A visit to the DraftKings sports book at Wrigley Field

The DraftKings sports book at Wrigley Field has been open for some time, though they have yet to get a gaming license approved by the state of Illinois. For now, they’re just serving food and showing games on the giant screens you see in the photo above.

I had been meaning to head over there just to see what it’s like, and today, being a gorgeous Friday in Chicago and the Cubs playing a late evening road game, I figured this would be a good time to check it out for lunch.

You have to show your ID on entry and have it scanned, regardless of age. I was told this is a requirement of the Illinois Gaming Board, even though no betting is yet allowed. I did hear that the Gaming Board has been by the facility recently and it seems as if approval for betting could be coming soon.

You can see by the photo, which I took shortly after noon today, that it was not very busy at the sports book. Even being there for about an hour, there was only one other table filled during that time. The area you see in the photo has a capacity of about 500 and there’s an upper level that holds about 175 more.

I ordered a BBQ Bourbon Burger and it was quite good. The food selection is mostly bar-type food, burgers, wings, nachos, etc. and it appears competitively priced with other establishments in the area. The staff was friendly and efficient. The space itself is well designed and decorated and has an upscale feel.

Given that no games were going on during the time I was there, the large monitors just showed whatever was being broadcast on these channels: FS2, the Golf Channel, ESPN, ESPN2 and MLB Network. There’s also a long, long scroll of various scores from all kinds of sports, from college football to soccer to baseball. I assume that’d be useful when games are actually happening.

Mainly, I just wanted to check the place out, since sports betting of this type doesn’t really interest me and I doubt I’d head back there to do that. But the food and drink is good and you could easily just sit in there and just watch games if you were so inclined, and as noted, the prices are reasonable. It should be noted that there’s no ingress nor egress from the ballpark itself during games (or at any other time).

Currently, the DraftKings sports book is open (generally) from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. These hours appear to be updated weekly on the sports book’s website, so check that out before you go, if you want to head over there.

One last thing I’d like to address. Here’s what it looks like on the outside:

Al Yellon

I have heard some complaints that this “ruins the look” of the ballpark, never mind that you don’t see that once you enter Wrigley Field. But more importantly, look at this rendering that was released at the very beginning of the 1060 Project back in 2013:

Courtesy Chicago Cubs

There was always, ALWAYS going to be a building that looked like this on the corner of Addison & Sheffield, and it likely was going to have some sort of retail and/or restaurant space. Instead, it’s a sports book. To me, it’s just fine and doesn’t in the least get in the way of watching Cubs baseball at Wrigley Field.

And in any case, if you’re in the neighborhood on a non-game day, it’s worth checking out for lunch.