Wrigley Field was at a low ebb. After almost a century in existence, the iconic ballpark of the Chicago Cubs looked its age and more. Heavy usage, harsh winters and a persistent lack of renovation had taken their toll. Players bemoaned the poor state of its cramped locker room and antiquated clubhouse; fans squirmed in long lines for the insufficient number of restrooms.
The issues went beyond aesthetics and discomfort. Alarmingly, little chunks of concrete had begun to crumble from underneath the park’s upper deck and onto the seating areas below, while fixed stands could occasionally be seen to sway with the motion of the crowd. After various stymied attempts at modernization, it seemed to many as if this historic treasure was doomed to go the way of so many other ballparks that had also once stood at the heart of American urban neighborhoods.
Today, however, Wrigley Field is a stadium transformed. Under the stewardship of the Ricketts family – who acquired the Cubs in 2008 – a multi-year program costing $740m has restored and rejuvenated much of the infrastructure, façade, spectator areas and playing facilities. The outfield walls remain draped in ivy, while classic green grillwork and terracotta roofing above the ticket booths invoke the splendor of the 1930s. Not long after the overhaul was completed, the federal government awarded the venue National Historic Landmark status.
“When we became stewards of the team, we set out our mission with three overriding goals,” says Laura, who co-owns the club with her brothers Pete, Todd and Tom. “Number one was to restore and preserve Wrigley Field for the next 100 years. Number two was to win a World Series and the third was to help build our community, giving back as a responsible partner but also being a leader.”
By any measure, the Ricketts have made good on all three commitments. Aside from the rescue and revival of Wrigley Field, the Cubs broke an unprecedented 108-year drought when they triumphed in the World Series in 2016. While more open-ended, their responsible partnership and leadership goal is being realized.
Cubs Charities, for example, whose board Laura co-chairs, supports a wide variety of health, education and sports projects around Chicago. And the club is seeking to lead the way in a transformation far greater than that of Wrigley Field. Baseball – as with most other sports – still has some way to go to level the playing field. Despite progress over the years, underrepresentation linked to race, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic background persists among players, playing staff, executives and front office professionals.
Diversity matters hugely to us at the Cubs.
Amid this uneven terrain, Laura is a standout. While there have been female owners of baseball teams since the early twentieth century, they are still something of a rarity today. And as the first-ever openly gay owner of any major American sports franchise, Laura has long experience of being “the only” in the boardroom. But although it leaves her unfazed, it is also a constant reminder of what still needs to change.
“Diversity matters hugely to us at the Cubs,” says Laura. “Chicago is a diverse city, and our fans are diverse. So, it’s important that our workforce is representative of the city where we operate. That means people seeing more examples of people like them, from athletes and others on the sporting side to those in front office roles. And that’s a barrier to other women.”
The quest to provide many more of these much-needed examples is advancing, however. Adjacent to Wrigley Field stands the team’s corporate offices. Designed to encourage collaboration, the thoroughly modern, open-plan workspaces host the Cubs’ front office talent, such as its marketing, legal, accounting and ticketing personnel. Nearly 40% of these professionals are now women, a figure Laura hopes to boost to just over half, in line with the wider population.
“While we’re doing pretty well in terms of the front office, the sporting side has much further to go,” she concedes. “When it comes to scouts, coaches, trainers and managers, there are still very few women. We have some at the Cubs, but we’re just at the tip of the iceberg in that regard. It’s not unusual to see a man coaching a women’s team, but it’s less usual to see a woman coaching a men’s team. That needs to change.”
Laura’s passion for equality began at a young age. While raised in a loving family, she noticed subtle differences in what she and her three brothers were allowed to do. As a teen, she became fascinated with the US Constitution and the ideals of parity under the law. Her childhood also coincided with a momentous legislative reform. Title IX outlawed sex discrimination in any federally funded educational activity. Previously, girls and young women had often been denied sporting opportunities at every level from preschool to college. Laura was among the first beneficiaries of the new regime.
“They suddenly started offering T-ball [a simplified version of baseball] for girls,” she recalls. “While I wasn’t aware of Title IX at the age of five, I absolutely knew it was a big deal that girls could now play T-ball. I think I participated in the first year that our little league in Omaha opened up to girls. That was my first experience of organized sport, and I went on to play softball, becoming an all-star player. It was a big part of my childhood, and maybe it’s partly why I’m very comfortable being a baseball team owner today.”
Very early on, I realized that you can’t talk about equity or equal treatment unless you are talking about everybody.
The Cubs have been among the most vocal of teams in the struggle against inequality in recent years. Amid the wave of social unrest following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the Cubs’ then president publicly acknowledged the need for greater racial diversity within the game. During warmup sessions, players and coaches wore T-shirts in support of Black Lives Matter, also signing an open statement released on social media. Despite some controversy over athletes joining the conversation about race, the Cubs made it clear that they did not expect its personnel to “stick to sports” and they were happy for them to take a stand on important issues.
“Very early on, I realized that you can’t talk about equity or equal treatment unless you are talking about everybody,” Laura observes. “It can’t just be gender or LGBTQ+ equality or whatever, because then it’s not really equality. It doesn’t solve the whole problem. You’ve got to consider age, abilities, veterans, native American and BIPOC (black, indigenous and other people of color). We’ve got to be looking at all these inequities together.”
Across North America, there have been efforts to make baseball more inclusive. In recent years, for example, almost every Major League team has held Pride Month celebrations. However, a small minority of fans nationwide have responded with calls for boycotts, with a handful of players refusing to wear Pride edition uniforms. And despite the league’s embrace of allyship, no top-level player to this day has ever come out during their career.
Having come out only in her thirties and not long before an attempt to amend the constitution to forbid gay marriage, Laura understands the personal challenges that closeted athletes typically face. In her own case, she admits regretting having waited as long as she did. But what might spur long-overdue progress in baseball?
“I don’t think there will be one big catalyst event that changes the situation,” says Laura. “Instead, I think it’s probably going to take a series of smaller ones. One of our star pitchers made a terrific stand this year, declaring his allyship to the LGBTQ+ community as well as making significant charitable contributions. The effect of things like that – as well as younger, openly gay players rising through the ranks – is likely to drive real change.”
Greater diversity in baseball and other sports is not merely about much-needed fairness, however. It also represents a major opportunity. The soaraway success of women’s soccer – which has a large following among men – is a case in point. In aggregate, baseball crowds are still skewed white, male and older.
Broadening the fanbase could thus help arrest a multi-year decline in Major League attendances. For Laura, though, a further opportunity lies in human development.
“Playing sports teaches so many things about life,” enthuses Laura. “Team sports, especially, is all about hard work, training, resilience, taking risks, coping with failure, being a good teammate and showing leadership. These things are directly transferrable to the workplace. We know that women who reach the C-suite of major companies are much likelier to have played team sports in their youth, for example.”
In August 2023, Laura led a consortium of women business owners and others to acquire the Chicago Red Stars, who play in the National Women’s Soccer League. This followed the purchase of a stake in Chicago Sky, a female basketball team, two months earlier.
“I’ve become very passionate about women’s sports,” says Laura. “They are a platform to highlight what women are capable of. Women athletes and sports teams have already become so much more culturally relevant. But we’re still only at the early stages. It’s a way of doing good by furthering equality, women’s empowerment and personal growth. And in my view, it’s a fantastic business opportunity.”
“Sports aren’t like any other kind of business,” she continues. “You never really own a team. The legacy and spirit belong to the fans, which is why we refer to ourselves as stewards rather than owners of the Cubs. It is something much bigger than our family, which will live on long after we are gone. Sports bring people together as individuals, communities and countries. Bringing people together is crucial in the fight for equity. Through the tremendous power of sports, we can create lasting change.”
Laura Ricketts: My life
“I was born in Nebraska City, but I mostly grew up in Omaha. I’m pretty much related to half the population of eastern Nebraska because both my parents are from farming communities with big families. I have many wonderful childhood memories of occasions such as Easter, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Getting together with so many cousins in Grandma’s yard was always exciting. We would have potluck meals, with everyone bringing a dish, and then we’d eat grandma’s strawberries with homemade ice cream.
Dad worked all hours to build Ameritrade, then still a start-up. He needed more staff, so Mom gave up her beloved teaching job and got her Series 7 brokers’ license. After school, us kids would let ourselves in back home and do chores until our parents returned. Oftentimes, we’d eat dinner together and then all head to the office with our parents so they could keep working. When we were very young, we’d run around or play with the photocopier, which annoyed Dad! During later summer vacations from school, I recall stuffing monthly client statements into envelopes, as the company didn’t yet have a machine to do it.
Family was always the number one priority in our household, followed by the business. We didn’t take many vacations, partly because of our parents’ work, but also because it was too expensive with four children. Once, I suggested we go on a trip to Mexico. Dad replied by asking me if I’d rather go on vacation or to college! At the time, I’d have said ‘vacation,’ but looking back, I can see the value of everything my parents were teaching me. It wasn’t about making money or working hard for the sake of it, but about setting goals, overcoming obstacles and the self-esteem you get from that.
I’ve always been competitive. I was raised as the only girl alongside three brothers and by a dad with a big personality. My mom is also very competitive, having grown up in a big family. You have to compete just to get your parents’ attention! Because of my upbringing, I am very comfortable with all male settings. For my section at the University of Michigan Law School, it was perhaps two-thirds men. And law school is naturally a very competitive, sometimes pretty aggressive environment anyway.
While I was at law school, my parents still owned Ameritrade. In the back of my mind, I thought I might go back to work for the business someday. However, they took it public before I ever got the chance to work there. Although I was really interested in constitutional law, I felt that would mean going into academia, which wasn’t for me. Given the sort of entrepreneurial family I grew up in, corporate and securities law seemed like a good fit. I didn’t enjoy practicing law very much, as being a law firm associate doesn’t allow for much creativity! I left to start an online business promoting ecotourism with my younger brother, his wife and a couple of friends.
During the first pandemic lockdown, a Zoom call with three other women leaders led my wife and I to cofound Beyond Barriers, a career fitness platform to help close the gender gap at work and help women go further, faster. By developing their skillsets and advocating for themselves, women can take control of their own professional path. Our superpower is community building, with the Beyond Barriers community expanding rapidly as women come together, learning from each other and sharing experiences. As women progress, it’ll create more equitable workplaces, which is good for everyone.
Global citizenship is a wonderful concept. For me, it’s about the opportunity we have to make an impact on the world. Of course, we can make impact for better or for worse. But if we’re mindful of that, we can achieve great things. Striving for equity, stronger communities and greater understanding is a perfect example.”
