The Bears are putting the finishing touches on a plan to “tastefully” increase advertising at Soldier Field to generate millions of dollars for stadium improvements, a top mayoral aide said Thursday.
Chicago Park District Supt. Mike Kelly said he expects to know within two weeks precisely how many signs the Bears intend to add at Soldier Field, along with the locations of that advertising.
Promoted Stories from sportsChatter
MLB pitcher sparked heated Twitter debate with Curt Schilling
Three years ago, Jake Arrieta promised a Twitter heckler he’d become a dominant pitcher
Olivia Munn and Aaron Rodgers hang with Anna Faris and Chris Pratt
“The Bears have agreed to go out and market the stadium and put all of that money back into the stadium. That was the critical term. It’s an old stadium. It needs money,” Kelly said during a break at Thursday’s Plan Commission meeting.
“The first step is just getting us to buy into the marketing concepts and putting ’em out to bid,” he said.
Pressed on where the new signs would be located, Kelly said, “Ask me that question in about two weeks. I’ll show you. Hopefully, we’ll have an agreement with them on what we’re going to do.”
Park District general counsel Tim King said purist fans need not worry about advertising creep at Soldier Field.
“There’s a concept. It’s very subtle, very tasteful designs. The Bears are going to put it out to market. The market is going to respond to . . . certain signs mixed with Wi-Fi access, website [advertising] and player appearances. There’s different packages,” King said.
“As long as it’s tastefully done and it’s respectful of the history of the stadium, it’s the only way we can continue to keep the stadium competitive with other NFL markets,” he said. “There’s no other way to pay for it.”
The door to what’s expected to be a dramatic influx in stadium advertising was opened by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s now-scrapped plan to give movie mogul George Lucas 17 acres of land near Soldier Field to build his interactive museum.
In exchange for the inconvenience of losing the South Parking Lot to Lucas, the Bears bargained hard for a host of marketing and advertising opportunities that could go a long way toward financing stadium upgrades.
Chicago Park District Supt. Mike Kelly said he expects to know within two weeks precisely how many signs the Bears intend to add at Soldier Field, along with the locations of that advertising.
Promoted Stories from sportsChatter
MLB pitcher sparked heated Twitter debate with Curt Schilling
Three years ago, Jake Arrieta promised a Twitter heckler he’d become a dominant pitcher
Olivia Munn and Aaron Rodgers hang with Anna Faris and Chris Pratt
“The Bears have agreed to go out and market the stadium and put all of that money back into the stadium. That was the critical term. It’s an old stadium. It needs money,” Kelly said during a break at Thursday’s Plan Commission meeting.
“The first step is just getting us to buy into the marketing concepts and putting ’em out to bid,” he said.
Pressed on where the new signs would be located, Kelly said, “Ask me that question in about two weeks. I’ll show you. Hopefully, we’ll have an agreement with them on what we’re going to do.”
Park District general counsel Tim King said purist fans need not worry about advertising creep at Soldier Field.
“There’s a concept. It’s very subtle, very tasteful designs. The Bears are going to put it out to market. The market is going to respond to . . . certain signs mixed with Wi-Fi access, website [advertising] and player appearances. There’s different packages,” King said.
“As long as it’s tastefully done and it’s respectful of the history of the stadium, it’s the only way we can continue to keep the stadium competitive with other NFL markets,” he said. “There’s no other way to pay for it.”
The door to what’s expected to be a dramatic influx in stadium advertising was opened by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s now-scrapped plan to give movie mogul George Lucas 17 acres of land near Soldier Field to build his interactive museum.
In exchange for the inconvenience of losing the South Parking Lot to Lucas, the Bears bargained hard for a host of marketing and advertising opportunities that could go a long way toward financing stadium upgrades.
No comments:
Post a Comment