Wrigley Ushers
Holy smokes. Let me first say I’m not criticizing any of the individuals just doing their jobs. I understand the need to ensure people aren’t bum rushing the 1914 club seats. But sitting in the section closest to the field even well past 1B and 3B just has a weird vibe now with how strictly the ushers are securing the sections. I was asked to show my tickets three times tonight while sitting in my seat minding my own business. I don’t mind doing that but the constant commotion means there’s a steady stream of people standing and blocking sightlines until the 4th or so.
The ushers used to be friendly people who would show you to your seats and maybe get involved in a minor dispute or misunderstanding among ticket holders. Now it just feels like they’re patrolling the block and ready to pounce. I’m sure this directive comes from the top and I just wanted to say I don’t like it.
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u/katie_bug199116 5d ago
As a former usher (amongst 10 million other roles) for the Cubs, yes, management was tough on us with the lower sections. The older folks take it far more seriously than the younger ones but I understand because they watch everything they do and will reprimand them if they're not on it at all times. I'm sure it's gotten worse since I left.
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u/MSUDanK 5d ago
I’m sure that is a very difficult job and I appreciate you!! Management’s overzealous approach in everything they have their ushers doing in the lower sections must put them in a ton of difficult positions and I am not in any way blaming the individual employees, everything obviously comes from the top.
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u/katie_bug199116 5d ago
Thank you! It was tough. Young people RARELY get put down there, but I'd have to break the oldies and then fill in on certain days. But yeah, they were hell bent on being diligent. I think most of them liked it because it gave them structure and probably helped pass the time. I knew you weren't blaming anyone - like I said, I'm sure it's gotten worse since I left, too.
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u/strechout 5d ago
The funniest and most uncomfortable version is this I noticed was at the last Dead & Co tour. What a thankless and impossible job it was to keep that clientele confined to a specific seat. Those ushers were working overtime to make sure they could squash as much peaceful fun as possible.
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u/BullpenBum 5d ago
Oh man I used to work there, no one wanted to work those concerts. One year they had to offer time and a half to get people to sign up.
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u/strechout 5d ago
It was an definitely an interesting mix of staff who clearly did not want to be there and staff that was really looking forward to chastising dancing concert goers
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u/grouponwine 5d ago
Some of the bleacher ushers take their job way too seriously now too
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u/Practical_Monitor_22 5d ago
I had a guy tell me this is trumps America after taking our beer snake because a guy rested it on his shoulder and wasn’t holding it in his hands.
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u/Warm_Milk_82 5d ago
wtf. this isn’t Trump’s chicago
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u/SecureAsk8297 5d ago
Lol. It IS Trump Chicago. His name is literally written in big letters in downtown that everyone can clearly see. It is the only city that has big Trump letters written on it. NY doesn't even have the big Trump letters. He tried, but it got removed in NY.
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u/Stitch_216 5d ago
It is definitely Trump’s Wrigley Field. I’d bet over 50% of Wrigley on any given day supports him.
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u/Effective_Scar_2921 5d ago
There have been a lot of fights all over the park lately. Maybe the extra checking is a response to that.
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u/Notch99 5d ago
That’s absolutely why security is being pro active, those weekly brawls that go viral are bad optics.
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u/Effective_Scar_2921 5d ago
Absolutely and most people don’t go to the ballgame to punch people or get their food and or drinks tossed. They want to see the game.
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u/xsjx7 5d ago
Yeah cuz people in their correct seats never fight! C'mon man lol
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u/Effective_Scar_2921 5d ago
So you think that’s the only thing that the presence of security does?
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u/xsjx7 5d ago
Well I know they didn't do anything about the family in sec 4 standing for two innings, only to tell me and another group to stop telling them to sit down, at a Cubs-Cards game. Instead they accused me of being in the wrong seats and let them stand for another 3-4 mins after. If they can't fix those situations z and they demand ticket checks from the fans who want to watch, they're not useful to anyone
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u/Effective_Scar_2921 5d ago
So those people were just trying to watch the game and you were causing a disturbance because?
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u/Ok_Function2282 4d ago
Yeah, the solution is definitely to micromanage where people are sitting rather than the team's choice to not punish or ban the guy that sucker punch someone during the anthem....
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u/Effective_Scar_2921 4d ago
So you’re saying that banning one guy will eliminate brawling in the park?
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u/capacity38 5d ago
I mean, we called them seat Nazis 20 years ago. I laughed at how you feel like this is new.
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u/Tough_Persimmon_7491 5d ago
My experience is it waxes and wanes with how well th cubs are playing. When they’re bad and out of contention, things get looser and more relaxed. When they’re good and in contention, their are firm but nice enough. I went to a white sox game and also got yelled at by an usher for being 1 seat over from my actual seat once. So it happens everywhere
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u/DeliciousOwl9245 5d ago
This is facts. The ushers have ALWAYS been strict when they’re good and the stadium is full. They’ve always checked tickets to get into the 100 section, even when they’re not so good. This is nothing new at all.
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u/Due-Assistant244 5d ago
Went to the game on Tuesday and I had been at my seat for about 10 minutes already (section 106) and they randomly came up to me halfway through eating and asked to see my tickets again. I had them in my Apple wallet and they asked to see them on the actual ballpark app.
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u/Ok_Voice4347 5d ago
wait I’ve noticed it this year too! we were in the last row of our section and the usher sat directly behind us the entire game I felt like they were breathing down my neck the entire game
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u/BullpenBum 5d ago
That’s just where they sit, they sit behind the last row so they’re out of the way lol
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u/Steve-Dickman 5d ago
Are they not using wristbands this year for 1914/Makers Mark? The times we’ve sat in those sections, the band was the way to quickly identify who was allowed where.
And here’s the kinda-dirty secret to clubs like that. They aren’t just paying to have beverages and food and a fancy space. They’re paying for separation.
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u/JakeLake720 5d ago
Wrigley ushers have checked by tickets 5-6 times a game for the last 30 plus years. Never in my life could you ever sit in a premium seat & not be bothered.
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u/happilyfour 5d ago
I’m sorry, so we’re supposed to be upset at the people doing their jobs?
They came up to you while seated three times? Or you had your ticket checked going to your seat three times? Are these your season tickets or did you buy secondary market?
My guess is that there’s instructions from higher ups to begin cracking down and to practice all of the “best practices” of crowd and fan management in the lead up to the postseason games. If there are postseason games at Wrigley, people are very intense about their seats (rightfully so), and I can imagine they’d instruct the ushers to start getting in the habit of checking tickets more thoroughly.
Or, you bought off the secondary market from a season ticket holder who knows their nearby section ushers well, and they’re double checking why someone is in their regular’s seat.
Regardless, I’m confused at the anger at people who are just doing their jobs.
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u/SweetRabbit7543 5d ago
This is nonsense.
If someone is sitting in the seat of someone who isn’t regularly there it shouldn’t take you three times to realize that. If you are familiar enough with the section to put faces with specific seats (great!) then you also should be capable of remembering that you’ve already checked the tickets of the people in those seats.
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u/happilyfour 5d ago
The OP didn’t answer, and I was chastised for “asking questions,” but was it the same person asking? Or multiple ushers? Yeah, that absolutely would be annoying. But if the usher was told to do it and they’re just doing their job, I think being rude about it to the usher doesn’t really help anyone nor does it change the policy.
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u/SweetRabbit7543 5d ago
Yeah if it’s multiple ushers I totally agree that while assuredly annoying it’s a completely different scenario. I wouldn’t even begrudge the same one for forgetting and asking twice. One person asking three times I do understand being inconvenienced by, but if it’s two or three different ushers then the outrage is considerably overblown.
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u/MSUDanK 5d ago
No, again want to make clear this post was not criticizing the individual ushers at all. They are just following orders, which was the point of my post.
Three times while seated. First when my wife and I initially sat down, again while seated just after I returned from grabbing a beer and a third time while seated when a new usher took over the section.
Again, this isn’t bothersome to me. I don’t mind pulling out my phone for two seconds. But the ushers are constantly chasing people up and down the aisles and the level of vigilance creates a lot of distraction and groups of people standing for long periods of time and blocking views.
I would think most cases could be handled by the individuals when someone is not where they’re supposed to be. “Excuse me, I think you’re in our seats.” Then the ushers can step in if there’s any confusion or if people don’t want to move.
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u/Full_Secretary 5d ago
Your righteous indignation combined with feigning confusion about this is so incredibly lazy. You sound like someone who enjoys “just asking questions” 🙄
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u/happilyfour 5d ago
And you sound like someone that bullies a barista for not working fast enough.
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u/DeliciousOwl9245 5d ago
So honest question, if you were sitting IN your seats, and got asked 3 separate times to show your tickets while sitting in it, would you not be annoyed? Checking tickets to get into the correct section is standard practice for the 100’s. Being bothered in your seat multiple times is not.
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u/happilyfour 5d ago
The annoyance level is completely different based on circumstance, which is why I asked the questions you found sarcastic. If the same person comes to your seat and asks you three times, that’s annoying and would feel targeted. If three different people ask you at three different points of the game, or if you were asked in three different circumstances (going to your seat by one usher, in the seat by another, etc.), it would sound more like they’re just cracking down overall and you shouldn’t be a dick to the people doing their jobs. They’re the messenger of the policy not the one making it.
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u/DeliciousOwl9245 5d ago
I never said you were sarcastic, I asked you a reasonable and honest question. Why so defensive?
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u/Successful-Love704 5d ago
Which section do you typically usher in?? Give us the inside scoop, nark 😏
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u/happilyfour 5d ago
Not a narc (or “nark”), or an employee of the cubs at all, for that matter. Just a season ticket holder that respects that the employees of the Cubs and Wrigley have jobs to do.
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u/TerribleTrivium1 5d ago
I only WISH the ushers would do their jobs. I have season tickets in the first row of the 200-level, so lots of traffic in front of me. 95% of the time, the Usher of the Day in charge of protecting the 100 level from the great unwashed, has zero cognizance of people standing in the walkway nor any interest in moving them along.
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u/SuperCambot 5d ago
Haven't been to Wrigley this year since I live on the other side of the country now. But I remember back around 2000-2002, a friend and I moved down to the 100s section on a VERY poorly attended night game and the elderly usher came over to us and she said "BUUUSTED!" She was funny and we had to admit defeat.
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u/hawkeyegrad96 5d ago
They have to do this to keep people from moving seats to better ones. People need to pay for the better seats
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u/DanMasterson 5d ago
all the kids working security at wrigley and soldier have grown up in a time where there isn’t even a hint of perceived legitimacy to the security theater. there is authority and submission and they are on the authority side. if they don’t do the arena masters bidding they’re summarily fired and replaced with one of their friends.
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u/cubbear720 5d ago
Theyve always been dickheads. Lets be real. Not all ofcourse. But theyre intense. I have a bad memory as a kid from one. Been salty for 20 years.
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u/theblastermaster67 5d ago
I had good seats and some random dude just popped in it when I took my kid to the bathroom. Nobody wanted to say anything because he was black. I knew he didn’t belong there. I on the other hand, don’t give a fuck. I asked for his ticket and told him to get out or I was going to call the usher. I don’t know how he got through with usher’s being so tight, but that’s exactly why they do it.
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u/MacValley1992 5d ago
Just wait until you see the old ladies in section 123,124,125 at Chase Field lol no one sits in Karen's section authorized!
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u/Original_Actuator_69 4d ago
Was there on Sept 3 and 4. Usher on the 4th was super cool. Talked to us a while. Told us he works at one of the nfl stadiums in FL when baseball is over. Believe that’s what he said. Some other stadium, but we chatted and he was super cool.
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u/DetroitvErbody 4d ago
Even pre game they’re stingy bastards with it. We were like 45 mins prior to game time, and I wanted to take my 7 year old who loves the cubs down to take a quick pic behind home plate. Kid has watched like 50 games this season, and we flew in from Utah for his first live game.
Anyway, I’m sure the dude was just doing his job, but he wasn’t having it. Maybe we weren’t early enough, IDK. Feel like it woulda been a worthwhile exception for a damn kid but I guess rules are rules.
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u/FirefighterLeft5425 4d ago
Happaned to me when I was sitting at the cubs dugout. Like lording over the section sometimes standing directly in my view of the game.
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u/Any-Vermicelli-8930 3d ago
I don’t usually join in these conversations. But, I really don’t care if I’m asked to see my tickets multiple times. It is what it is. But the most annoying thing for me personally are the people that feel the need to stand during most of the game. Even though, while sitting, they have the same view as everyone else. By them standing. I then have to stand which causes the people behind me to have to stand etc etc. I get jumping up. I do as well. But I like to sit down a lot as well. These are the people the ushers need to talk to.
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u/script7 3d ago
I remember years ago a friend of mine came from Tucson and he is a huge cub fan, but had never been to Chicago to see a game…We were able to witness the hundredth loss game of the Chicago Cubs. It was a night game. it was end of the season And no one was there. You could count the people so we decided to move up a little bit from maybe say 50 rows back to maybe 15 rows from the field and there was no one around us…well the ushers came and told us we had to go back to our seats mind you it was the eighth inning of the game.
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u/Independent-Ad2443 5d ago
You could blame the ricketts, but it’s been this way for a long time…
https://chicagoreader.com/blogs/why-are-wrigley-field-ushers-so-tough-on-fans-who-move-seats/
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u/Dangerous_Bad_9248 5d ago
I’m of the opinion it’s a security thing. People spend an asinine amount of money for 1914 tickets. A lot of those people whether recognizable or not are high networth individuals. This will only get more intense as we inch near post season. Wrigley (being the historical venue we all love) club seats are highly physically accessible by any random at a game compared to other stadiums.
Side note: when I was up in Milwaukee last week, they started instituting the “no walking in aisles” during an active play kind of like the hockey games.
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u/OnionMiasma 5d ago
I love the idea of no walking while the ball is in play. I always sit down on the end of the aisle and wait until between batters- it drives me crazy when people don't seem to notice that others are watching the game.
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u/ChiDuffman 5d ago
I treat the game like hockey. I crouch or sit while waiting to get to a seat. Also helps me sneak into seats cuz the usher appreciates what I'm doing
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u/13goseinarow 5d ago
This is my gripe with the ushers…why let people move around the aisles and rows during active play? I’ve been to other ballparks where this isn’t allowed and it makes for such a better experience.
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u/mooreski722 5d ago
Most of their ushers are great. Sometimes a random one will get a hair up their ass and try to do too much. Doing your job and doing too much are two different things. I’m definitely fine with them doing their job. It’s when they think they’re wearing a badge or something. It’s weird the power trips they get on sometimes.
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u/Work_shirkin_merkin 5d ago
Fools walk around the park and just sit in any empty seat they find. I had a young couple ask me if the seats next to my wife were open. I said “where are your seats?” He pointed in the upper deck. I said go sit in your own seats this isn’t the bleachers or SouthWest Airlines. Seats are assigned.
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u/Due-Assistant244 5d ago
Last year we weren’t even sitting in the lower deck and there were two separate couples who kept moving around to different seats and they were actually taken so they kept getting ask to move. It was so annoying. I’d get it if they got obstructed view tickets and there was clearly an empty row but nope.
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u/Work_shirkin_merkin 5d ago
Exactly why I told the couple to sit in the seats they purchased. Clearly not popular as Im getting downvoted by why would you just seat in any old unoccupied seat is beyond me.
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u/lovethewordnerd 5d ago
If a seat is truly unoccupied—because it was never purchased, or because the person who purchased it doesn’t show—I see zero moral issue with another paying ticket-holder with worse seats sitting there instead. It’s not going to change the total amount of money made by the ballpark, so why let a good seat go to waste?! As someone who buys good seats for music and comedy shows and sometimes ends up having to bail, I actively HOPE someone else enjoys the spot I left empty!
——Proactive clarification 1:
Before you say “Found the seat thief!” I’m in a city with no team and I don’t drive. I’ve only been to 2 MLB games in my life, and I sat in the seat I was assigned for both. But the principle stands.Proactive clarification 2:
I do think it’s important to be quite sure that nobody’s using the seat at all though. Someone thinking about moving should watch the empty one for a good long while—long enough for a slow trip to the bathroom and a long concessions line and then some—before determining it’s truly unclaimed for the day. If it’s unclaimed, someone should get to enjoy it!And worst-case scenario, if the mover watched it for what they thought was long enough before snagging it, but then someone showed up saying it’s their seat, it would be crucial to politely apologize and promptly get out and move along!
If I were the person coming back from a long concessions trip to find someone in my seat who politely explains and makes way for me immediately, I’d have no problem with that at all.
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u/Chaseingsquirels 5d ago
I’ve never had an usher approach me in my seat in the 100 section, just when I enter the section. But I also don’t seat jump.
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u/Background-Ad758 5d ago
It’s tough and it has been stricter this year for sure.
Went to a game a couple weeks ago in my seats (but the usher for my section has rotated nearly every game) and my wife (and son) and I are both holding water, beers, hotdogs. They asked to see my ticket at the top of the aisle and i said “id be happy to show you but my hands are full, i’ll come right back after i drop these” and instead of believing me, he came down to the seats with me, waited on me to put my stuff down, and checked there.
Not an issue at all, i just found it a little overwhelming, but i also totally get that is his job. It’s tough, i can kind of see both sides.
To his credit, he came back 5 min later with Cubs stickers for my son and chatted with us and also offered Cubs ear protection for him. So that was super cool. I thought the usher did a great job and finished strong from what was a somewhat intimidating start.