NEWSLETTER
We are still a couple months away from the 4th of July, but it seems at levels both national and local, that’s roughly the target for reducing and/or eliminating the crowd-related limitations tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether that will actually be doable remains an open question, though the pace of vaccinations has been solid (38.4% fully vaccinated) and the data from other countries suggests that where vaccination levels reach or exceed 40%, cases decline (even if, frankly, we’d want to see much higher number to really squash this thing).
Again, I don’t know that we can say for sure what things will look like in two months, but Chicago is joining a list of localities tentatively planning to say “restrictions over” come July 1 (Illinois, as a state, is targeting July 4):
BREAKING: Chicago could be "fully open" with no capacity limits by July 1, Mayor Lightfoot says. https://t.co/TGlhk1ygqe pic.twitter.com/RZP3AuaGJT
— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI) May 4, 2021
The specifics are not mentioned just yet, but if there are no capacity limits in the city and state come July 1 or July 4, the implications for sports are quite obvious. Does this mean Wrigley Field can sell out to capacity in July? If so, would the Cubs? Would the fans come at those levels? Would MLB be ready to give the green light?
Open questions that I’m not super comfortable speculating on two months in advance. But your takeaway for the moment is that the City of Chicago would like to be “fully open” for July, and if that were to happen, there are certainly going to be implications for the Cubs, for Wrigley Field, and for the establishments in Wrigleyville.
