AEG and Toyota Announce Naming Rights Partnership for New Bridgeview Stadium

    CHICAGO, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- AEG, investor/operators of Major League
 Soccer's Chicago Fire, and Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. announced a 10-year
 naming rights sponsorship agreement for the new outdoor stadium in
 Bridgeview, Illinois. Set to open in late June, Toyota Park will be the new
 home of Chicago Fire Soccer, concerts and other sports and entertainment
 competitions and events.
     "The Chicagoland area is one of Toyota's largest and most important
 markets, and our partnership with AEG presents a great opportunity to
 increase our ties with the community through the concerts, events and
 promotions taking place at Toyota Park," said Paul Holdridge, Toyota Motor
 Sales USA General Manager of the Chicago Region. "The sport of soccer has
 an enormous fan base here in Chicago, and we're very pleased Toyota Park
 will be the Fire's new home."
     The Toyota Park Grand Opening Weekend will take place on June 24th and
 June 25th and highlights the venue's versatile, multi-purpose nature.
 Toyota Park's 'Inaugural Event' will be the Pepsi B96 SummerBash concert
 festival on June 24th, featuring a star-studded list of Top 40 acts,
 including Bow Wow, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, Pink, Rihanna and
 Sean Paul. The concert will take place on the 7,200 square-foot Toyota Park
 stage, a dominant and unique feature of the building. The Chicago Fire's
 Grand Opening Match versus the New York Red Bulls will take place less than
 24 hours later in front of a standing room only crowd anticipated to exceed
 20,000.
     Toyota Park, which is owned by the Village of Bridgeview and operated
 by a division of AEG, is a multipurpose sports and entertainment venue
 located approximately 15 minutes southwest of Chicago. The capacity of the
 stadium will be 20,000 for soccer and other field events and 28,000 for
 concerts.
     Toyota Park is approximately 469,000 sq. feet and includes a practice
 field, AEG and Chicago Fire offices, retail and hospitality spaces and the
 newly created Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame (ISHF). In addition to becoming
 the permanent home to the Chicago Fire, Toyota Park will also feature a
 regular line-up of sporting, live entertainment, community and special
 events.
     "The Chicago Fire is thrilled to make Toyota Park its permanent home,"
 said Chicago Fire President/CEO John Guppy. "The magnificent stadium is
 arguably the finest soccer facility in the country and an incredible field
 of dreams for every youth soccer player. Toyota's commitment reinforces yet
 again the growing importance of soccer to millions of Chicagoans."
     Under the Naming Rights agreement, the Toyota and Toyota Park logos
 will appear extensively throughout the stadium, on stadium signage, and
 stadium collateral. In addition, special display platforms have been built
 into the roof decks of the two suite structures located on the Toyota Park
 stage, providing Toyota with a unique presentation to highlight specific
 models of their current product line. Local Chicagoland Toyota dealers and
 sales divisions will also receive a wealth of unique brand integration
 elements, high-profile signage, promotional and hospitality opportunities.
 The financial details of the agreement were undisclosed.
     "I'd like to thank Toyota for their support of the finest stadium in
 North America. Not only will the stadium bring exciting entertainment
 programming into the Chicagoland area, but will also create new jobs and
 industry for the Village of Bridgeview. AEG's and Toyota's combined visions
 have helped turn the Village's dreams of a world-class stadium into a
 reality," said Village of Bridgeview Mayor Steven M. Landek.
     "Toyota Park is a versatile facility and is designed to host concerts
 and live entertainment in addition to sporting events. We will attract the
 biggest and best names in the touring industry. Toyota Park is the newest
 generation in state-of-the-art outdoor facilities," said Jay Cooper, Vice
 President of Midwest Operations, AEG Facilities. "Toyota's dedication to
 sports and entertainment is far reaching and is further evidenced by this
 ground-breaking partnership," Cooper added.
     In addition to Chicago Fire home games and international soccer
 matches, Toyota Park will also host a variety of other events including
 community events, sports competitions and concerts by world renowned
 artists. The 2006 calendar is highlighted by the 2006 Sierra Mist MLS
 All-Star Game on Saturday, August 5th featuring the MLS All-Stars versus
 Chelsea FC, back-to-back champions of the English Premier League.
     ABOUT Toyota
     Toyota established operations in the United States in 1957 and
 currently operates ten manufacturing plants including one under
 construction. There are more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships
 in the U.S. which sell more than 2 million vehicles a year. Toyota directly
 employs more than 32,000 people in the U.S. and its investment here is
 currently valued at more than $13 billion, including sales and
 manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and
 design.
     ABOUT AEG
     AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the
 world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or
 controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES
 Center, The Forum (as exclusive booking agent for sports and entertainment
 programming), Toyota Sports Center, Anaheim Arena (as preferred booking
 agent), Toyota Park (as operators), NOKIA Theatre Times Square, NOKIA
 Theatre at Grand Prairie and London's Manchester Evening News Arena; sports
 franchises throughout the world including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los
 Angeles Riptide (MLL) and four MLS franchises. In addition, AEG has
 recently developed and opened The Home Depot Center, a $150 million
 national training "campus" in Carson, California designated as an "Official
 U.S. Olympic Training Site" by the United States Olympic Committee that
 includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling,
 action sports, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The company's
 live entertainment division, AEG LIVE is one of the world's leading concert
 promotion and touring organization.
     AEG is overseeing the development of L.A. Live, a 4 million square foot
 / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports & entertainment district
 featuring NOKIA Theatre Los Angeles, a 7,100-seat state-of-the-art live
 theatre, a 50-story, 1100-room convention "headquarters" hotel, Club NOKIA,
 a 2,200 capacity live music venue, a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, "broadcast"
 facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant, residential and
 office space. The company has begun fully developing the 28-acre Millennium
 Dome and adjacent property located in the eastern part of London along the
 Thames River and will create the O2, a new arena within the 'Dome' and
 additional arenas, on a 50-acre site in the heart of Berlin, in Ontario,
 California and Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
                               www.ToyotaPark.com
 
 

SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.