Univ. Of Illinois-Chicago Basketball Launches Local Ad Campaign, Doubling Recent Spending

The Univ. of Illinois-Chicago basketball program this month has launched its "first major Chicago-area ad campaign in several years in a move the team hopes will help boost ticket sales," according to Danny Ecker of CRAIN's CHICAGO BUSINESS. Seven major billboards around the city and scores of Chicago Transit Authority banners "now highlight UIC's 'A New Fire Burns' marketing mantra for its men's basketball team," -- a reference to the team's nickname, the Flames -- "part of the school's first major advertising investment for the team in half a decade." UIC AD Jim Schmidt said, "We kind of see this as an investment in the future, not something we're going to do on a one-time basis." Schmidt said that the investment "totaled around $500,000 this year to promote the basketball program -- about a quarter of which goes toward its broadcasting deal with ESPN Radio -- which is about twice as much as the school spent in recent years" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 11/30).