Bears fans face $100 charge for VIP spaces
June 14, 2006
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter
Bear down -- and pony up -- football fans: the cost of as many as 700 Soldier Field parking spots this season is going up to $100 a game.
Under a "VIP Parking" proposal, likely to be passed by the Chicago Park District Board today, the C-note spots will be sold in advance, and buyers will be required to purchase a 10-game parking package for the Bears season, a parks spokeswoman said.
The 700 slots come out of the 2,200 spaces the district controls at Soldier Field. The entire lot east of the Field Museum, about a third of the south lot and about a third of the lot near the Adler Planetarium will cost $100 a game, spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said.
The remaining slots will stay at last season's rate of $35 a game, but all bus and RV parking will climb to $100, up from $75.
'Worth the convenience'
"For some, $100 is worth the convenience,''
parks Supt. Timothy Mitchell said. "If people are willing to pay it, we should do it.'' He cited "potential to gain additional revenue'' as a reason for the increase.
The fee won't be shared with the Bears, who control the parking at the Waldron Deck and the North Garage, Mitchell said. There are no plans at this time to charge $100 for some of the team-controlled slots, Bears spokesman Scott Hagel said.
The Bears annually hold a lottery to assign 2,000 spots to season ticket holders. Likely customers for the VIP slots are season ticket holders who miss the lottery cut, Maxey-Faulkner said. Season ticket holders will be notified of the VIP plan.
Price in 'upper range'
One hundred dollars is in "the upper range" for premium parking for stadiums elsewhere in the country but not unheard of for big-city facilities, said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp Ltd., a Chicago-based sports industry consulting firm.
Stadium operators have found that parking costs are "price elastic'' -- that is, that some spots are underpriced compared to what some fans will pay, Ganis said.
"If you're already spending a couple hundred per ticket and you have some friends with you, $100 might be considered acceptable if the parking is close enough,'' Ganis said.
Maxey-Faulkner said the slots are guaranteed, meaning fans who arrive late will have a space. She said district officials were influenced by parking being auctioned off on the Internet for more than face value.
Mitchell said next month's Bon Jovi concert and "perhaps some of the soccer tournaments" might offer one-time premium parking. Maxey-Faulkner said cheaper Bears parking at the east Monroe garage is $13.
VIP Parking at Soldier Field
If you can't break your nose at it, it ain't a sport.
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