CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox have changed their weeknight game starting times at U.S. Cellular Field for the next three baseball seasons from 7:05 p.m. or 7:35 p.m., to 7:11 p.m., courtesy of 7-Eleven Inc. The cost to the convenience store chain to be the name behind the time? $500,000 a year.
It's a fun way to insert our name into fans' hearts and minds, 7-Eleven spokesperson Margaret Chabris told the Chicago Tribune. We think it's worth way more than $500,000. She said that 7-Eleven is talking to other baseball teams about sponsorship deals that [image-nocss] would include starting their games at 7:11.
The shift to 7:11 at U.S. Cellular Field was not envisioned when the team and 7-Eleven were working on the details of a sponsorship deal that would have kept the starting times at 7:05 and 7:35. But team executives said that 7-Eleven wanted a new wrinkle to the more traditional sponsorship they were working on, which includes 25,000 giveaway coupons at each game.
There are 185 7-Elevens in the Chicago area, said the report. The company recently acquired 202 local stores from the White Hen Pantry chain, which prompted 7-Eleven's desire to increase its presence in what it views as a growth market. It made sense to sponsor the White Sox, Chabris said.
But the connection was not immediately obvious. Ryan Gribble, the team's manager of corporate partnerships, said he was noodling around a few weeks ago in search of ways to use the numerical values of 7-Eleven. Most of our night games started at 7:05, but the first pitch was really at 7:07 or 7:09, Gribble told the newspaper. Suddenly, 7:11 was not very far-fetched.
Gribble and Brooks Boyer, the White Sox's vice president for marketing, brought the idea to Jerry Reinsdorf, the team's chairman. We said, What would you think of moving the game times to 7:11?' and he laughed, Boyer told the paper. Then he said, I get it, and now it's a matter of figuring out the deal with 7-Eleven.' Two hours later, Ryan had the deal.
And, $500,000 annually was added to the overall deal with 7-Eleven, the report said.
Meanwhile, in its first promotion as the official c-store of Texas Motor Speedway and qualifying title sponsor, 7-Eleven gave away 100,000 free and reduced-price tickets to the NASCAR triple-header race weekend in November. The tickets were available in Dallas and Fort Worth area 7-Eleven stores while supplies lasted starting in late September. The November 2-5 weekend includes the Dickies 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race, O'Reilly Challenge Busch Series race and Silverado 350k Craftsman Truck Series race.
7-Eleven Qualifying Days are Thursday, November 2, and Friday, November 3, at Texas Motor Speedway. The two-part ticket, available exclusively at 7-Eleven stores, included a tearoff free admission coupon to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying session that Thursday when drivers will qualify for Friday's Silverado 350k truck race. The remainder of the 7-Eleven ticket may be redeemed at the speedway's box office Friday for a $10 discount off admission to the day's racing events.
John Moritz, 7-Eleven's director for regional marketing, said 7-Eleven plans to announce later this year other partnerships with sports teams, tracks and events for 2007.
And in other racing news, Shell Oil Co. announced the brand's return to NASCAR through a multi-year primary sponsorship of Richard Childress Racing (RCR).
The Shell and Pennzoil brands will be featured on the No. 29 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS to be driven by Kevin Harvick in the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series. Shell will also be the associate sponsor on other RCR cars including the No. 31 Cup car driven by Jeff Burton and the No. 07 Cup car driven by Clint Bowyer.
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