The Chicago Bears have become more aggressive tackling their local broadcasting rights than they did opponents on the field last year.
In what is turning out to be a high-stakes battle for the local rights, the city’s five main broadcast outlets are quietly bidding big bucks for the Bears’ preseason games and the team’s pre- and postgame shows.
For years, that programming has been the domain of WBBM-Ch. 2.
Though the Bears are in the midst of a multiyear deal with Channel 2, the NFL franchise has an option to rebid the deal after the second year. The Bears confirmed they are exercising that option.
Until now, the Bears have paid Channel 2 a nominal fee to produce the pre- and postgame shows. That’s about to change.
With a new state-of-the-art broadcasting facility planned for the renovated Soldier Field, the Bears will now have the ability to produce their own programming. The team recently hired WFLD-Ch. 32 executive sports producer Greg Miller to be the team’s new director of broadcasting and production to develop its programming and gain control over an expanded local schedule.
The changes are indicative, though on a smaller scale, of the massive influence the NFL wields in sports broadcasting. While every other pro sport is suffering from a downturn in sponsorship dollars and advertising revenue, the NFL continues to draw big audiences and is by far the most expensive sports advertising real estate in the country.
Advertisers on the Super Bowl are paying roughly 16 percent more than a year ago to run commercials on the big game Sunday.
Locally, even the 4-12 Bears are no exception.
Beginning in 2004, the Bears will increase the number of shows–and show sponsorships–it airs per week.
“If you look around the league, some teams produce five shows a week,” said Dave Greeley, the Bears’ marketing boss, who confirmed that the team is talking to several stations.
Believed to be in the running beside incumbent Channel 2 are Fox-owned station WFLD-Ch. 32, which carries the majority of the Bears games during the regular season, ABC-owned WLS-Ch. 7, NBC-owned WMAQ-Ch. 5, and Tribune Co.-owned WGN-Ch. 9.
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Sources close to the situation say Channel 32 may have the inside track because of its current relationship with the Bears.
Under the current arrangement with Channel 2, the Bears pay the station the production costs for both the pre- and postgame shows and the team kept all sponsorship and advertising revenue. The games could command up to $375,000 apiece in ad revenue, according to sources. The Bears’ other shows bring in anywhere from $500,000 to $900,000 per season.
Sources say the bidding for the package of shows could top $5 million a year, including any new programming the Bears might be adding to the package.
While the Bears’ package hasn’t been much of a revenue generator at Channel 2, it did bring the station some much-needed promotional attention at a time when its ratings are awful.
The situation isn’t good news for new Channel 2 general manager Joe Ahern. While he has been able to create a stir in the market since coming back last fall, it is very likely he’ll be without a key promotional tool when the football season starts in August.
Channel 2 station executives couldn’t be reached late Tuesday.
The local broadcasting rights are not the only place where the Bears are getting more aggressive. Late last year the Bears struck a multiyear in-stadium sponsorship with Miller Brewing Co. worth more than $10 million. It was the first deal struck as part of the Bears plan to sell 10 top sponsorship deals with companies in several categories.
Teams can now negotiate local sponsorship deals since the NFL split its beer sponsorship rights. Other deals with other companies are pending in such categories as soft drinks and food.
Under new terms as part of the Soldier Field renovation the Bears gained control of much of the in-stadium signage and sponsorship money that will flow through the stadium when it reopens later this year.
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