Murphy's Bleachers

Murphy's Bleachers has been one of America's premier sports bars since it opened in 1941 and is the go-to destination for Chicago sports fans who want to watch the game without attending the game and to just hang out with a group of friends. But it is most well known for being the hot spot whenever the Chicago Cubs play whether it be at home or away.

Murphy's was ready to begin the 2020 season with not only high expectations for their business but also high expectations for the Cubs as they had a team that was equipped to go deep into the playoffs and possibly make it to the World Series. But out of nowhere, the 2020 MLB season was postponed and Murphy's had to close down due to the lockdown.

"We were really looking forward to the 2020 MLB season and we were hosting some Spring Training parties to kick off the season, but, when the MLB announced they would postpone the season because of COVID-19, we were eventually told by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to close for in-person dining and we had to cancel any planned events that we had for opening day," said Pete Marino who has been a for a manager for 13 years.

During those months when the MLB season should have been playing. Murphy's Bleachers was trying to find some way to continue to have fun activities but the city would not allow them to do that so they had to resort to people order from the restaurant and taking it back to their homes.

"Whenever we would bring the food out to people in their cars, you could just tell that they really missed coming down to Murphy's and watching sports with their friends and it was very heartbreaking to see that because we also missed them during that period of time," said Bill McVey, who is a waiter.

But, all of that changed on July 24th, 2020 when just weeks before the MLB announced that they would resume the 2020 season and gave the Cubs permission for fans to attend games but only at the rooftop seats and the city did allow in-person dining at Murphy's but only if they had a limited amount and if they had their facemasks on.

"When we heard about the season resuming when we started to just come to the conclusion that we might not have a season, we were just so excited to welcome everyone back even though it would not be like a normal year," McVey said.

With the 2021 season underway, the MLB and the city of Chicago have allowed for the Cubs to have 25% capacity inside Wrigley Field and with everyone getting vaccinated. We will see the capacity number grow bigger to the point where Wrigley Field will be able to have 100% capacity.




 


 


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