Numerous sources are now reporting that the Cubs and the city have a deal for renovating Wrigley and it will be announced sometime in the next few days.
Obviously the Ricketts family has wanted to have a deal done in time for them to finalize plans for the initial stage of the renovation so that construction can start immediately after the season ends this year.
However, I have to wonder if it is possible that some items on their wish list might happen before the end of the season...in particular, the video board.
It isn't unprecedented that the Cubs make major renovations to Wrigley in the middle of the season. Some of you might recall that the announcement that lights would be installed a Wrigley Field happened early in the 1988 season and those lights were install while the Cubs were on road trips during that year, with the change having been completed by late July. Heck, the Toyota sign was installed mid-season too. Even in the early days of the ballpark, the center field scoreboard was not completed until mid way through the 1937 season.
Since the installation of the video board should have little effect on any of the existing structure of the ballpark, and interfere very little with the existing seats in the ballpark, it seems entirely possible that the Cubs may look to have it installed as the season is in progress. The logistics and the size of the project to install a video board can't be much more complicated than putting up the lights in the ballpark.
We won't ultimately know what the timeline is for any of the renovations until there is an official announcement made, but we do know that the first phase of the renovations is likely to target the player facilities which happens to be the most important aspect of this renovation. I would also assume that they will want to target any major revenue generating aspects of the renovation early on as well...which would include signage in the outfield and the video board.
