The Cubs’ proposed Toyota sign is controversial enough, even without all the automaker’s troubles this year.
↵Now, the Cubs and Sox both have a company in trouble as a major sponsor — BP, for the “Crosstown Cup”, a trophy that will go to the team that wins the most games in interleague play each year (with the winner of the sixth game being a tiebreaker, if necessary):
↵↵↵The same BP whose oil is gushing uncontrollably into the Gulf of Mexico has paid an undisclosed amount of money to sponsor the Sox-Cubs matchup. You can even log on to a special website that touts the series, offers tens of thousands of dollars in prizes, and even tells you where you can see the BP Cup on tour this summer, though no one with either team would show it to us on Tuesday.
↵Though the deal was reached weeks earlier, the teams officially announced the BP Cup to Chicago six days after the leak began.
↵Sam Chapman, a crisis counselor with Empower Public Relations, said, “In general, I think they are stuck with this situation.”
↵Chapman pointed out that the teams’ agreements with BP are legal and binding, regardless of the company’s current situation and, at best, the teams can only work to limit how much publicity they give to the new alliance.
↵“The less of a fuss they make about it the more likely people are going to ignore it,” Chapman said.
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SHHH! I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.