The Cubs announced today that the big videoboard in left field (the one giving hokey traditionalists the vapors) that will debut sometime next season, will bear the name of Wintrust Financial. Apparently that is a bank, or some shit.
My good friends in the Cubs media department sent out this release today:
The Chicago Cubs and Wintrust Financial Corporation announced their Legacy Partnership introducing Wintrust as the exclusive Official Banking Partner of the Chicago Cubs, Hickory Street Capital LLC and Cubs Charities.
That looks like the winning entry in any “Excellence in Unnecessary Capitalization” contest.
This long-term agreement establishes Chicago-based Wintrust as a vital partner in a restored Wrigley Field, the development around the ballpark and the Cubs’ community and neighborhood involvement. Starting with the installation of the Wintrust sign on top of the left field video board for the 2015 season, the Legacy Partnership will expand over time and will include:
“Long-term” means, “we’re not telling you how much or for how many years–you know, the only part of this that really fucking matters.”
So what do you get for a “long-term” investment?
- Primary signage rights above the new left field video board (rendering attached).
Your name in lights! Ooh, I’m giddy!
- Exclusive ATM provider rights. Fans will be able to use Wintrust ATMs at multiple locations within Wrigley Field.
The right to charge $7.50 everytime an asshole from Iowa forgets to bring enough cash to the park and has to use one of your shitty machines to get his hard earned money out.
- Logo placement on the team’s media backdrop.
That’ll come in handy the first time Theo and Joe have to hold a press conference to discuss a player being arrested for molesting a police horse.
- Eventual naming rights of the ballpark’s Gate D on the corner of Addison and Sheffield avenues. Gate D will be named “The Wintrust Gate” once its renovation is complete.
Hey, meet me at the Wintrust Financial gate! What? Screw it, meet me at gate D.
- Rotational signage behind home plate.
All five Javy Baez strikeouts today were brought to you by Wintrust Financial. We make banking a breeze!
- A video board feature between innings at every Chicago Cubs home game.
Hey, everybody quiet down, the CEO of Wintrust Financial is doing another PSA to explain why a third of a percent is a good savings account interest rate!
- A presenting sponsorship of a game each season, including a special promotional giveaway item for fans.
This Ronnie Woo Woo-Wintrust Financial bobblehead is really authentic. It smells like a dead cat and it got into the game without paying…just like Ronnie!
- A presence at the team’s Spring Training home, Cubs Park, in Mesa, Arizona, with signage in the outfield and behind home plate, promotional space at the ballpark and a promotional date each season.
Reports say Soler fractured both legs when he ran into the Wintrust Financial sign in right field. He will never walk again. Just like Javy Baez! (Rimshot.)
- A retail lease in the future entertainment plaza and hotel development adjacent to Wrigley Field, through a separate agreement with the Ricketts family’s Hickory Street Capital LLC.
Ooh, does anybody know if there’s a payday loan outlet in the old Wrigley triangle building?
“It was important for us to find a strong local player for our Financial Legacy Partner,” stated Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts. “This Legacy Partnership pairs these two Chicago institutions for years to come, and we know our fans will support Wintrust’s role as a critical partner in helping the team achieve its goals of winning a World Series, saving Wrigley Field and being a good neighbor. Wintrust is a perfect fit for us.”
“That’s really just a long way of me saying, the check cleared!”
Along with the numerous Chicago area charities it already supports, Wintrust will play an important role with Cubs Charities as a Hall of Fame sponsor of Cubs Charities’ primary fundraising event, the Bricks and Ivy Ball. Wintrust will also be an associate partner of the team’s annual Cubs Convention and work with the Cubs and Cubs Charities on other community initiatives throughout the season.
“Working with the Cubs and their great charity arm, we expect to have a huge impact through our philanthropic efforts. For the length of this deal we will be addressing a crisis in the city, by giving two free tickets to a future Cubs game to every child in Chicago born with a “legacy addiction to crack cocaine.”
“This is more than a sports sponsorship,” observed Ed Wehmer, Wintrust CEO and Founder. “This is two Chicago institutions partnering to meet two lofty goals – one to win the World Series for the first time in more than a century, and the other to become Chicago’s Bank in an increasingly fragmented and competitive market. You can see a lot of parallels in our two organizations.”
“Lofty, indeed. Both of our organizations have a long-established history of frustrating our customers. We expect that continue on uninterrupted.”
The Wintrust legacy partnership agreement was secured by the Cubs’ agency, W Partners, which was launched in February of 2013. The Cubs entered into an agreement with W Partners to secure legacy partnerships as part of the 1060 Project.
A really long way to say that Wally Hayward’s bullshit marketing group gets five percent of this deal.
Wintrust becomes the fifth Legacy Partner of the Chicago Cubs, joining Anheuser-Busch, ATI Physical Therapy, Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Under Armour.
Cheap beer, rehab after your hip replacement, three star hotels, and $50 spandex underwear, and now a bank nobody’s ever heard of. An elite group, to be sure.
