Cubs Win Ticket Scalping Lawsuit
Judge: Team Did Not Violate Law

UPDATED: 12:37 p.m. CST November 24, 2003

CHICAGO -- CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs have won a lawsuit on Monday according to Mary Ann Ahern that claimed the team scalped their own tickets through a business less than a block away from Wrigley Field.

While reading her ruling, Judge Sophia Hall said that Wrigley Field Premium Ticket Services and the Cubs had "not violated the Ticket Scalping Act, the Consumer Fraud Act or the Deceptive Trade Practices Act."

Hall also said that neither had engaged in any bait-and-switch tactics to lure fans, as claimed by plaintiffs.

Peter John Cavoto Jr.'s lawsuit alleged that the Cubs created the "alter-ego instrumentality corporation" to illegally sell game tickets at inflated prices, according to court records and Cavoto's attorney, Paul M. Bauch.

According to the suit, the Cubs, through Executive Vice President Mark McGuire, established Wrigley Field Premium, at 3717 N. Clark St., in April 2002, and applied for registration as a ticket broker to resell tickets at above the face value. For example, Cavoto purchased a $36 ticket for $130 through the service, according to the lawsuit.

But the suit further alleged the tickets sold by the broker were never first offered to the public, and were instead turned directly over to Wrigley Field Premium. Illinois law prohibits the owner of a baseball franchise from selling tickets for more than the face value or from selling tickets anywhere other than at its box office.

Team management called the allegations baseless.

Cubs attorney James Klenk said at the beginning of the trial that there was nothing illegal about the team's actions, and insisted Wrigley Field Premium Ticket Services was an entirely separate subsidiary of the Tribune Company, which also owns the Cubs.

"It's a totally separate business," Klenk said at the time. "The Cubs have nothing to do with it."

Klenk claimed other ticket brokers were actually behind the class-action lawsuit, and added that one of the lawyers who brought the suit, Richard Hamid, is himself a licensed broker.

Consumers have benefited from Premium Tickets, Klenk said, because the firm sells tickets at prices lower than its competitors, and can guarantee their authenticity.

"We are providing a better product to the public at a better price," Klenk said.

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