Sky moving to Allstate Arena for 2010 season

The teasing Chicago Sky players now get about their home court won't last for much longer.

The Sky announced Monday that beginning with the 2010 season next summer, it will be moving from the city to the suburbs and play home games at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

The decision gives the Sky a chance to grow its suburban fan base and fills a void left at Allstate Arena when the Chicago Rush shut down its Arena Football League operation.

And in the suburban arena battleground front, it gives Rosemont another high-profile team that won't be going to rival Hoffman Estates and its Sears Centre.

The Sky is the only WNBA team playing its home games on a college campus.

"I kind of get picked on by some of my friends from other teams," laughed Sky forward Candice Dupree, who has been with the team since its inaugural season in 2006. "They're like, 'Man, you guys play in a college gym,' stuff like that."

Although Allstate Arena does play host to DePaul men's basketball, it's larger than many venues and one of the most bustling arenas in the country.

According to a 2009 Pollstar Survey, Allstate Arena ranks second in the United States behind Philips Arena in Atlanta in terms of overall ticket sales on an annual basis.

"I mean, Allstate is busier than Madison Square Garden, the Staples Center," Sky President Margaret Stender said. "This puts us among the very best of all the WNBA arenas."

The Sky, which plays 17 regular-season home games, secured a three-year agreement with Allstate Arena, which can hold 19,000 spectators but will be set initially at a 7,000-fan capacity (lower bowl only) for Sky games.

Stender contends that playing in such a busy, centrally located arena will boost the Sky's image as well as its ticket sales.

The Sky currently draws between 2,500 and 3,500 fans per game and Stender says the team needs to hit the 4,500 mark to avoid financial stresses. According to the Sky's research, the suburbs should provide an instant lift.

"There are 6 million people who live in the suburbs, 3 million in the city," Stender said. "We feel we'll grow our fan base dramatically.

"We draw from over 300 ZIP codes all over Chicagoland. We have looked very closely at our current season ticketholder list and our fan base, and what opens up for us is the Northwest suburbs, the area closer to Milwaukee, Barrington, even Naperville and Aurora. We have tons of fans in that area."

The Sky initiated informal talks in Rosemont about 18 months ago. Stender attended a DePaul game and fell in love with the setting.

"I was blown away with how enthusiastic the crowd was and how close they are to the action, how loud it was," Stender said. Harry Pappas, the executive director of Allstate Arena, says the deal with the Sky, finalized last week, had been in the works in earnest for about three months.

"We feel (the Sky) will be a nice addition to the sports entertainment we provide now," Pappas said. "Obviously, the Sky brings the very best in professional women's sports.

"And there's a large potential for the Chicago Sky to expand their fan base being located in a more central location that everyone in the Chicagoland area can easily get to."

In May 2008, the Sky drew 2,215 fans to an exhibition game at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, which courted the Sky.

But with more time to promote a full season of games and a more centralized venue, Sky officials are optimistic that Allstate Arena will be the ideal suburban address.

"Visibility there will help us," Stender said. "They've got so many other things going on there and we'll have our signage up all around the arena and so many people will see that. I mean, they just had the Jonas Brothers there. That (demographic) is so bull's-eye for us."

• Daily Herald staff writer Ashok Selvam contributed to this report

Scouting report

Phoenix Mercury (17-8) at Chicago Sky (13-12)

When: 7 p.m.

Where: UIC Pavilion

Recent results: On Saturday, the Mercury lost to the San Antonio Silver Stars 106-89, and the Sky defeated the Minnesota Lynx 79-76.

Skinny: With the announcement Monday that it will be moving to Allstate Arena in Rosemont for the 2010 season, the Sky now has only six regular-season home games left at UIC Pavilion. - The Sky, 9-2 at the Pavilion, will need some of that homecourt advantage against the Mercury, which ranks as the best team in the Western Conference and boasts one of the highest-scoring dynamic duos in the league. Guards Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter, a Chicago native, rank second and fifth in the WNBA in scoring at 20.8 and 19.1 points per game, respectively. Forward Candice Dupree leads the Sky and is 12th in the WNBA at 15.2 points per game- Currently tied for third in the Eastern Conference but only one-half game out of second place, the Sky could gain some significant ground with a victory. The Sky is hot, having won four of its last six games and the last two.

Next: Detroit Shock at Sky, 7 p.m. Saturday