Deadspin
We don't like to think of ourselves as stuffy traditionalists ... but this, friends, just makes us sad.
The Cubs announced a multiyear deal Wednesday with Under Armour, a sports apparel company, agreeing to place its logo and name on the outfield doors. Terms of the agreement were not announced, but the ads will be in place at least through 2008.
By mid-May, the Under Armour ads will be surrounded by the ivy that Bill Veeck helped plant 70 years ago to beautify a ballpark that eventually turned into a baseball mecca. Cubs marketing director Jay Blunk said the skyrocketing cost of player salaries necessitated the change, though he knows the decision may upset traditionalists.
That's right: An Under Armour ad on the Ivy at Wrigley Field. The day has come. Hey, Jason Marquis is gonna pay for himself.
Cubs Show Tradition The Door With Ad Deal [Chicago Tribune] (via Foul Balls)
Comments
We must protect this house!
WE MUST PROTECT THIS IVY!
Damn, beat me to it.
Why spend the money? keep the confines the same-- you're gonna find a way to lose either way. At least let the fans have their drunken nostalgic bliss.
They're actually changing it to "We Must Not Get Swept by the Marlins and Pirates on this Six Game Homestand"
ahhhhh, so that's how they plan on financing big Z's new contract
WE MUST PROTECT THIS BASTION OF DISAPPOINTMENT!
(I kid, I kid, Cubs fans. The Rangers are worthless, and I'm bitter.)
Hey, Jason Marquis is gonna pay for himself.
Possibly the single most egregious typo of the Leitch Era.
Somewhere, Dusty Baker is incensed that he missed out on a new pair of armbands.
Who will protect me?
- Steve Bartman
this wouldn't be so bad if they could justify it by winning. They keep adding ugly "revenue streams" and continue to lose, which as a fan, is hard to stomach.
Sorry, do I have to add a tired one-liner?
strangely, goatriders.org actually called this late last year.
A Blue Cross/Blue Shield ad on the pitching rubber would be more appropriate.
Where will Sammy Sosa hide his steroids?
I guess Super Bases Loaded featuring Ryan Sandberg just wasn't selling well enough this past holiday season.
Carlos Zambrano must protect Carlos Zambranos' house.
-Carlos Zambrano
They could always just raise ticket prices more. Lord knows the Chads and Trixies that make up most of the crowd these days will pay it no matter what because it's a place to be seen while wondering where Sammy Sosa is. Oh, and a few actual fans too.
Actually, games when the weather isn't that warm yet usually have lots of real fans. It's the summertime day games that are excruciating as far as the people you have to deal with there.
It's on the doors, not the ivy, dummies.
They aren't going to take out any ivy, either.
I dont like it either, but I can't allow myself to agree with Cardinal fans lke Will.
This is their year, I can feel it.
Wait, no, no I can't.
I am a rabid Cubs fan and I say 75-87
Cubs shill! Cubs shill!
Hey!
It's outta control!
Yinka,
There as just as many dumb band-wagoning Sox fans as there are Cub fans, the difference being the dumb Cub fans happen to be women with bleached blonde hair and fake tits, which makes Sox fans jealous.
I find it ironic because every time Mark Prior throws his arm goes CLICK CLACK
I find it ironic because every time Mark Prior throws his arm goes CLICK CLACK
Well played.
I think we hear the Cubs losing.
Will,
Are you a closeted Cubs fan? Two Cubs' posts this week and none for the Deadbirds. Just come out already, would you please? You can see Amaechi was welcomed with open arms this week.
Carlos Zambrano wants to know if UnderArmor will protect Carlos Zambrano's carpal tunnel.
Will,
Are you a closeted Cubs fan? Two Cubs' posts this week and none for the Deadbirds. Just come out already, would you please? You can see Amaechi was welcomed with open arms this week.
J-No,
You basically just said that coming out as a Cub fan makes you gay. Haven't the Cubs provided enough ammo for White Sox and Cardinals' fans already?
Hey, hey, holy mackerel.
I understand why they do it, but I absolutely hate when immense venues (e.g. -- Yankee Stadium; Bobby Knight's sweater) are plastered with ads.
Though it still sucks, the ad will be on the doors of the outfield wall, not in the actual ivy.
AR, not really. Actual Sox fans would just assume the bandwagon fans go jump in Lake Michigan, it would make it easier for us to get good seats again. We're not there to look at chicks, we're there to watch baseball. The tools who jumped on the bandwagon the last couple of years might be jealous.
Half price Mondays at the Cell are hell now. I'd actually rather watch a Cubs game than sit in the outfield seats on half price Mondays.
Some wheelchair company would work for Cubs advertising, seeing as they can't walk to save their life.
The "traditionalists" would do well to remember that the entire stadium, in fact, has the longest running corporate-sponsored name in the history of professional sports. So there's that...
Baseball traditionalist? Those are two words I'd never expect to see together.
Seriously this is not a big deal. The Green Monster used to be entirely painted with advertising until is was, you know, painted green.
Did you know that you will get forcible removed from Wrigley if you try to touch the ivy?
If the Cubs landed the same Under Armour deal my team (Auburn) had this past season, look for some interesting new TV ads where your manager looks painfully out of place trying to say some new catchphrase with a straight face.
oooooooooohhhhhh...want to touch the ivy.
Why can't they make big topiaries of the Under Armour garmets?
That would work...
This sucks.
Next thing you know, they'll put lights in and start playing at nigh...what? When?
Is nothing sacred?
What's next?
...Armour Hams
...Armor All
Anyone?
AnalRapist,
I'm not calling Will gay (not that there is anything wrong with it). I am pointing out that there have been 2 cubs related posts this week and nothing about his beloved team. I am quesitoning his loyalty to the cards, that is all.
creasy bear - The park is named for former owner William Wrigley. The team gets no money from the Wrigley Co. for the park's name.
The park's named after a former owner, not the gum company. Let's get our facts straight.
They should have Calvin peeing on the ivy.
I'm not sure how that makes money though.
+1 Carson
My favorite thing about the Friendly Confines is the quiet, old-fashioned nature of it all. No jumbotron blaring flying pizzas. No music pumping AC/DC or Eddie Money (not that I don't love AC/DC and Eddie Money, of course, just not at the ballpark). Just beer, hot dogs and baseball (or something approximating it).
I went to Yankee Stadium last year for opening day (yes, the tickets were free) and couldn't find a single patch of concrete that didn't have a speaker at full blast.
So I don't really care about the ads. They wrapped the roof of the house over LF with a massive Budweiser sign and put in that rotating sign behind home plate and it didn't seem to change anything.
I stand corrected.
[hangs head in shame, leaves to put C4 in own butt]
I am fine with this. Hopefully they will stop trying to sell us a stadium and try to start selling us a team where they pay Ted fucking Lilly 800 million billion dollars.
Why can't they make big topiaries of the Under Armour garmets?
The Cubs made a huge ivy-covered garden maze when they created Wrigley Field that took up the space that these could reside. Unfortunately, the last one out of the maze accidentally dropped the Cubs' World Series chances on his way out.
If that money buys us 1 more win I could care less. Like Sigerson said, as long as there is no jumbotron and AC/DC, just an organ playing, I am somewhat ok with it.
The whole argument that the people at Cubs games are not good fans has always fascinated me. What kind of desperate, lame argument is that. But even if I entertained that White Sox or Cardinals fans are, for some reason, "better" than Cubs fans, as a fan, what would you rather have, 15,000 ugly middle-aged dudes, who call themselves "real fans" at Comiskey, or 40,000 fans, many of which are women and children at a Cubs game?
Either way, the whole thing is the most sour grapes argument for why the Sox aren't as big a draw in Chicago.
Cubs marketing director Jay Blunk said the skyrocketing cost of player salaries necessitated the change
In a related story, President Bush cited the skyrocketing costs of unpopular wars to have Halliburton's logo placed on the American flag.
Fuck that.
But shit, we fucking deserve it.
Fuck.
I only object if the Under Armour ad includes that creepy buff man-child from the commercial.
"I only object if the Under Armour ad includes that creepy buff man-child from the commercial"
He'll be wearing his helmet (with tinted visor) and playing center field.
And still won't strike out as often as Corey Patterson.
"Wrigley Field - World's Largest Gay Bar"
seen on t-shirts being hawked outside Comiskey
Most people don't make fun of Cubs fans (well they do but whatever) they make fun of the people at Wrigley ... often not Cubs fans but yuppies looking to get drunk in a crowd on overpriced beers.
Cam:
1) Cardinals crowds are better than both Sox and Cubs crowds. They fill up the stadium even when they suck and all the people know their shit, and they're pretty much all friendly too. You can't go to a better place for a baseball trip.
2) One of the two reasons the Sox don't draw as well goes back 25ish years and was entirely their fault. They moved off of WGN to try to make more money from a UHF station and a pay cable station (SportsVision, the pay predecessor to basic cable SportsChannel). When people stopped being able to see the games, guess who made strides with their attendance? The teams drew pretty evenly (with the Sox on average outdrawing the Cubs