Chicago sought out a Herculean challenge last spring when it went after the 2007 World Boxing Championships, which will open here Tuesday.
Long gone are the days when a Sonny Liston versus Floyd Patterson bout could pack Comiskey Park, or a charismatic Sugar Ray Leonard could grab worldwide attention at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
“I don’t know that boxing is that hot,” said sports marketer David Brenner, president of Paragon Marketing Group in Skokie.
Against this backdrop, Chicago chose to mount the tournament within a six-month time frame, stepping in after the sponsoring organization ditched host city Moscow because of organizational problems. Typically, these events are two years in the making.
The city’s motivation was simple: It wants the 2016 Summer Games and sees the boxing ring as a possible ticket to proving it should fly the Olympic rings.
The next two weeks will tell whether Chicago has advanced its cause, or set it back, as a coterie of International Olympic Committee members, including President Jacques Rogge, and other Olympic movement leaders spend time in the Windy City and gauge how well it pulls off the 11-day international sporting event at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion.
Heading into the event, there are signs of strength, including expected record-breaking athlete turnout and respectable levels of corporate sponsorship, but also signs of weakness, including modest marketing efforts and lackluster ticket sales.
Taken together, these signals seem to indicate the event’s ultimate outcome rests largely on the city’s ability to drum up some 11th-hour passion for pugilists. Toward that end, the boxers will parade down State Street in the Loop at 4 p.m. Monday en route to the opening ceremony at the Chicago Theater.
“One advantage of not selling out too far in advance is there are great seats available and great matches coming up, so it’s time to get the word out,” said Bernie DiMeo, whose eponymous advertising and marketing firm has represented many sports clients.
‘Biggest event’ for city
And this will be a critical test.
“This is the biggest event on the horizon for the city of Chicago to execute prior to the vote in 2009,” said Jim Scherr, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Chicago’s partner on the bid. Chicago is one of seven cities competing for the 2016 Games, a selection to be made by the International Olympic Committee in October 2009.
“The feeling of the crowd, the welcome reception, the organization of events, these are all things that will leave visiting dignitaries with a good flavor or a negative impression of the event,” Robert Ctvrtlik, the USOC’s vice president for international relations.
Another key gauge of local enthusiasm will be the level of press coverage, Scherr said: “Is it buried in small print or are there headlines?”
The city got an early vote of confidence from IOC President Jacques Rogge, who said, ”We have no doubt Chicago will host a very successful world championships.”
A million little details go into pulling together an event like this, and the tasks had to be done at a sprint, primarily by World Sport Chicago, launched last winter by the Chicago 2016 bid committee to bring amateur sporting events to the city and promote youth athletics.
“There’s accreditation, accommodations, airport operations, food and beverage service, language services, logistics, medical, press, protocol, security, fight management,” said the event’s manager, Tim Larkin, who has organized World Cup and Olympic events. And that’s not even mentioning marketing, sponsorships and ticket-sales programs.
Financial data withheld
The efforts are bearing some fruit, though it is difficult to quantify because World Sport Chicago has declined to provide specific financial information.
Despite the fact that powerhouse Cuba has opted not to participate because of defection fears, athlete participation levels are strong. The tournament, a qualifier for the 2008 Beijing Games, is drawing close to 700 athletes from more than 120 countries, a more than 50 percent hike in participation over the 2005 championships, Larkin said. The city’s hospitality infrastructure was cited as a reason for the strong turnout.
“Chicago really offers excellent facilities,” said Ching-kuo Wu, president of the International Boxing Federation (AIBA), which conducts the championships every two years. Accommodations, food and venues “are at the highest standard,” he said, while lodging was “very low cost.” A portion of hotel costs was picked up by World Sport Chicago, though the organization declined to specify how much it is spending.
“The cooperation from the city is the best I’ve seen anywhere for an event like this,” said Tom Virgets, chairman of USA Boxing, a co-host.
A healthy number of corporate sponsors have stepped forward, led by USG Corp., and including Anheuser-Busch, CDW, Citadel Group, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Exelon and Bus Bank. World Sport Chicago declined to disclose the value of the sponsorship deals.
Securing sponsors for amateur events “is very difficult because television audiences are not as large as they are for professional events, so when a USG makes a decision like this, it’s not just based on sponsorship value but on a commitment to the city,” said Charlie Besser, chief executive of Intersport, a sports marketing and media company in Chicago.
A benchmark of success would be to get four or more sponsors, said Besser, whose firm provided pro bono guidance during the event’s early planning stages but is no longer involved.
More problematic will be filling the 5,000 seats available for 13 sessions spread over 11 days, with some early sessions having as many as 80 bouts. That’s 65,000 seats, some for matches on weekday afternoons.
Ticket market experts say demand seems soft. “There really isn’t demand for it on the secondary market, which leads you to believe the popularity of the event is not too high,” said Jennifer Swanson, a spokeswoman for TicketsNow.com, based in Rolling Meadows.
“I went to Ticketmaster and there were tickets available in all sections, even at $100,” she said early last week. That’s the top of the range, with many tickets available for $10 to $25.
World Sport Chicago chairman Bill Scherr declined to disclose ticket sales figures last week, but said, “I think ticket sales are strong. We anticipate the last two to three evening sessions of boxing to be full. We’re hoping to sell those out.”
An Olympic bronze medalist in wrestling, Scherr said he has attended many world championship events, and attendance at early sessions is often sparse. Chicago will not be judged “on whether it fills every seat at every session,” he said.
Marketing plan questioned
Still, a number of observers say more aggressive advertising and marketing could have helped, including TV, radio and print ads several weeks in advance of the tournament, before people’s calendars filled up.
Typically, marketing for such an event could run anywhere from $250,000 to more than $1 million, depending on the organization. Chicago, it appears, spent considerably less than the low-end figure, at least in the weeks leading up to the event, observers said.
The campaign has leaned heavily on media events aimed at drawing free coverage. As well, there is outdoor advertising on CTA buses and newsstands, and five portable “K.O. Joe” statues, both designed in the muscular style of Depression-era art. Organizers have held informational meetings in Hispanic, Asian and Eastern European neighborhoods, where boxing is popular, and has held briefings for the local ethnic press. More traditional TV, radio and print ads were expected as the launch neared.
“I don’t think it’s too late, but there’s stuff that should’ve been done quite a long time ago,” said DiMeo. “As a consumer, I was not aware of it until last week.”
World Sport Chicago sees things differently.
“We’ve done a tremendous amount of marketing; some very creative things have been done,” said Bill Scherr, who is the twin brother of the USOC’s Jim Scherr. He declined to say how much is being spent on marketing.
“It would’ve been nice to have two years to organize it,” noted Mark Jones, a spokesman for the organizing committee. “Essentially, what Bill and his team have put together is what will be a world-class world championships in 120 days.”
Bill Scherr also declined to discuss the overall budget, which is expected to be funded with ticket sales, sponsorships, TV rights and some money raised by Chicago 2016. Officials earlier said it would cost $3 million to $5 million to mount the tournament, including a $1 million rights fee to AIBA.
“We need to step back and think about what the important things are here,” said Scherr. “And I know this city and people will want to focus on what the budget is and marketing and how many people are there. But really, what’s important for us is to focus on these guys you’re going to see standing there with the gloves on. Are they treated to a first-class experience here in Chicago?”
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kbergen@tribune.com
VIDEO ONLINE: To view preparations for the AIBA World Boxing Championships, go to chicagotribune.com/worldboxing.
