Cubs President Envisions Fans at Wrigley Field, on Rooftops for 2020 MLB Season

Chicago Cubs president Crane Kenney believes fans will return to Wrigley Field this season, but faces an uphill fight in getting local approval to do so.  

"We are at a point where we believe we can bring some portion of our fan base back to Wrigley field," Kenney told ESPN 1000 on Thursday.

While the state of Illinois has moved into Phase 4 of its economic re-opening plan, which allows businesses to operate with 20 percent their normal capacity, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot has long told fans to temper their expectations before rushing to buy baseball tickets. 

Lightfoot has not given teams the go-ahead to begin filling the stands. Fortunately, the Cubs have a back-up plan: putting fans on the rooftops across the street from the Wrigley Field. 

Under current regulations, Kenney believes the Cubs—whose controlling owners, the Ricketts family, now own or operate 11 of the 16 rooftops—can immediately begin selling tickets to fans.

"It looks like they can [allow fans] because each one is an individual address and capacity is limited," Kenney told ESPN of the rooftops. 

Even if and when fans are allowed back into the ballpark this year, the Cubs believe they'll have a maximum capacity of 8,000 as opposed to the more than 41,000 seats the park holds, though there has not been a determination on how tickets would be distributed and who would get to purchase them. Kenney said season ticket holders are likely to be given priority there. 

In the meantime, the Cubs have not ruled out pumping in artificial sounds to give the games a more natural feel. 

"We'll be a little more creative," Kenney said. "It's difficult to watch the games where there is no virtual insertion of fan noise. We'll play around with that."

The team is currently continuing negotiations with Comcast, the area's largest cable provider, to carry the new Marquee Network which is now the exclusive television home of the team. The Cubs previously aired their games through Comcast's NBC Sports Chicago and WGN before moving on from their longtime partners this offseason. 

Kenney is optimistic a deal will be worked out before Opening Day.