It is kismet that Morgan Bucciferro, who began her sports business career operating 5K races in which competitors battled mud, fire and other obstacles, now spearheads the staging of concerts, ice hockey, golf, football, volleyball and the growing roster of other non-baseball events at one of the world’s most iconic ballparks.
Four questions with Morgan Bucciferro, vice president of events, Chicago Cubs
What have been some of your most memorable meals while traveling? The fresh ceviche in Lima, Peru’s Miraflores District (also, the pisco sours in Peru were the best!). I also love a simple ballpark hot dog. Nothing beats it.
Your hiking trip got cut short when you decided to join the real world. Where would you go if you had another five-month break? I’d like to do that again, on a different budget! I’d like to go to Banff National Park in Canada, and I’ve always wanted to go on a safari in Africa (we talked about doing that for our honeymoon, but we didn’t get a chance to).
What is the next big event you are excited about? Hosting the Big Ten volleyball here this year over Labor Day weekend. We’ve been trying to figure out how to make it happen. Almost 60% of ticket buyers are new buyers to us, and nearly half are located more than 100 miles away from the ballpark.
One family, two different Spartans? In 2009, my brother, Tony, was a freshman pitcher at Michigan State [and was drafted in 2012 by the Chicago White Sox], and the team came to play at Fluor Field in nearby Greenville [S.C.]. I was a junior in Spartanburg [also the Spartans], and I went to see him play.
Since joining the Chicago Cubs in 2016 as assistant director of event operations and security, the Joliet, Ill., native has created a résumé for Wrigley Field that is becoming almost as diverse as her own.
In addition to improving the campus’ security operations, she has helped run more than 50 concerts — roughly two-thirds of the total concerts ever held at the ballpark. Bucciferro also helped design the operating layout for Gallagher Way, the outdoor entertainment area adjacent to the ballpark, so that it could host a wider variety of events.
In February, she was handed the reins to the operations side of Wrigley Field Events, which last year included 18 major events (see list), 670 private events held around the ballpark’s campus and more than 200 public events at Gallagher Way.
Getting there was, quite literally, a hike.
Her college experience at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., was a success by any measure: She graduated magna cum laude with a major in communications and a minor in international relations. She honed her leadership skills as captain of the volleyball team and as a youth coach near campus.
But it was her senior year abroad at La Universidad Nebrija in Madrid that provided her the opportunity to visit Morocco, Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and Slovenia. It changed her life.
“The trip helped shape who I am today, as it pushed me to get out of my comfort zone, allowed me to meet new people and experience different cultures, all while learning,” she said. ”I learned a lot about myself and found kindness in strangers everywhere I went.”
After college, she moved back home — “2010 was not a good time to be looking for a job,” she said — and took an internship with Chicago-based Red Frog Events, whose primary property was Warrior Dash, one of the most successful obstacle-event operators of the “mud-run” era, eventually staging dozens of annual competitions that drew nearly 1 million participants in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
During her five years there, she also helped launch and was named director of operations of the Firefly Music Festival at Dover Motor Speedway in Delaware.
She said it “catapulted” her love for producing events.
2025 Wrigley Field major non-baseball events
Sports: The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey series (2 dates); Upper Deck Golf (5 dates); Northwestern football (2 games) and baseball (1 game)
Concerts: Chris Brown; ATEEZ; Stray Kids; Post Malone
Other: Oktoberfest with the Cubs (Toyota Camry Lot, 3 dates); Winterland at Gallagher Way
“We would live in Dover for the entire month of the festival, and it was a dream come true to be able to produce something so special,” she said. “With sports being such a large part of who I am, working a big event is literally the exact same thing, because I’m always surrounded by others who have a common goal.”
In the fall of 2015, she left the company and spent five months on a “backpacking and volunteering trip” in Peru and Chile. After returning home for the holidays, she planned to go to Southeast Asia and Africa “to continue my little round-the-world-adventure.”
A friend sent her a job description for the Cubs’ assistant director of security and event operations position, which took her down her current decadelong journey.
She is a member of the Stadium Managers Association and its Women in Leadership Deliver cohort, which supports a cause she is adamant about.
“Being a mom in sports operations, it’s incredibly important to me to show my daughters [ages 2 and 4] and other young girls that there is a space for them in this industry,” said Bucciferro. “I brought my oldest daughter to The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series last year [which included three men’s games and one women’s game] to show her not only that women can compete at the highest level, but that women also play a critical role in bringing these events to life. By seeing ‘Mom’ in action, I want my girls to see that women belong in every part of sports, from the field to the boardroom to the operations teams that create unforgettable experiences for fans.”
