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The Cooler King wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:33 pm
docc wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:27 pm I keep reading how the Bear ownership is not able to leverage money. I am certain over the years they have a very well diversified portfolio. This is NOT some penniless family..think how much they made on all things owned..endorsed or otherwise secured.

I didn't check their REAL net worth..but as a group I am guessing this would not be a problem.
I'd imagine they'd need significant help. Perhaps a backer who's understanding is that an immenent sale could follow and realize the investment to pay that debt...
@MarkCuban lol

I think a football team would pair nicely with a basketball team.
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TheWorldBreaker wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:53 pm
Xee wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:43 pm

Looks like Lightfoot thinks the same thing and was pretty harsh in calling them out on it:

This statement is truly embarrassing. She misspelled Soldier once, and insults the Bears as not being relevant past October but the Bears have made the playoffs two of the past three years, so were relevant in January.

If this was just a negotiating tactic, hopefully such an antagonistic and unprofessional statement pushes them out and into a state of the art stadium.

With respect to the lease going until 2033 I don’t think they’re necessarily looking to build a stadium as soon as possible. Given the reports of some in the McCaskey family wanting to sell the team, buying the property (assuming they win the bid) could also be a part of that process as it would make the team more valuable down the road.
Well at least she didn’t write it 10 times in a row.
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More available deep pockets..
Andy McKenna and insurance billionaire Patrick Ryan, who partnered up to buy a 20% stake in 1990
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The Cooler King
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G08 wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:43 pm I just want something done for competitive purposes, it's a passionate fanbase that loves defense, let them have an impact on the game.
Gotta get those Lumen Field (Seahawks) architects and engineers on a new stadium plan.
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The NFL doesn't allow teams to break leases so the Bears would have to work something out with the city before any dirt is turned over. Lots of moving targets here before anything is even decided.
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Grizzled wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:53 amThe NFL doesn't allow teams to break leases so the Bears would have to work something out with the city before any dirt is turned over.
Sure but that lease runs to 2033.

Hypothetically, let's say that it will take 5 years (from today) for the new stadium to get built and be ready for occupancy. That includes all of the political wrangling, financing, actual groundbreaking, and building. Now we're out to 2026. That's 7 years remaining on the lease @ 6.3M per year or $44.1M.

On a $5B stadium package, $44M is less than 1% of the total deal. And when you consider the NPV of money, they'd almost certainly shave that $44M figure down further in a lump-sum payout. Now we're talking about a rounding error on the total deal.

That lease is immaterial in the overall scheme of things.
Last edited by IotaNet on Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Yeah, I'm not concerned about the Soldier Field lease. At worst, the Bears pay the city through 2033 whether they play there or not. I'd bet it's a lump sum buyout as well.
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dplank wrote:I agree with Rich here
RichH55 wrote: Dplank is correct
:shocked:
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I didn't realize Soldier Field (or is it Solider??) had the lowest capacity at 61,500. Lambeau Field is the second largest at 81,441 and Met Life tops the list at 82,500. https://www.stadiumsofprofootball.com/comparisons/

So I'd think they would want to be "bigger and better" than Lambeau and since doing that gets them within 1000 of being the largest, so I'd think they would end up exceeding 82,500. So they'd get an extra 20,000 bodies in the stadium. Lets pretend that each person brings in an additional $100 (yeah it's going to be way more than that) it results in an $16M each year so the $44M isn't going to be an issue assuming the NFL lets them move.
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If they want to have a "Campus" at the Arlington Park Area, they could probably have all the Bears stuff there, sell off Lake Forest, when AH is completed, and be just fine. There is 12 years left till 2033, by the time the purchase is completed, there will likely be under 11. I would bet that the teardown and rebuilt of the AH site including design and engineering work could easily be close to 8-10 years before the Stadium is ready. It's not like they have had there eyes on this site for years and getting plans ready in the background. There is a year of groundwork and testing before any real plans can get started. I doubt they pay for that before they officially own the property. The bears will probably play out the lease at Soldier Field, or at best be 2 years short.

I also don't think the bears would have any issue finding private investors in the "Bears Den" Campus, and coming up with the money they need to complete it. (Sadly, I guess they still try to get some money out of the state or city for it though)

I did hear that the gambling license for Arlington Race course may come with the site....I can see the bears diving through the piles of bills filling the stadium when it opens, it will have to be covered (retractable) and seat 100k to have enough space for all the cash coming in!
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I can't see them leaving Halas, they just dumped a bunch of money into it. Plus the appeal to AH is as a revenue stream with mixed use businesses. You don't want to dedicate that land to a practice facility rather than hotels and restaurants and other stuff.
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Arkansasbear wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:53 am I didn't realize Soldier Field (or is it Solider??) had the lowest capacity at 61,500. Lambeau Field is the second largest at 81,441 and Met Life tops the list at 82,500. https://www.stadiumsofprofootball.com/comparisons/

So I'd think they would want to be "bigger and better" than Lambeau and since doing that gets them within 1000 of being the largest, so I'd think they would end up exceeding 82,500. So they'd get an extra 20,000 bodies in the stadium. Lets pretend that each person brings in an additional $100 (yeah it's going to be way more than that) it results in an $16M each year so the $44M isn't going to be an issue assuming the NFL lets them move.
Good point.

Add me to the surprised group. But I shouldn't be. Ted Phillips is a lot of things. But a financial dimwit isn't one of them. And this could be a gold mine for the Bears as many of you have pointed out.

Personally, being from Indiana, I love that I can drive 15 minutes from my home, hop on a train and get to a 15 minute walk from Soldier. But I haven't gone to a game in years, so if they move to the burbs and it makes it better for the Bears, I'm OK with that.
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Go back to leather helmets, NFL.
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Mikefive wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 1:56 pm
Arkansasbear wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:53 am I didn't realize Soldier Field (or is it Solider??) had the lowest capacity at 61,500. Lambeau Field is the second largest at 81,441 and Met Life tops the list at 82,500. https://www.stadiumsofprofootball.com/comparisons/

So I'd think they would want to be "bigger and better" than Lambeau and since doing that gets them within 1000 of being the largest, so I'd think they would end up exceeding 82,500. So they'd get an extra 20,000 bodies in the stadium. Lets pretend that each person brings in an additional $100 (yeah it's going to be way more than that) it results in an $16M each year so the $44M isn't going to be an issue assuming the NFL lets them move.
Good point.

Add me to the surprised group. But I shouldn't be. Ted Phillips is a lot of things. But a financial dimwit isn't one of them. And this could be a gold mine for the Bears as many of you have pointed out.

Personally, being from Indiana, I love that I can drive 15 minutes from my home, hop on a train and get to a 15 minute walk from Soldier. But I haven't gone to a game in years, so if they move to the burbs and it makes it better for the Bears, I'm OK with that.
Yea, there's a pretty narrow group of fans with that experience. It's just that one Metra stop that is a 15 minute walk. Every other nearby train is at least 30, but probably more like 40 with GameDay crowds. And crowded train stops are one thing when it's something like Wrigley that is in the middle of a neighborhood. But that's not Soldier Field. Unless you plan to drop by the Field Muesum after the game...
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RichH55 wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 10:09 pm
dplank wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 6:25 pm

One thing my wife and I really love about the game is taking the ferry from navy pier over to the museum for drop off. I'm sentimental I suppose, but I'd hate to see the Bears move from downtown.
100% agree
So you like to take the ferry over to games with Plank's wife too?
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Here's something to consider.

I have lived in Minnesota for the last 17 years and I am a short distance from the Vikings' new HQ/Practice facility. I'm not suggesting that the Bears should leave Halas Hall but I want you to look at the HQ/practice facility/hotel/residence space that Vikings have built (and are continuing to build) on 200 acres: https://www.explorevikinglakes.com/

Now -- Imagine that "writ large" as a full-blown stadium and mixed-use development on 326 acres in Arlington Heights.

LOTS of possibilities.
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Arkansasbear wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:53 am I didn't realize Soldier Field (or is it Solider??) had the lowest capacity at 61,500. Lambeau Field is the second largest at 81,441 and Met Life tops the list at 82,500. https://www.stadiumsofprofootball.com/comparisons/

So I'd think they would want to be "bigger and better" than Lambeau and since doing that gets them within 1000 of being the largest, so I'd think they would end up exceeding 82,500. So they'd get an extra 20,000 bodies in the stadium. Lets pretend that each person brings in an additional $100 (yeah it's going to be way more than that) it results in an $16M each year so the $44M isn't going to be an issue assuming the NFL lets them move.
And they would actually earn even more than that since because they’d be the owners of the stadium, they would also be able to pocket the revenue from renting it out for concerts, final 4’s, Big 10 championship games, etc.
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I'm not going through three pages to find out but are there considerations to keep the name Soldier Field or are they going with a corporate sponsor name?
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Hero wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 8:10 pm I'm not going through three pages to find out but are there considerations to keep the name Soldier Field or are they going with a corporate sponsor name?
It's not even close to being that far along.

But yea, if it happens, welcome to PNC Field or whatever. 100%.
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Yeah, Soldier Field was a stadium 50 years before the Bears ever played there. So the name stays with the place.


And I think it's only ethical to rename the team the Arlington Bears. I think we'd all agree that's just common sense.
So let's not talk about it any further. :flick:
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Umm no, they are not the San Jose 49ers, Arlington Cowboys, or Glendale Cardinals. You stick with the major metropolitan area.
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We all know how rigorously NFL teams honor the terms of player contracts, I'm sure the Bears will honor their lease with the city of Chicago....I'm sure the team can reach agreement with the city on the terms of a buyout. Supposedly the Fire will be paying approximately $65 million to buy out their lease with the city of Bridgeview.
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I’m pissed at the Mayor - classless IMO even if the Bears ownership are playing leverage games.
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Grizzled wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:24 am Supposedly the Fire will be paying approximately $65 million to buy out their lease with the city of Bridgeview.
Yeah, that was crazy.
I don't know by what multiple, but that kind of money is a lot more significant to them than to an NFL team.
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Lightfoot can say or do anything she wants, but she's on the losing end. Political discussions are not allowed here so I will stop there.

The reality is that the Bears are limited at Soldier Field. As things stand today, there can never be a Super Bowl there. The transportation to Soldier Field is significantly more prohibitive to Bears fans when compared to Arlington Heights.

We've already discussed this extensively, but Bears Town in Arlington Heights provides much more economic opportunity not just for the Bears, but for Arlington Heights and the State. I have no idea if Pritzker can get involved, but he should. It's better for the people here to have the Bears at AH instead of Chicago.

A modern retractive dome stadium in the suburbs with centralized public and private transportation allows for the Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, a venue for The Olympics, and maybe we even compete for The World Cup Of Soccer.

Develop that with hotels, restaurants, condos, the works.

It'll look modern and gorgeous.
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:56 am A modern retractive dome stadium in the suburbs with centralized public and private transportation allows for the Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, a venue for The Olympics, and maybe we even compete for The World Cup Of Soccer.

Develop that with hotels, restaurants, condos, the works.
This is the future of the NFL. Period. Gone are the days of a building that only hosts 8 football games a year and sits empty otherwise. Stadiums are too expensive to build if they can only provide that kind of limited utility.

Multi use buildings with the appropriate mixed-use surrounding developments are what works today. I am guessing here, but I don’t think many (if any) major cities are in a position to provide the space for that type of setup “within city limits” anymore.
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:56 am Lightfoot can say or do anything she wants, but she's on the losing end. Political discussions are not allowed here so I will stop there.

The reality is that the Bears are limited at Soldier Field. As things stand today, there can never be a Super Bowl there. The transportation to Soldier Field is significantly more prohibitive to Bears fans when compared to Arlington Heights.

We've already discussed this extensively, but Bears Town in Arlington Heights provides much more economic opportunity not just for the Bears, but for Arlington Heights and the State. I have no idea if Pritzker can get involved, but he should. It's better for the people here to have the Bears at AH instead of Chicago.

A modern retractive dome stadium in the suburbs with centralized public and private transportation allows for the Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, a venue for The Olympics, and maybe we even compete for The World Cup Of Soccer.

Develop that with hotels, restaurants, condos, the works.

It'll look modern and gorgeous.
Supposedly the Bears are enamored with the design of the Vikings new stadium, with lots of glass and sunlight being able to penetrate. I'd think a retractable dome would be on the list of features. Oh yeah, the highest seating capacity of NFL stadiums is probably on the wish list.
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I would love a bigger and better version (modern amenities) of the Packer Stadium. Old school - classic.
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I'm probably in the minority here, but I really like the current Soldier Field, size, location, atmosphere... it's unique and although I'm not a season ticket holder, I think Ive attended enough games to be able to have formed an opinion.

But, considering that NY and LA have two teams each, that makes Chicago the largest single city/team football market in the country, and to have the smallest capacity stadium, well... it just doesn't make any sense so you can't really fault ownership for trying to expand here.

Also, 2033, that's really not that far away in the grand scheme of things. Im sure it takes 5-6 years just to plan/build something on the scope of what they'd envision, so we're really only taking 4-5 years of years in question at SF if they purchased the site tomorrow and started work immediately.

I would prefer no dome, but I'm a meatball like that and still think Football should be played out of doors in nasty weather at least some of the time.
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I love Soldier Field. It's historic, nostalgic, and you can feel it when you walk through the columns.

But it's a shitty sports venue.

Having been to the House that Jerry Built a few dozen times over the last 10 years, I can say that the Bears truly deserve a modern stadium.
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Grizzled wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:59 am Supposedly the Bears are enamored with the design of the Vikings new stadium, with lots of glass and sunlight being able to penetrate ...
I've not been to Soldier Field in over 30 years but I have been to the Vikings new stadium on more than one occasion.

Believe all the hype you've heard -- it is very, VERY nice.
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