Coronavirus Chicago: Mayor Lightfoot launches campaign with Chicago sports teams to encourage staying home amid COVID-19 pandemic

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mayor Lightfoot announced a new campaign Monday in partnership with Chicago's professional sports teams to combat the spread of COVID-19.

The campaign is called, "We Are Not Playing", and it aims to leverage the influence of local sports teams and their players to drive compliance with the statewide "shelter-in-place" order.

Each of Chicago's hometown professional sports teams including the Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs, Fire, Red Stars, Sky, and White Sox, have joined the campaign.

"We all have a role to play in meeting the challenge of COVID-19, and our success is directly tied to every Chicagoan making sure they Stay Home and Save Lives," said Mayor Lori Lightfoot. "I am grateful to each of our hometown teams for stepping up and doing their part by joining in this call for every neighborhood and community. They're not playing, and neither are we. The more we stay home and act responsibly, the more lives we'll save, and the sooner we'll be able to get our city back on track and enjoying the games we love."

The mayor's office said, "We Are Not Playing" campaign will kick-off with digital and out-of-home billboards around Chicago, before moving online and onto social media.

"Normally, this is one of those sweet times of the year when we're enjoying White Sox games AND Cubs games AND Blackhawks games AND Bulls games AND Fire games," said George H. McCaskey, Chicago Bears Chairman. "Of course, the situation our city and our world are in right now is anything but normal. We've all got to do what we can to get through this. That means following the Mayor's directive and staying home. We owe it to our families, our friends, our neighbors, and all of the medical personnel who are working so hard and so selflessly dealing with this crisis. Bears fans get it. They know what's at stake. And, they'll do the right thing."

The city hopes to appeal to every Chicagoan with a sports figure that can be easily recognized.

The campaign is part of Mayor Lightfoot's "Stay Home. Save Lives." movement to encourage residents to stay indoors to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

In addition to the "We Are Not Playing" campaign, Mayor Lightfoot has started "The Sunday Arts Takeover", where top Chicago artists take over the mayor's Instagram Live with at-home performances.