With a brand new coach in Matt Eberflus and hopes for continued growth of second-year quarterback Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears open coaching camp this week that includes new enticements aimed toward getting extra followers to Halas Hall.
On Thursday, the Bears are set to open up the primary of 11 scheduled public coaching camp periods at their Lake Forest headquarters. It would be the third consecutive yr of coaching camp at Halas Hall, and the second open to followers because the 2020 camp was closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Scott Hagel, the Bears senior vice chairman for advertising and marketing and communications, stated the group hopes to see a rise in attendance this yr. Pioneer Press reported in Sept. that roughly 14,000 followers watched 18 periods in 2021, when 14 had been utterly open to the general public. Four others had been restricted to season ticket holders, navy members and group teams.
“We’ve learned a lot the first two years,” he stated. “I think we have made some improvements to make the experience better.”
With an easing of security mitigations that had been in place on the 2021 camp, followers will be capable to search autographs from gamers and coaches this yr after observe.
“It brings energy to both sides,” Hagel stated.
Also on faucet might be a greater diversity of meals vehicles with totally different objects to eat and drink, and there might be an leisure zone with video video games, the place followers can attempt their model of radio play-by-play and take some digital actuality excursions, together with different choices.
In one other change, there might be extra standing room capability within the bleachers on the a number of fields used for the observe periods.
“It was clear that fans like to be close to the action and standing, so we wanted to make sure those opportunities were increased this year,” Hagel stated.
Fans needs to be ready to put on hats and apply sunscreen as they sit on the doubtless sizzling summer time days, he stated. While there might be some shaded areas, they won’t be plentiful.
“Shade will still be at a premium when people come on campus,” Hagel acknowledged.
The parking state of affairs will stay the identical because it was final yr, with a rotating collection of shuttle buses going forwards and backwards from Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills, roughly 4.5 miles to the west, with fan parking not allowed at Conway Park.
“The shuttle system made for an easy entry process because of how it spaced out fans arriving on campus. We learned a lot from that,” Hagel stated.
With all of the open practices scheduled to start out at 10 a.m. and the ability opening at 9 a.m., the primary buses will depart Hawthorn at 8:30 a.m., with final ones departing the mall at 10:30 a.m., in line with Hagel.
With the practices anticipated to run between 90 minutes to 2 hours, the final buses will depart Halas Hall between 2:00 and a pair of:30 p.m., Hagel stated.
To get into camp, followers must go to chicagobears.com/camp, the place they’ll choose as much as 4 cellular tickets for the open periods because the group moved away from final yr’s lottery system.
As of Monday, all of the dates had been listed as bought out, however Hagel stated the group plans to make extra tickets — that are free — accessible after the primary week of camp.
“Fans that might not have been able to get a ticket to this point, we would encourage them to continue checking the websites if additional tickets have been released,” he famous.
Serving as title sponsor for this yr’s camp might be The Illinois Office of Tourism (IOT), resuming a job it final had in 2019 when coaching camp was at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.
The tourism workplace needs to lure individuals to return again and go to different components of the state.
“According to data provided by the Chicago Bears, nearly 20% of fans who attended training camp last year traveled 60 miles or more, and 18% of fans came from outside Illinois, as far away as Alaska, Hawaii and Canada,” famous a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the IOT.
Promotional supplies might be accessible for the state, Lake County and the town of Lake Forest, which sees the camps as a badge of honor for the town.
“There continues to be excitement and pride that Lake Forest gets to host training camp,” group growth director Catherine Czerniak stated. “Last year went very smoothly. There were no surprises, no hiccups. So we are building on that.”
However, Czerniak stated she doesn’t anticipate followers leaving observe after which taking in websites and companies within the metropolis.
“We are certainly going to make information about Lake Forest available and encourage people to come back,” she stated. “It is a great way to introduce people to Lake Forest. What we did hear (last year) was that after spending hours in the hot sun, most people are probably not inclined to stay around and spend much time in Lake Forest and come back from out west from the parking (site).”
Hagel believes there’s a distinctive perspective offered by the observe periods as he hopes followers make the journey.
“Training camp is one of the neatest, most intimate sports experiences a fan can have,” he stated. “Because there are no other opportunities to get as close, or to see a process of getting ready for a season, like this in any other sport.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com