Chicago Sport and Social Club
Chicago Sport and Social Club
History
Chicago Sport and Social Club (CSSC) was established in July of 1989 in Chicago, IL. The club was started with a single touch football league that included 24 teams and 350 participants as a means for young professionals to interact in an ACTIVE and social environment. In 2001, new president, Jason Erkes, expanded the Club’s offerings to develop the club and its website into a fully-integrated experiential marketing company. Over the past two decades, Chicago Sport and Social Club has become the nation’s largest provider of recreational sports leagues, social events and local social networking.
Leagues and Activities
More than one million people have participated in Chicago Sport and Social Club activities since its creation. Currently, there are 75,000 annual league participants, comprised of 5,000 teams of young professionals playing in more than 20 different sports and activities each year. Chicago Sport and Social Club offers recreational team sports such as volleyball, softball, football, basketball and kickball. The Club also offers individual recreational activities such as rock climbing, boxing fitness, kayaking, sailing and dance. All activities occur in downtown Chicago at area facilities such as the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Public Schools, DePaul University and University of Illinois at Chicago. Some of the most popular activities take place at Chicago landmarks locations, including beach volleyball at North Avenue Beach and kayaking lessons on the Chicago River.
Events
Chicago Sport and Social Club hosts more than 100 premier social events each year. The Club’s events cater to a wide variety of interests including ski trips to Devil's Head Resort, Chicago Cubs outings to Wrigley Field, Venetian Night boat cruises and New Year’s Eve bashes. There are more than 40,000 annual event attendees. Chicago Sport and Social Club supports local charities by promoting events and fundraisers on its website. The Club donates to more than 20 charities a year including Imerman Angels, Literacy Volunteers of Illinois, Children's Miracle Network, Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation and Bright Pink.
Volleywood
Each year Chicago Sport and Social Club hosts Volleywood, Chicago’s largest amateur volleyball tournament and summer beach party. Volleywood draws more than 5,000 attendees a year and features headlining musical performances from artists like MC Hammer in 2009, Mix Master Mike in 2008 and DJ AM in 2007.
Sponsorship
Chicago Sport and Social Club is a full service experiential marketing company that integrates brand name sponsorship programs into its leagues, events and interactive entities. Past sponsors include Budweiser, Adidas, Chrysler, Motorola, TMobile, Clif Bar and American Express. The Club is currently executing sponsorship programs for Coors Light, Absolut, Jameson, Malibu, Wilson Sporting Goods and AthletiCo.
Notable Participants
- Antoine Walker
- Marcus Liberty
- Shaun Gayle
Mentions in the media
In 1998, Chicago Sport and Social Club was mentioned as one of the partners with MSN Sidewalk, when MSN launched a local entertainment guide in Chicago In 1999, MSN Chicago Sidewalk and the Chicago Sport and Social Club signed a one-year deal to promote each other. In 2001, the club evidently closed down for some time. The Chicago Sport and Social Club was the sponsor for bringing rapper Tone Loc to headline at the Boogie Man Retro Halloween Ball at Oxygen in 2002 They were mentioned as having organized bowling leagues, in a 2003 article Also that year, President Jason Erkes was quoted in an article in "Men's Health" President Jason Earkes was featured in a 2005 article in "Crain's Chicago Business" They organized the U.S. leg of City Chase Urban Adventure in 2007 Since the club focuses mainly on young active adults, when Aetna introduced their BodyGuard Plans in 2008, they included a major sponsorship of the Chicago Sport & Social Club.