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Chicago Cubs win in federal court against neighboring bar that sold tickets to watch games
October 5, 2026, 1:26 pm CDT
On the same day that the Chicago Cubs were eliminated from the postseason, the team notched a win of a different sort. (Photo from Shutterstock)
On the same day that the Chicago Cubs were eliminated from the postseason, the team notched a win of a different sort.
Law.com reported last week that U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the Northern District of Illinois granted the team’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit against a neighboring bar that sold tickets allowing patrons to sit on its rooftop bleachers and watch Cubs’ home games and other events at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
The Cubs had claimed that the Wrigley View Rooftop and owner Aidan Dunican had unlawfully enriched themselves by allowing patrons to watch events hosted at the stadium without permission and without compensating the team. The Cubs also accused the bar and the owner of misappropriation, copyright and trademark infringement, and violations of state and federal unfair competition laws.
The Cubs had previously had an agreement with the bar allowing it to sell tickets to its patrons in exchange for a percentage of the revenue. However, after it expired in 2023, the bar continued selling tickets, causing the Cubs to file suit in June 2024. According to Law.com, the bar had argued that it was entitled to use its property as it saw fit and was not obligated to share its revenue with the team.
In her Sept. 30 opinion, Coleman issued a permanent injunction preventing the bar from using the team’s logos and intellectual property and selling tickets to its patrons for the purpose of watching Cubs games and other events at the stadium without permission.
“Plaintiff has shown that defendants were unjustly enriched by misappropriating plaintiff’s right to its product, the live baseball game experience,” Coleman wrote in her opinion.
Coleman added that the facts clearly showed that the stadium had been deprived of revenue that it would have received from the bar’s patrons.
According to Law.com, while the bar did prevail on one claim relating to false advertising, the team won on the others, including summary judgment against Dunican personally.
The team’s lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis did not return a request for comment from Law.com, nor did the bar’s lawyers at Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa.
In a statement, the Cubs said “the decision protects our intellectual property rights and affirms our long-standing position that businesses cannot commercially profit from Cubs games or use Cubs intellectual property without authorization.”
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