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)
I’d be honored and would go out of my way to throw away my takeout containers in a Gary Leff Memorial Trash Can
I can see it now:
The Malort Men’s Room
The Lerner & Rowe Parking Experience
The Urlacher Restore Hair Lounge
Vienna Beef Food Court
Duty Free by Binny’s
Jewel Osco travel Shop
Actually, most of these would be an improvement. Get Portillo’s in the food court and I’m in!
I was in Memphis once (circa 2018, before the new terminal), and American Airlines had clearly labeled the trash cans by the gate as “Property of American Airlines.”
I feel like there is an opportunity to get United and American in their battle of Chicago to sponsor things here. United sponsoring the American Airlines terminal would be quite a scene!
In 2008 Chicago privatized their parking meters. They sold the collection rights for for 75 years for an upfront sum of $1.1 billion.
The city quickly spent all that money to temporarily plug a hole in their budget. Parking prices have gone up and the city residents are on the hook for the next 60+ years.
I doubt the city would do any better by selling the naming rights to the airport.
I suspect any monies received by selling naming rights would be looked at as “new money” and would be quickly spent.
@L737 — Ah, yes… the ‘1990 Unisex Modular Restroom’…
Someone’s company name on a trashcan. That’s how low the MBA “leader” class has become.