The Cubs received approval this week from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to build a two-story sportsbook at the corner of Sheffield and Addison. The 22,350-square-foot structure, which would be home to a DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field as part of a sponsorship deal the team struck with  DraftKings last year and looks to make gambling an integral part of the game day experience at the Friendly Confines. Though the new building would be connected to the ballpark, the addition would be open to anyone, as Major League Baseball rules prohibit a sportsbook operating where a game ticket is required for entry.

Yesterday’s approval is only the first step in what is sure to be a long process to get this extension put in place.  Approval is still needed from the City Council, both for the development itself but also on allowing sports betting inside the city’s stadiums. The National Park Service, which designated the restored ballpark as a National Historic Landmark, would also need to approve the plans for the new building.

While the timing is likely coincidental, it is somewhat amusing that the hearing on this came up a week after the Cubs traded off all of their star players because they couldn’t “afford” to offer them market-value extensions.  Also, it is amusing in a sad way that you must have a ticket to sit in the lovely park the Cubs built on the other side of the stadium in Gallagher Way, but you will be able to enter this new facility without one.  Like it or not, baseball, and the Cubs, have hitched their wagon to legal gambling and they will try to wring every dollar they can out of the arrangement.