It happened last year — now it’s happened again.
A little less than a year ago, I posted this article noting that the Cubs had sent out emails inviting anyone and everyone to buy season tickets.
This was after two decades’ worth of telling folks that there was a waiting list for season tickets.
The Cubs let people believe there was such a list during the 2024 season. If you watched games on Marquee Sports Network, they often ran promos telling people they could sign up for the season-ticket waiting list.
Today, the Cubs sent out emails that read, in part:
Season tickets for 2025 are on sale now! Guarantee your spot at the ballpark with full-season, half-season and 20-game plans. Now is the time to create your legacy and start making history.
And, there is a page on the Cubs website inviting you to submit your interest and contact information for season tickets and “a Cubs Representative will contact you to assist.” The page also contains phone and email contact information for someone in the Cubs ticket office. There’s also a link in the email to this Cubs website page, where you can choose a season-ticket plan.
The conclusion I draw: The Cubs have lost folks who had season tickets in 2024 and who did not renew by the Oct. 16 deadline to submit a 20 percent deposit for 2025, and are trying to make up that shortfall by opening up season ticket sales to the general public.
Unlike last year, when the Cubs were coming off their first winning year in a 162-game season since 2019 and had some buzz around the team due to the hire of Craig Counsell as manager, the team doesn’t have those sorts of things to look forward to in 2025, not yet, anyway.
Further, as I noted in this article here a couple of months ago, season-ticket prices have gone up for 2025 — as much as 6.7 percent for bleachers. And that’s really almost a 9 percent increase, because there are only 79 games scheduled at Wrigley Field next year instead of the usual 81, due to the two games in Tokyo counting as Cubs “home” games.