Wrigley role model

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2008 | by Mike Dodd

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs, who added 1,800 seats and a "batter's-eye" suite in their bleachers expansion two years ago, have a role model in the art of squeezing amenities and revenue into an old stadium: Fenway Park.

Since 2002, the Boston Red Sox have increased the capacity of tiny Fenway by 10%, up to 39,928, by putting seats in every nook and cranny, including on top of the left-field Green Monster and the right-field roof.

Other improvements include closing Yawkey Way to non-ticketholders before the game to turn it into a street concourse with concessions and a restaurant under the center-field bleachers. And, of course, the Green Monster is plastered with advertising, but purists can't complain: It had ads until 1947.

The Cubs might not have...