Chicago Hopes Hosting Boxing Event Will Boost 2016 Chances
The ’07 AIBA World Boxing Championships begin today in Chicago, and the city views the event as a "possible ticket to proving it should fly the Olympic rings" in 2016, according to Kathy Bergen of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. 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.” World Boxing Championships Event Manager Tim Larkin said that the tournament, a qualifier for the ’08 Beijing Games, is drawing almost 700 athletes from more than 120 countries, more than a 50% increase in participation over the ’05 championships. The city’s “hospitality infrastructure was cited as a reason for the strong turnout.” Also, a “healthy number of corporate sponsors have stepped forward,” including USG Corp., A-B, CDW, Citadel Group, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Exelon and Bus Bank. However, filling the 5,000 available seats for 13 sessions spread over 11 days could be "problematic," as some early sessions have as many as 80 bouts, equating to 65,000 seats. World Sport Chicago Chair Bill Scherr said that attendance at early sessions is “often sparse,” and added that Chicago “will not be judged ‘on whether it fills every seat at every session.’” Meanwhile, marketing for such an event would typically “run anywhere from $225,000 to more than $1[M],” but observers noted it appears Chicago “spent considerably less than the low-end figure, at least in the weeks leading up to the event.” The campaign has "leaned heavily on media events aimed at drawing free coverage” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/21).
GETTING STARTED: In Colorado Springs, Brian Gomez noted Chicago organizers “got started on the right foot Monday as a four-hour meeting of 195 national boxing federations went off without a hitch.” AIBA President Ching-Kuo Wu said, “Accommodations, local transportation, visas, venue preparations -- all of this had to be done in a very, very short time. That was a great challenge for Chicago, but they delivered” (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 10/22). In Chicago, Andrew Herrmann notes to mark the beginning of the event, the city hosted an “impressive parade flush with color and pageantry,” and Muhammad Ali attended a ceremony at the Chicago Theatre where dancers “moved fluidly under big screens showing local landmarks” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 10/23).
AIBA: The Int’l Amateur Boxing Association will now be known as the Int’l Boxing Association (AIBA), and the organization will “launch a worldwide promotion with a new ad campaign and logo.” IOC Marketing Commission Chair Gerhard Heiberg “led the group of eight IOC members charged with reforming the AIBA.” The new AIBA statutes “tackled ethical and structural reforms and instituted presidential term limits.” New limits on gifts to AIBA members were also proposed and now all gifts worth more than $150 “must be turned over immediately to AIBA” (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 10/22).
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