E3 Axess, a small, corporate entertainment provider in the Chicago area that “primarily stages high-end events for companies, has taken tailgating to a new level by combining the amenities of a luxury skybox at a Bears game with the traditional pregame parking lot party -- and appears to have found a sweet spot,” according to Danny Ecker of CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS. The experience at an E3 tailgate, which “popped up in the Adler Planetarium lot outside Soldier Field four times for paying clients this fall (including the Notre Dame-Miami football game in October), fills about 2,000 square feet of parking lot space with upscale food and alcohol, couches, televisions, a DJ and a staff of servers in a roped-off, carpeted area next to the company's $1 million custom motor coach.” At $150 to $250 a head for the event, “plus an optional ticket package for the actual game, the tailgates have drawn interest from companies" like SAP, HP, CDW and others to "entertain clients for an average of $500 apiece for Bears games -- significantly cheaper than the roughly $800-per-person cost of an executive suite inside the stadium (though that also includes access to other amenities like the United Club)” (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 12/17).
