Under Armour in the Ivy at Wrigley
In a break with tradition, the Chicago Cubs will have advertising on the two outfield doors in left and right field at Wrigley Field starting this season.
Under Armour, the rapidly growing Baltimore-based sports apparel company, struck a deal this week with the Cubs to put its linking ‘U’ logo on the doors among the ivy. The 7 by 12 foot signs are to be in place for the Cubs April 9 home opener against the Houston Astros.
“We greatly appreciate the Chicago Cubs’ history and wanted to be part of their new direction and exciting future,” Steve Battista, Under Armour’s vice president of brand, said in a release. “We’re thrilled to partner with such a storied ballclub as a symbol of their strong desire to improve on-field performance while blazing new trails with the franchise.”
Under Armour, which recently entered the baseball market with baseball cleats, has a partnership with Alfonso Soriano, whom the Cubs signed in the offseason. Soriano will wear Under Armour gloves and wristbands this season.
“The Chicago Cubs’ mission is to develop a winning culture and our partnership with Under Armour reflects that vision,” Jay Blunk, Cubs director of marketing and sales, said in a statement. "The Cubs are committed to finding alternative and creative revenue streams to build the championship team our fans richly deserve."
Perhaps this move would bother me if we hadn’t started running ads on the bottom of the first page of the newspaper's sports section.
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.
