Champions Gate at Wrigley Field is one of those additions that feels timeless, like it’s always been part of the ballpark even though it only just arrived. At the western entrance to Gallagher Way, the new archway is both a functional entry point for fans and a permanent monument to the Chicago Cubs’ World Series championships. It was unveiled yesterday, as the centerpiece of the 10-year celebration of the 2016 team that finally ended the 108-year title drought.
Walk up Clark Street toward Gallagher Way now and you don’t just see an open plaza — you’re guided through a 31-foot-wide, 22-foot-tall gateway built specifically to honor the championship seasons of 1907, 1908, and 2016. Brick pillars anchor the structure on either side, carrying bronze plaques that list the players and managers from each of those World Series rosters, turning the entrance into a kind of open-air hall of fame.
Above you, a large bronze medallion echoes the commemorative logo the Cubs used in 2016, with bronzed ivy and a diamond-patterned truss that nods to Wrigley’s metalwork and iconic outfield walls. Even the subtle W pattern along the bottom of the truss is intentional, a visual shout-out to the light towers and the tradition of flying the W after victories.
What makes Champions Gate feel different from a typical statue or plaque is that the Cubs didn’t just drop another monument somewhere on the concourse — they reshaped how fans physically arrive at the ballpark. The gate is the main entry to Gallagher Way, meaning thousands, and eventually millions, of fans will pass through this arch on their way to games, concerts, and events, experiencing the team’s championship history as part of their normal game-day routine. It’s not something you have to seek out off to the side; it’s baked directly into the flow of Wrigleyville.
The design team drew inspiration from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, another monument built to celebrate victories and honor those connected with them, and then translated that idea into a distinctly Wrigley-friendly form. Stantec, which has worked on Gallagher Way, and architect Vinnie Hare collaborated with the Cubs to ensure the gate felt consistent with the ballpark’s existing brick, iron, and ivy aesthetic rather than like a modern add-on dropped into a century-old environment. The same iron manufacturer used for the Cubs statues was brought in for the gate, which keeps the material language unified across the Wrigley campus.
During the dedication ceremony, members of the 2016 team — World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, Anthony Rizzo, Jake Arrieta, and others — joined team executives to cut the ribbon and formally open Champions Gate. The event was part reunion, part unveiling, tying the emotional weight of that 2016 run directly to a structure that’s built to outlast all of them. In front of fans gathered in Gallagher Way, the Cubs made it clear this wasn’t just a one-off anniversary decoration, but something meant to stand for decades as a focal point for future celebrations.
The first of its kind label isn’t just marketing spin. Wrigley Field already has plenty of tributes to Cubs history — statues of legends like Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams, the Ivy itself, the manually operated scoreboard — but Champions Gate is the franchise’s first permanent monument dedicated specifically to its World Series titles.
Instead of honoring a single player or a generic sense of tradition, the gate is laser-focused on the championship seasons and the rosters that delivered them, weaving those achievements into the literal threshold of the ballpark. For a franchise that waited 108 years between titles, it’s striking that it took this long to build a dedicated championship monument, and that’s part of what makes this structure feel so unique.
There’s also a forward-looking element that separates Champions Gate from typical commemorative pieces. The Cubs intentionally left room for future plaques and inscriptions, planning for additional titles to be added to the arch rather than treating it as a sealed museum piece. Crane Kenney, the Cubs’ President of Business Operations, has described the gate as something that will grow with the franchise, welcoming new championship teams into the same physical space alongside the 1907, 1908, and 2016 squads. That room for more message is baked into the fan experience: you enter through a memorial to past glory that quietly assumes there will be more to come.
Another subtle but important aspect is accessibility. Because Champions Gate sits at Gallagher Way rather than inside a ticketed area, fans without game tickets can still walk up, take photos, read the plaques, and experience the monument. It effectively extends Wrigley’s historical storytelling beyond the turnstiles, turning the broader Wrigleyville neighborhood into part of the museum.
Here’s the thing, folks: For visiting fans, tourists, and even locals just passing through on a non-game day, the gate offers a tangible connection to one of the most memorable nights in Chicago sports history.
With that . . . Champions Gate is more than an archway — it’s a statement about how the Cubs want their championship history to be experienced. By combining architecture, storytelling, and everyday fan movement into one structure, they’ve created a first-of-its-kind World Series monument that you don’t just look at — you walk through, again and again, as part of being a Cubs fan at Wrigley Field.
If you cannot play with them, then root for them!