White Sox Close To Signing Chance The Rapper To Market Team To Younger Audience
The White Sox are "close to signing" Chance The Rapper as an ambassador in a deal that will pay him to be "part of club activities aimed at helping to market the team to a younger audience," according to sources cited by Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. The team yesterday revealed that the 22-year-old rapper and Chicago native "designed three new White Sox hats that are limited to 2,000 and will be available at the team's home opener" tomorrow against the Indians. Chance, who is "often seen on and off stage wearing his White Sox hat, will be on hand to throw out the first pitch." He has "also recorded the team's ballpark introduction video" for the '16 season. Rovell noted the club's involvement with Chance comes after "five straight seasons of being in the bottom third" of MLB attendance." Meanwhile, the "only other team that financially compensates a celebrity to be a team cheerleader of sorts" is the Raptors, who have "had a formal relationship with Drake for two and a half years" (ESPN.com, 4/6).
TAKE A CHANCE: ESPN Radio's Mike Golic Jr. said of Chance The Rapper, "He’s a guy whose name is in the public sphere in a lot of ways already. This makes a ton of sense to me, and for a game like baseball, who the knock has been for a while now, that they’re having a hard time reaching that younger demographic. You look on the other side of Chicago, a team like the Cubs with everything going for it, this is a good way to carve out your niche in its own unique way." ESPN Radio’s Robin Lundberg said, "Think about the gear. That is another thing. Are more and more people going to be wearing White Sox hats on the street or White Sox jerseys as part of an ensemble?" Golic added, "It’s a way to subtly grow the brand in a way that may not have been possible." ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg said, "It’s a way that you can start having fans in places outside of your market. ... I think this is brilliant, and I think that whoever's idea this was, it is ingenious" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 4/7).
