The Cubs have studied the possibility of opening a sportsbook at Wrigley Field and in spots just outside of the Chicago stadium, ESPN.com reported, citing multiple unidentified sources familiar with the team's thinking.
Expanded sports betting is part of a gambling bill that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign into law.
In anticipation of that expansion, the Cubs are exploring putting betting windows, automated kiosks and even a full-blown sportsbook venue inside Wrigley Field, among other options.
MLB currently prohibits sportsbooks in its stadiums, the Chicago Sun-Times noted, pointing out the irony of the Cubs' interest in opening one in a city where the so-called "Black Sox" gambling scandal took root a century ago: "A sport that has a commissioner’s office only because of a gambling scandal that rocked it 100 years ago might soon have sports-betting windows at a major-league ballpark in the very city that scandal took place."
The Cubs declined to comment to ESPN and there have been only preliminary discussions at this point, with no official plans.
"We will work with our clubs to explore the opportunities presented by the rapidly evolving sports betting landscape in a socially responsible manner," a spokesperson for MLB told ESPN in a statement.
MLB discussed sportsbooks at stadiums at December's winter meetings in Las Vegas, some seven months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal law that restricted sports betting.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was among several team owners who in February invested in sports betting media outlet The Action Network, The Washington Post reported. Then, in March, Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said on Chicago's 670 The Score radio that the team was considering a secondary broadcast infused with sports betting analysis.
Like the Cubs, the Bears (Soldier Field), Bulls and Blackhawks (United Center) and, yes, White Sox (Guaranteed Rate Field) also are said to be examining sports wagering opportunities the pending law offers.
