ABs a tough news sell in Chicago

Even on their bye week the Chicago Bears football team will swamp the visiting All Blacks in terms of newspaper coverage in the American city this weekend. Photos / AP, Getty Images

Touring NZ side will barely register in US city’s papers amid saturation coverage for local sports teams

You could call it a tough sell.

The All Blacks can expect to be overshadowed in Chicago this week by college kids, one team on a bye week and another whose season has yet to start.

While their first game in the United States for decades next weekend will be big news back home, the All Blacks can expect to be buried near the back of the sport section in Chicago's papers.

America's third-largest city boasts five professional teams in the nation's four major sports leagues, while a trio of college football sides also hog their share of headlines.

Chicago Sun-Times sports reporter Adam Jahns said his paper was unlikely to devote many resources to the All Blacks' clash against the USA next Sunday (NZT), with the minimal coverage instead calling for a freelance writer.

"You do have the Bears [football team] on their bye week and that opens up a lot of space but, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it's going to be buried," Jahns said. "I don't think it'll get one of our staff reporters or a columnist. It'll maybe just be a stringer and I think the [Chicago] Tribune will do the same."

That's not to say the All Blacks will be ignored entirely. Jahns said a strong European expatriate population would be pleased to see the sport in the city, while rugby clubs from across the country ensured a sell-out of the 63,000-seat Soldier Field.

"There's a big Irish base so they'll be into it, and there are rugby clubs in Chicago. It's competitive and it's growing in numbers because people like the physicality. A lot of people still say it's like playing American football without the pads."

The game will also gain traction by being broadcast live nationwide on NBC, one of America's four primary broadcast networks. But it will vie with college football for casual sports fans' interest, an amateur game held in similar regard to the NFL.

"There will be interest, knowing the lure of the All Blacks," Jahns said. "But it's a Saturday and it's a college football day. You've got a lot of eyeballs to compete with."

The three college teams in the wider Chicago region - Notre Dame, Illinois and Northwestern - will attract the Sun-Times' attention on game day. Two inactive pro teams will fill the section during the week.

"The Bears have been on the front of the sports section every day this week. In our Friday edition, there will be seven pages of Bears coverage," Jahns said. "Then you've got the Bulls [basketball team]. Their regular season begins next week, so they're going to steal the spotlight."