DuPage Medical Group gettng its Joliet stadium sign

The DuPage Medical Group Field sign should be up soon now that the City Council has approved the controversial contract that gives the stadium its name.

Getting the sign up was a motivation in pushing the naming rights deal to a vote this week, while some council members balked at having to vote on something they were not allowed to see.

DuPage Medical Group and the Slammers announced the naming rights agreement six weeks ago, keeping financial terms, the length of the agreement and other terms confidential despite both the stadium and naming rights belonging to the city.

However, DuPage Medical Group has not enjoyed a major benefit of the deal – getting the company name on the stadium.

That should change soon.

Slammers Vice President for Sales and Marketing John Wilson said he planned to get the sign up as soon as he could after the council approved the agreement on Tuesday.

The sign will not include any reference to Joliet Route 66 Stadium, the name the city gave its stadium in 2017 when it had no naming rights sponsor.

This week, the council rescinded the Route 66 name it had once planned to make a permanent part of the stadium, as well as approved DuPage Medical Group Field.

The deal with DuPage Medical Group does not provide for sharing of the stadium name, Wilson said.

"They wanted it to be
DuPage Medical Group Field. That's their branding," Wilson told the council's stadium committee on Monday.

He previously told the committee that the whole deal was in jeopardy because of the prolonged debate over what to do with the contract.

On Tuesday, the council voted, 5-3, to approve the naming rights agreement.

“I have a hard time approving a contract that I haven’t seen,” council member Michael Turk said.

Also voting no were Sherri Reardon and Larry Hug.

Voting yes were Pat Mudron, Don Dickinson, Bettye Gavin, Terry Morris and Jan Quillman.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk did not vote but supported approval of the contract, which is said to generate $40,000 a year for the city for an undisclosed number of years. O’Dekirk said the revenue would help recoup some of the more than $1 million the city spent last year on stadium improvements, including the installation of artificial turf.

O’Dekirk, who previously said the agreement is a six-figure deal for the city, may be one of the few city officials to have seen it.

The mayor has refused to comment on whether he has seen the contract or whether he actually signed it before it was brought to the council.