From 1989 to 2001, the Chicago Bulls held an annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament called “Shoot the Bull” in Grant Park. The event was so popular that in its final year he had 2,000 teams participate and raised nearly $2 million for charity during the event. However, it was eventually discontinued.
Twenty-one years later, a new—and the Bulls’ hoped-for—revamped version of that idea will come to fruition on the United Center grounds on Labor Day weekend. The organization’s first “Bulls Fest.”
“It was always on the back of my mind that I wanted to do something like this,” Dan Moriarty, vice president of marketing for the Bulls, one of the event’s main organizers, said in a telephone interview. “That[three-on-three tournament]was the crux of the idea.”
But that’s not all there is to Bulls Fest for fans this Saturday and Sunday.
Yes, we have a 3v3 component and anyone ages 8 and up can participate with varying skill levels. The Bulls are building 40 temporary courts for the event. There will also be encounters with current and former Bulls, centered around slam dunk and 3-point contests, clinics held throughout the weekend, and festivities centered around basketball.
But in the spirit of the event’s tagline, “Hoops, Arts, Beats, Eats,” the organization will feature the United Center’s atrium with 100 different artists (60% of whom are local by Moriarty’s estimates). I turned it into a gallery. Madison Street was lined with eateries and featured musical artists such as G Herbo and Da Brat (both rappers from Chicago).
The event is the culmination of nearly a year of work with countless hours of logistics, suggestions and brainstorming. Moriarty wants it to feel like a celebration.
“As an organization, we take our strategic priorities very seriously, and one area we really want to focus on as an organization is building great relationships with our fan base,” Moriarty said. How do you create moments because I don’t think there were always many public events outside of game days that allowed fans to get closer to the brand, the team and us who work here. .”
Those attending Saturday and Sunday have plenty of opportunities to do just that.
The event will be scheduled for Saturday afternoon for a photo shoot with current Bulls forward Javonte Green, former Bulls guard Ben Gordon, and current front office heads of the event, Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley. blocked. Sunday features Dalen Terry and Ayo Dosunmu. They will also make special appearances at various events during the festival. Green, for example, will be judging his contest Slam Dunk for this event, a match made in heaven.
“We tried to build an event that current and former players, as well as the basketball administration staff, would be proud of, so we tried to find a natural way to integrate it,” Moriarty said. said. “Everyone we’ve received it from and talked to has been very receptive.”
Moriarty also said the Bulls see an opportunity for civic engagement in the event.A portion of the proceeds from art sold by the gallery will go to the Chicago Bulls charity. On the Friday before the festival opens to the public, groups from Unified Sports, CPS Schools and Swish will participate in their very own basketball tournament.
Aside from the paid Saturday/Sunday 3v3 tournaments and basketball clinics, Bulls Fest is free for everyone to attend. The challenge here is that the Bulls enter the weekend without a solid attendance expectation (besides the roughly 600 teams signed up for the 3-on-3 tournament).
Instead, the Bulls will judge the success of the event based on fan experience. Moriarty “walks around with a notebook” all weekend to see how various events are being received.
“Our measure of success this weekend is not how many people come. It’s the people who come, how much fun are they having?” Moriarty said. So people who come should have a great time if they run through the end of the negotiations, and if people come and have a good time, everything will be a lot easier next year and the year after that.”
That’s the hope — that Bulls Fest will become an annual event. But for the time being, the focus shifts to this weekend.
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