By Phil Rosenthal | WGN-TV Ch. 9 will air the game between the Bears and Miami Dolphins Nov. 18 under an agreement with the National Football League. Tribune Co., parent of WGN and the Chicago Tribune, also snagged five other games schedule do be shown on the NFL Network.
Read the full story: Tower Ticker
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WGN TV to air primetime Bears game
BP scales back Crosstown Cup sponsorship
From left, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts jokes with Cubs players Randy Wells and Marlon Byrd on April 26, 2010, the day the Cubs and White Sox made the Crosstown Cup official. (Michael Tercha/ Chicago Tribune)
By Wailin Wong | The BP oil spill in the Gulf has leaked into the company’s sponsorship
of the BP Crosstown Cup, the six-game series between the Cubs and White Sox that kicks off next week.
The company is still sponsoring the series, but “we’ve scaled back efforts a little bit” as a result of events in the Gulf, said Kevin Saghy, a Cubs spokesman. He said BP has already started some in-store promotions for the Cup, but has cut back on other planned events, as well as advertising and media outreach. The teams are also considering a more subtle presentation of the trophy, Saghy said.
NHL: Full Cup finals never on U.S. network TV
By Phil Rosenthal | Those remembering the time when network TV broadcast the whole of the Stanley Cup finals need to shake the cobwebs from their minds. Never happened in the U.S., according to NHL HQ.
Read the full story: Tower Ticker
Female Health Co. gets major World Cup order
By Ameet Sachdev | South Africa will distribute 3.5 million female condoms manufactured by
Chicago-based Female Health Co. during the World Cup soccer tournament.
The World Cup will bring millions of visitors to South Africa and health
organizations are concerned about the impact on public health. An
international agency, which does not want to be identified, procured the
condoms from Female Health and is working with South Africa’s health
ministry to distribute them, a company spokesman said.
Cubs announce recycling initiative at Wrigley
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
| The ivy-covered outfield walls aren’t the only green at Wrigley Field.
Four companies and the Chicago Cubs announced a recycling initiative at the ballpark Wednesday that is expected to save about 165,000 pounds of cardboard and plastic materials from landfills.
City buildings committee approves Toyota sign
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts speaks to the media on May 6, 2010, the day he received approval from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to install a Toyota sign at Wrigley Field. (William DeShazer/ Chicago Tribune)
By Ameet Sachdev
| The Chicago Cubs moved one step closer to erecting a proposed Toyota
advertisement above the bleachers at Wrigley Field.
The buildings committee of the Chicago City Council on Tuesday
unanimously approved a permit for the illuminated, 360-square-foot sign,
said a Cubs official.
The committee’s approval was expected after Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th,
changed his mind about the sign and voiced his support for the sign.
Wrigley Field sits in Tunney ward.
Supreme Court rules in favor of American Needle
Tribune News Services
| The Supreme Court on Monday turned away the National Football League’s request for broad antitrust law protection, ruling that the league can be considered 32 separate teams — not one big business — when it comes to selling branded items like jerseys and caps.
The high court unanimously reversed a lower
court ruling throwing
out an antitrust suit brought against the league by one of its former
hat makers, Buffalo Grove-based American Needle Inc., who was upset that it lost its contract for making official
NFL hats to Reebok.
American Needle
claimed the league violated antitrust
law because all 32 teams worked together to freeze it out of the
NFL-licensed hatmaking business. The company lost and appealed to the
Supreme Court, but the NFL did as well, hoping to get broader protection
from antitrust lawsuits.
Get the full story: Court says NFL is 32 teams, not single business.
Toyota sign at Wrigley expected to get OK
Fans protesting a possible Toyota sign at Wrigley Field on April 30, 2010. (Phil Velasquez/ Chicago Tribune)
From the Chicago Sun-Times | The city and the Chicago Cubs may have struck a deal to give a a permit to the team erect a Toyota billboard in left field at Wrigley Field in exchange for a four-year moratorium on towering outfield signs.
Get the full story: suntimes.com
Chicago 2016 releases final fundraising figures
By Kathy Bergen | Chicago’s unsuccessful bid for the 2016 Olympics raised $75.9 million,
and spent $59.4 million of the total on its 42-month campaign, bid
leader Patrick Ryan disclosed Monday. World Sport Chicago, a non-profit created as an affiliate of the bid,
received the other $16.5 million, including $6 million that will support
future sports programs.
“Although unsuccessful in our attempt to bring the 2016 Games to
Chicago, we believe the bid showcased the greatness of our city and its
citizens to the world, and inspired tens of thousands of Chicago youth
to become engaged in sport,” Ryan said in a prepared statement.
Wilson Sporting Goods gets $37,800 OSHA fine
From the Toledo Blade | The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Wilson Sporting Goods $37,800 for safety violations at its Ada, Ohio plant known for making the football used in the Super Bowl.
Get the full story: toledoblade.com
Hyatt Hotel proposed for Wrigleyville
From CBS Ch. 2 Chicago | Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said he backs a proposal for a mixed commercial and residential development at Clark and Addison streets, across from Wrigley Field, that would include a 137-room Hyatt Hotel and 135 residential units.
Get the full story: cbs2chicago.com
Toyota sign at Wrigley OK’d — but there’s a hitch
By Ameet Sachdev | The Chicago Cubs gained initial clearance to erect a large Toyota
advertisement at Wrigley Field, but the future of the sign is muddled because the alderman whose ward includes the landmarked ballpark opposes
it.
After the Chicago Landmarks
Commission approved the Toyota ad, Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, said that the Cubs are still required to go
before the buildings committee of the City Council to get approval
because of the size of the sign. Without his support, council
authorization may be in doubt.
MillerCoors ends Coors Light deal with NFL
Associated Press | Chicago-based MillerCoors won’t renew its
Coors Light sponsorship of the National Football League after this
upcoming season is over. Coors Light had been the official beer of the
NFL since 2002 and this season will be its last.
MillerCoors CEO Leo Kiely says the company made an offer that expired
at midnight Monday but it wasn’t accepted. The company tells
distributors in a memo it couldn’t reach an agreement with the NFL over
the value of the sponsorship.
Cubs owner Ricketts defends Wrigley Toyota sign
An artist’s rendering of the proposed sign. (Cubs)
By Ameet Sachdev |
Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said he is aggravated that the
proposed Toyota sign that the team wants to erect in the left field
bleachers has generated so much controversy, considering that his
family has already invested $10 million in repairs and maintenance at
Wrigley Field.
Ricketts, in a meeting Friday with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial
board, even suggested that the family’s future investment in projects
in the Wrigleyville community hinges on the approval of the sign. The
family bought the team and stadium from Tribune Co., parent of the
Chicago Tribune, last fall in a deal valued at $845 million.
Edwin Watts golf shops to open in Sears stores
By Sandra M. Jones |
Sears Holdings Corp. signed an agreement with Edwin Watts Golf Shops
LLC to operate 12 golf shops inside Sears stores. The first in-store
golf shop is slated to open at Sears in Murray, Utah, by May 31. Others
are planned to open soon after at Sears stores in Hicksville, NY; Falls
Church, Va., and Friendswood, Texas. Another eight shops are slated to
open at Sears in Maryland, Illinois, New York, Florida and Kentucky.
