Chicago is considering selling naming rights at O’Hare and Midway airports, according to a Request for Information issued on Wednesday.
They’re asking for input on what sponsorship opportunities they should consider – from terminals, concourses, people-mover systems, and roadway entries, to minor items like restrooms and pet relief areas. Here are some of the examples they offer:
- Restrooms: cleaning, fixtures, products, baby changing stations, family restrooms, service animal relief areas
- Children’s play areas: naming, equipment, maintenance
- Parking: lots (levels or the whole structure), surface lots, cell phone lot, Uber/Lyft staging area
- Elevators and EV charging areas
- Passenger amenities: holiday decor, terminal entertainment program, device charging stations; water fountains, water refill stations
- Airport Transit System: train cars, stations, shuttle buses
- Infrastructure: terminals, concourses, multimodal facility, common areas, trash & recycling cans
Is it weird I want to name the ‘Gary Leff Memorial Trash Cans’ at O’Hare? I probably couldn’t afford it. The airport is looking for ways to offset some of the costs of satellite concourses and the future global terminal replacing Terminal 2. Since submissions for this will be subject to Illinois FOIA, I’m looking forward to seeing what ideas brands have!
There’s only one guardrail: reportedly, the names O’Hare and Midway are not available for sale and replacement.
Sponsorships at airports aren’t new. Dallas – Fort Worth had “Samsung Travel Lounges” that got rebranded to “DFW Airport Travel Lounges” when the Samsung sponsorship ended in December 2012. Detroit had Pepsi as its official beverage partner for several years.
Much more aggressively, Palm Springs International Airport did a three-year concourse naming deal with Agua Caliente Casinos, actually rebranding a concourse.
Wichita tried to do this and failed, concluding “we looked at terminal naming rights; it’s not worth much.”
Online discussion has been mostly derisive of a future “Barilla terminal” and “Modelo gate on the DraftKings concourse.” But I’d suggest offsetting airport costs attracts more service and lower fares.
Now, the binding constraint at O’Hare is gates not attracting airlines. But it’s tough to make money on sub-$100 one-way fares when half the fare goes to the airport. Keeping airport costs down matters, Chicago airports need real investment, and accomplishing anything there – let alone public infrastructure – gets expensive fast.
(HT: Enilria)
More From View from the Wing
Link da fonte
