Wrigley Rooftops Can Open for Concert, NU Game: City

Wrigley attendance is down 3.6 percent from last year

A much needed financial boost is being tossed into Wrigley Field rooftops.

The City Council's License Committee on Thursday voted to allow Wrigley rooftop operators to open for two September concerts and a Big Ten football game in November.

The rooftops, which share 17 percent of their revenues with the Cubs, were previously only permitted to sell food and drinks on game days.  But his year's dwindling ticket sales are making it hard for rooftops to pay the costly monthly mortgages. 

Wrigley attendance is down 3.6 percent from last year and the rooftop clubs are slashing prices for the first time.

"There's a lot of money going out and only some coming in," Rich Zasiebida, a managing partner of the Skybox on Sheffield, told the Chicago Tribune earlier this month.

The Dave Matthews Band will be held on Sept. 17 and 18.  Because it coincides with the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, special concessions were made to minimize conflict, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The Big Ten matchup between rivals Illinois and Northwestern on Nov. 20 will be the first college football game in the Friendly Confines since 1938.

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