Story posted Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Chicago Sky Moving To Allstate Arena
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal & Topics Reporter
The Chicago Sky women's professional basketball team's move from Chicago to Rosemont's Allstate Arena was finalized by the village's governing board early this month.
The village and Chicago Women's Basketball Operations LLC have reached an agreement for the Sky team of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to play at least 15 home games at the arena for each of the next three seasons of 2010, 2011, and 2012.
The Sky formerly played at the UIC Pavilion near downtown Chicago.
The village board's approval climaxed several months of negotiations with the three-year-old Sky franchise.
Other sports organizations that perform at the arena include Chicago Wolves pro hockey, DePaul University college basketball, periodic NCAA Division I college basketball regional tournaments, and occasional pro wrestling events. The Chicago Rush of the now defunct Arena Football League also played its home games at Allstate for several seasons.
The Allstate Arena has a seating capacity of about 17,500 for basketball games.
"This new agreement will enable the village to fill some vacancies that typically occur in the summer months, since the women's basketball season runs in the spring and summer," said Peter Rosenthal, village attorney.
He declined to reveal any financial details of the village's agreement with the Sky's ownership organization.
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