Last season, the Chicago Cubs (My Team) sold the rights to the outfield doors of Wrigley Field to the popular sporting equipment company Under Armour. Under Armour proceeded to advertise their logo throughout the season on the mentioned doors of this historic baseball landmark. Many baseball purists were bothered by the ownerships lack of respect for the history of the ballpark, however I disagree with those purists. The ad first and foremost brings more revenue to both sides, essentially being a win-win situation. The Cubs make money by selling off the rights to advertise on the doors, while Under Armour receives the attention they desire from both the ad itself and the controversy it causes. And really, the ad does not change much when it comes to the environment and history of Wrigley Field, the same goes to the Budweiser sign on the roof of the building behind the ballpark that was put up a few years back. These advertisements are classy in the sense that they are respecting the game of baseball by not drastically altering the landscape of this historic ground. However, interim Cubs owner Sam Zell is disappointing a much wider audience by putting up the naming rights to Wrigley Field for sale. This is a poor advertisement choice, due to the enormous amount of history behind the name. Whichever company chooses to advertise by purchasing the naming rights to the stadium will suffer the similar fate of U.S Cellular, who renamed the White Sox's Comiskey Park to U.S Cellular Field. Of course, the fate of Wrigley Field means alot more then anything having to do with the White Sox :) but thats just me talking haha.
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