When Tom Gramatis bought a building near Chicago's Wrigley Field this June, the purchase included a rooftop advertisement for Budweiser, for which, apparently, the beer giant pays more than $300,000 a year in rent.
One side effect of the Cubs' success this season is that Mr. Gramatis is more aware of the value of the sign than he perhaps was when he bought the building. This fall, when the Budweiser people didn't pay the rent on time, Mr. Gramatis draped a tarpaulin over the advertisement. Anheuser-Busch did the honorable thing and sued him, saying that the only reason they hadn't paid him was that he hadn't sent them a bill, and last week a Chicago judge gave Anheuser-Busch permission to remove the tarpaulin. Three hours later, the beer people had the sign uncovered again. "With any luck, I'll see the sign when the White Sox play the Cubs in the World Series," the judge said.
Thanks to the Chicago Tribune for the story, which you can read in full here. The image is swiped from ballparkroadtrip.com and dates from 2000.