn't really be a problem.

 

 

I believe that is correct or if not 100% true, it is rare that they play at home on the same day.

 

I think any talk of Miller Park is just something the Cubs are putting out for negotiating purposes.

 

 

[bucks2281]

I remember a thread devoted to Barrett's comments at the time. We were upset with his presumptous arrogance. If this were to happen, wouldn't the Cubs have to pay the Brewers A LOT of money on top of any parking, concession revenues, etc.? I see this as a good opportunity to the Brewers to significantly boost their payroll.

 

The hate for the Chicago Cubs and their fanbase would probably be off the charts before long.

[jeffy]

No mention of milwaukee in JS article on the renovation: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=745330

 

I can not imagine how they will be able to achieve the desired improvements in the existing structure or without completely changing the character of the place (in which case, why bother "preserving" it?). The article mentions: wider concourses, food and beverage services improved, player locker rooms improved, the luxury suite clubs, etc. Of course, they are talking about spending as much as a whole new ballpark would cost...

[Invader3K]

Well, the Packers were able to do similar things with Lambeau Field...don't know why it would be impossible for the Cubs to do it at Wrigley.

[steve267268]

I'm all for this. Sure, you would get all the idiotic garbage slinging Cubs fans up here but that is the ONLY negative.

 

Here are the (obvious) positives:

 

1. More money for Milwaukee and of course the Brewers. You could do whatever you wanted to with this cash, which includes adding it to the payroll! Imagine the anger from a Cubs fan's perspective. We just spent 81 home games worth of tickets, food, and merchandise at Miller Park and now the Brewers have a new ace who beats us every time out. Excellent.

 

2. Every game against the Cubs would be a home game. Enough said.

 

3. Later in the season, when the Cubs are playing another NL Central team, we can show up and root for whoever benefits us the most. So the Cubs "home field advantage" would vary greatly.

 

4. It gives us baseball pretty much every day of the week! I don't care who's playing, that's great.

 

That said, i don't see how anyone in that organization could be stupid enough to want to play all 81 games in Miller Park. So i don't think it's even a real possibility. But i would welcome them, or any team, to come play for 20 or so if they had to. Heck... Bring Cleveland back, that was fun.

[RightFieldCoder]

3. Later in the season, when the Cubs are playing another NL Central team, we can show up and root for whoever benefits us the most. So the Cubs "home field advantage" would vary greatly.

Until at least the 150th game of the season, I will always root against the Cubs. No matter what the race projects to be at the end of the season.

[owbc]

I would welcome this, but I would expect that it would maybe be for 1/2 of the season and they would split the games between US Cellular and Miller Park.

 

Here's how I see it...

 

-The Cubs play mostly day games anyway, so if both teams have a home game on the same day, they can start the Cubs games at 12:05 and the Brewers can start at 7:05.

-Since the Brewers probably wouldn't like the Cubs sharing their locker room, the Cubs can use the tunnel and some spare closets. It would still be nicer/more spacious than Wrigley. We can set up some PODS for them in the parking lot as well.

-Some removable banners can be used to cover up the Brewers logos and replace them with Cubs logos/sponsers.

-All ticket prices will be raised by 25% for Cubs games. Preferred parking will be $25

[SteveAA]

IMO the Brewers renting out MP for an extra 81 games would void out their contract with the stadium board. Its the same as if your family rents an apartment, you only have 2 children but your brother & his 2 kids moves in after the fact. In this instance its proper for the landlord to receive extra money over that stipulated in the original rental agreement. More wear & tear on the property etc equals more money going to the landlord. (us)

I would rent MP for $1,000,000 a game to the Cubs. The Brewers would get this income.

All parking revenue, concessions, extra advertising revenue, party permits, any other fees I'm not aware of etc should go to the Stadium board. (taxpayers)

This additional revenue should be used to pay down the debt owed on Miller Park & if this debt is paid off then go into a rainy day fund for the ballpark. In this way the tax burden on the public would be lessened &, or retired.

[Fatter than Joey]

This additional revenue should be used to pay down the debt owed on Miller Park & if this debt is paid off then go into a rainy day fund for the ballpark. In this way the tax burden on the public would be lessened &, or retired.

 

Yes, I think this is a good point, not all of the revenue needs to go to the Brewers payroll...

 

But, if you think of the money dumped in local hotels, pubs, restaurants, etc... Even ushers and vendors at the park would get more hours. -- I think this would be a wonderful infusion of money in Milwaukee.

 

I hate the Cubs, but I certainly would not put myself above taking my family to a random Cubs game, in the summer, if say, Johann Santana was pitching...

[DHonks]

One thing is that currently, Milwaukee and the Brewers probably have some brownie points with MLB after hosting the Indians last year. They showed they could do it, and the Cubs in Milwaukee would likely outdraw the Cubs in Chicago

[Invader3K]

IMO the Brewers renting out MP for an extra 81 games would void out their contract with the stadium board. Its the same as if your family rents an apartment, you only have 2 children but your brother & his 2 kids moves in after the fact. In this instance its proper for the landlord to receive extra money over that stipulated in the original rental agreement. More wear & tear on the property etc equals more money going to the landlord. (us)

I would rent MP for $1,000,000 a game to the Cubs. The Brewers would get this income.

All parking revenue, concessions, extra advertising revenue, party permits, any other fees I'm not aware of etc should go to the Stadium board. (taxpayers)

This additional revenue should be used to pay down the debt owed on Miller Park & if this debt is paid off then go into a rainy day fund for the ballpark. In this way the tax burden on the public would be lessened &, or retired.

I think you're taking a pretty idealistic view (a million dollars a game?!). I'm sure MLB has rules regarding all this stuff.

 

[jeffy]

The Cubs play mostly day games anyway...

 

But they play day games because they are restricted in the number of night games they can play at Wrigley. I bet if they play all or part of a season elsewhere, they will play mostly at night like everyone else.

[ILuvDaBush]

It also would affect the Brewers' payroll in that with all the extra revenue in Milwaukee, there would assuredly be more money being spent at the gates by our own fans who would now have extra money. Or maybe the idea of economic stimuli is getting to me. I'm hoping to stimulate my Brewers into being a World Championship-caliber team.

[nohopspanther]

I want to know why seemingly everyone in this thread assumes the Brewers could basically take the Cubs revenue for themselves? I'm fairly certain that MLB would broker a deal that covers the cost of stadium use, staff, food etc. but the dollars above that would go to the Cubs as that would be the revenue they would normally generate in their stadium. By covering the excess costs in having 81 more games in Miller Park, the Cubs would then become the de facto landlord for those dates and take the revenue generated. The community at large would feel a major impact in restaurant, retail, and hotel/housing business and that can't be understated. MLB would not allow one club to gouge another in this situation.

[JJ Hardy Har Har]

Stupid idea, I know, but...

http://www.minorleagueballparks.com/alex_il.html

 

"the playing field itself is an exact replica of Wrigley Field's"

 

It's close, and they could probably find some room for a couple of thousand more seats.

[Invader3K]

MLB would not allow one club to gouge another in this situation.

Exactly, panther. That's what I was alluding to as well.

[cubfan1126]

Hey I think it's a great idea.

 

Here's my idea. You can keep the parking money but we get the stadium concessions, which means Brewer products are not allowed at the stands and we get to sell Old Style and Budweiser. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

 

I'm just wondering why you guys all think that your season ticket holders would get to fill the seats especially during Cubs-Brewers games.

[Invader3K]

I don't know if anyone seriously thought that, cubfan.

 

As far as concessions, parking, etc...like was mentioned before, I'm sure MLB has fairly stringent rules about this sort of thing. This isn't like making a deal for a used car with your neighbor or something.

[cubfan1126]

I don't know if anyone seriously thought that, cubfan.

Oh I don't know, maybe statements like:

 

....not to mention its a good chance to see more baseball and root against the Cubs!

Especially if we good factor in a Brewers discount and get tickets for each game for $10 like the Indians vs Angels series

Every game against the Cubs would be a home game. Enough said.

It would be awesome to have a full stadium rooting against them for one of their home games.