There are a lot of technically correct, but ultimately misleading headlines circulating this morning, citing news that DraftKings is “closing its 2-year-old retail sportsbook at Wrigley Field.”
Because while that’s true in the sense that the *literal* sportsbook (i.e., your ability to place wagers live in person with DraftKings) will be shut down, nothing else is going away. The building, the TVs, the food, etc. It’s all still going to be there. And you can still bet on your phones.
The only thing that’s being shut down is the “sportsbook” itself, which is a word whose meaning has grown beyond its initial purpose. By which I mean I think in today’s parlance, most people just called the entire experience (the building, the food, the TVs, the general environment) the “sportsbook.”
The Wrigley Field Sportsbook is Closing
In any case, the in-person gambling part is being shut down, with DraftKings citing high taxes as the cause (via Chicago Tribune):
“DraftKings has made the decision to discontinue onsite sportsbook operations at DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field following a review of our retail presence in Illinois,” the company said in a statement. “The venue itself will remain open, but in-person sports betting will no longer be offered at the location.”
“While we are proud of what we have built alongside the Chicago Cubs, we are taking a more focused approach to where we invest in the state,” the company said. “The cost of operating in Illinois, including its high tax structure, makes it more difficult to justify continued investment in a standalone retail sportsbook….
And to that news … I’m pretty agnostic.
I’m not a big “go watch the big games at a Sportsbook” type of guy, but I did catch some March Madness there this spring, and it was a pretty cool place to be. But here’s the thing, even though I did lay down some money on those games when I was there … I didn’t even CONSIDER doing it in person, because we can all do it much more conveniently on our phones.
And, again, that part isn’t changing.
But there are some changes coming, most for the better. For one, this area is getting a little more accessible. With the book gone, younger sports fans will be able to go in and watch games (right now, you have to be 21 to enter). And I’m told eventually, fans attending Wrigley Field will be able to go in and out of the sportsbook during games, just like you can with Gallagher Way*. That’s not something I plan to do, but I can see some people liking it, I guess.
*By contrast, Gallagher Way was a godsend for my 3.5-year-old’s first game at Wrigley Field. We watched 2-3 innings out there mid-game and it really helped keep him engaged the entire day. Just a random tip.
Now, you may be wondering, how much money are the Cubs going to lose out on with this exit? Well, in the short term, it seems like … maybe none? In the long term, it’s a different story.
According to Bruce Levine, “the original deal between the Cubs and Draftkings was $100 million for ten years.” Adding, more notably, that “The Cubs were not involved in the gambling end of the partnership. The two sides shared some revenues in food and beverage sales.”
After doing some digging myself, I can put this a little more plainly: The Cubs-DraftKings on-going relationship and sponsorship will remain unchanged. And since the Cubs were not involved on the gambling side of this endeavor, the loss of the book won’t hurt their bottom line *right now*.
Where things could change, of course, is if DraftKings decides not to CONTINUE spending as much as a premium sponsor of the Cubs in the future now that they don’t have a book at Wrigley Field. In otherwords, I wouldn’t be surprised if the DK team saw this is all as one giant expense/project … one whose planned earnings arm (the sportsbook) just got gutted. But that’s more of a future Cubs problem.
So that’s the news today: The DraftKings Sportsbook is on the way out, the building/experience is staying, younger fans will be able to enter the restaraunt, gameday ticket holders will (eventually) be able to go back and forth during games, and the financial bottom line in the short term shouldn’t be impacted. Long term TBD.
Now let’s get back to baseball, because the Cubs just lost a series to the White Sox and are hosting the surging Brewers tonight.
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