In K.C., Kevin Collison reports Boulevard Brewing Co. has "firmed up its sponsorship agreement with" MLS Sporting KC in a five-year deal that includes naming rights "to the members club at Sporting Park." Boulevard Brewing Marketing Dir Jeremy Ragonese said that the beermaker now is "title sponsor of what will be called Boulevard Members' Club, and it will continue to be the club's official craft beer sponsor." Ragonese added that Boulevard and Sporting KC also have had "casual conversations about naming rights to the 18,000-seat stadium ... but no deal is in the works" (K.C. STAR, 1/31).
SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS: In Chicago, Ameet Sachdev reports the owners of rooftop businesses neighboring Wrigley Field would "like to extend their contract with the Cubs by nine years for letting the team sell advertising on their buildings." The current 20-year contract "will expire" at the end of '23. Rooftop owners Jim Lourgos and Beth Murphy said that they are seeking an "extension that would guarantee unobstructed views of the ballpark from their buildings" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/31).
MOTOWN MOVES: In Detroit, Louis Aguilar reported hints for a new Red Wings arena "point to a swath of blighted land north of the Fox Theatre in Detroit where at least 22 secretive land deals have taken place" since '08. Michigan House Speaker John Walsh, who sponsored legislation that would make Red Wings Owner the Ilitch family eligible for $13M a year in tax money, on Monday said that Ilitch reps "indicated they are looking to Wall Street for financing and labor unions to invest in the project to secure some of the construction work" (DETROIT NEWS, 1/30).
NEW TEAM IN TOWN: In Akron, Carol Biliczky reports Univ. of Akron trustees yesterday agreed to "sell the dormant Rubber Bowl to a Canton marketing company that wants it" as the home of the USFL Akron Fire. Team 1 Marketing will pay $38,000 for the 6.8-acre "bowl footprint plus an additional foot around that perimeter." The Fire would be the "first football team to play in the horseshoe-shaped bowl since UA moved to InfoCision Stadium" in '09 (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 1/31).
