Bears New Stadium Nonsense Repository

[IotaNet]

.

[docc]

..keep the Bears on the lake front...develop the AH site with state of the art hologram of the game at less costly tickets..

Like a Universal City environment...a lot of folks are going to UC to "experience" Star Wars or Jurassic Park... Give them the experience without the hassle !!
Everyone happy

[IotaNet]

Do you know what this sounds like to me?

Arlington Heights stadium is Caleb Williams
Chicago Lakefront stadium is Justin Fields

Yes, and you see what happened to Justin Fields. Notice the latest stadium news below:

* * * * *

Chicago Tribune: Arlington Heights proposes a tax cut compromise for the possible Chicago Bears’ suburban stadium site

“Arlington Heights village officials have proposed a compromise over the Chicago Bears’ property tax for the site of a potential domed stadium in the suburb that would significantly cut the team’s tax bill.

In an effort to break the impasse between the Bears and local school districts over the property tax bill on the former Arlington International Racecourse site, the village proposed an agreement to accept the Cook County Board of Review’s assessed value of $124.7 million for the 2023 and 2024 tax years.”

Continues here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/03/ ... ompromise/

[Grizzled]

Another link, the Trib wants you to be a subscriber to read their article:

https://sports.yahoo.com/arlington-heig ... 28444.html

This is what the Bears have been looking for. AH has completed a long bomb downfield and is getting ready to punch it in as the political infighting in Chicago is just gearing up and will result in court cases taking years to adjudicate.

[The Cooler King]

So it appears this is a proposal directly from the village. But no indication the school districts, who are the biggest part of the tax bill are on board.

I'm guessing with the way funding/revenue works the village is way more motivated to get a deal done as it will come with ancillary revenue streams that are much bigger compared to its portion of property tax. That isn't the reality for the school districts though. They aren't collecting sales taxes, hotel taxes, etc. And there was a note in there about limiting the number of new properties that could create new population the school districts have to serve (aka more cost to districts $$$)

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Another link, the Trib wants you to be a subscriber to read their article:

https://sports.yahoo.com/arlington-heig ... 28444.html

This is what the Bears have been looking for. AH has completed a long bomb downfield and is getting ready to punch it in as the political infighting in Chicago is just gearing up and will result in court cases taking years to adjudicate.

Could this have been a power play by Warren to use leverage for a secondary stadium site to get the original site he wanted all along? Or does Warren really have his sights set on a lakefront stadium? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

That's EXACTLY what it was. This is the move that Warren has been waiting for by AH. Something to offset the additional tax assessment from Cook County. A "meet in the middle" if you will. McCaskey's have no desire to invest in a stadium on land they don't own, or develop surrounding amenities that they don't directly control.

[IotaNet]

Could this have been a power play by Warren to use leverage for a secondary stadium site to get the original site he wanted all along? Or does Warren really have his sights set on a lakefront stadium? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

That's EXACTLY what it was. This is the move that Warren has been waiting for by AH. Something to offset the additional tax assessment from Cook County. A "meet in the middle" if you will. McCaskey's have no desire to invest in a stadium on land they don't own, or develop surrounding amenities that they don't directly control.

I also think that Mayor Johnson KNEW what Warren was doing. I’m not convinced he really believes the Bears are going to stay … but I think he considers the White Sox new stadium as his ace in the hole.

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Could this have been a power play by Warren to use leverage for a secondary stadium site to get the original site he wanted all along? Or does Warren really have his sights set on a lakefront stadium? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

That's EXACTLY what it was. This is the move that Warren has been waiting for by AH. Something to offset the additional tax assessment from Cook County. A "meet in the middle" if you will. McCaskey's have no desire to invest in a stadium on land they don't own, or develop surrounding amenities that they don't directly control.

I also think that Mayor Johnson KNEW what Warren was doing. I’m not convinced he really believes the Bears are going to stay … but I think he considers the White Sox new stadium as his ace in the hole.

He had to know, as well as understand why there was no real way in hell they were going to keep the Bears in downtown Chicago. He understands the money at stake. He can say they tried, and he can showcase the new White Sox stadium.

[Grizzled]

AH's new plan calls for the Bears to pay $6.3M in tax year 2023, $3.6M in 2024, and 3 to 10% increases based on market conditions for the following 3 years. The Bears have asked for tax certainty for 5 years and this may satisfy this condition.

Unrelated to this story but the dealings of the Chiefs to get $800 million in improvements to Arrowhead. They want the public to pay $500 million of the cost. The Chiefs have one of if not the best home fields in the NFL, selling out for many years and the crowd being one of the loudest. Where, realistically, would they move to? They are threatening to move elsewhere if their "request" isn't met but it's a hollow threat:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/might-w ... 14180.html

[The Cooler King]

AH's new plan calls for the Bears to pay $6.3M in tax year 2023, $3.6M in 2024, and 3 to 10% increases based on market conditions for the following 3 years. The Bears have asked for tax certainty for 5 years and this may satisfy this condition.

Unrelated to this story but the dealings of the Chiefs to get $800 million in improvements to Arrowhead. They want the public to pay $500 million of the cost. The Chiefs have one of if not the best home fields in the NFL, selling out for many years and the crowd being one of the loudest. Where, realistically, would they move to? They are threatening to move elsewhere if their "request" isn't met but it's a hollow threat:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/might-w ... 14180.html

Yes I think certainty for 5 years is a reasonable ask. That's about the timeline it would take to have a real development occur and in those intervening years you start negotiations over the new developed base and growth on a completed project. How many hotels, how many commercial and residential units, etc. Right now the village/schools should be careful over "giving away" the tax base on a dream and a couple drawings.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

New Bears lakefront stadium could come with hotel, sports museum — and $1B campus revamp

The Bears’ drive for a downtown domed stadium could include a new sports museum, a pedestrian bridge to Northerly Island and a lakefront hotel — along with a public infrastructure price tag of at least $1 billion to help bring more people to the Museum Campus.

That doesn’t include the financial help the team would need from lawmakers to issue or extend state bonds to build the stadium. But the team has promised to pump at least $2 billion of its own money into the project if officials move the chains on their ambitious vision — and if parks advocates don’t block it.

Bears President Kevin Warren floated some of those big ideas during an introductory meeting Thursday with leaders of Friends of the Parks.
...

The Bears’ still-forming plan would remove the oft-ridiculed "spaceship" renovation and turn Soldier Field into a public athletic facility with parking underneath, according to sources briefed on the vision.

A new publicly owned stadium would break ground at the site of the Waldron Parking Deck south of Soldier Field, likely extending into nearby lots. It would include a restaurant and restrooms available year-round, amenities currently scarce along the city’s prized Lakefront Trail.

The team has also suggested adding a sports-focused museum to the campus, as well as a pedestrian bridge across Burnham Harbor to Northerly Island under the plan, first reported by Crain’s Chicago Business.

And the Bears would like a hotel built near the stadium — but that’s “not a make-or-break” part of their vision, a source familiar with the talks said.

Infrastructure costs would be expected to top $1 billion, with most of that for expanding and/or moving exits to the stadium from DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and potentially bypassing the drive with a smoother connection from Columbus Drive to McFetridge Drive.

Traffic plans are still being hashed out, sources said, with the aim of making it easier for pedestrians and motorists alike to get to the lakefront.
...

During Thursday’s meeting, Friends of the Parks leaders again pushed the Bears to consider the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital near Bronzeville, but Warren said that parcel is too narrow for a stadium, sources said.

A spokeswoman for Friends of the Parks said the group shared “our values” with the team but had no immediate reaction to the team’s proposals.
...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker hasn’t been briefed on the Bears plan, and has thrown cold water on the idea of public stadium financing. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, has seen parts of the plan, but taken no position.

And Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, has urged the Bears to work out a public financing deal with the White Sox — whose chairman, Jerry Reinsdorf, is eyeing the same pot of public money for their own new stadium in the South Loop.

Representatives for the teams have met but haven’t formulated any unified spending proposal.
...

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... mpus-hotel

[Grizzled]

New Bears lakefront stadium could come with hotel, sports museum — and $1B campus revamp

The Bears’ drive for a downtown domed stadium could include a new sports museum, a pedestrian bridge to Northerly Island and a lakefront hotel — along with a public infrastructure price tag of at least $1 billion to help bring more people to the Museum Campus.

That doesn’t include the financial help the team would need from lawmakers to issue or extend state bonds to build the stadium. But the team has promised to pump at least $2 billion of its own money into the project if officials move the chains on their ambitious vision — and if parks advocates don’t block it.

Bears President Kevin Warren floated some of those big ideas during an introductory meeting Thursday with leaders of Friends of the Parks.
...

The Bears’ still-forming plan would remove the oft-ridiculed "spaceship" renovation and turn Soldier Field into a public athletic facility with parking underneath, according to sources briefed on the vision.

A new publicly owned stadium would break ground at the site of the Waldron Parking Deck south of Soldier Field, likely extending into nearby lots. It would include a restaurant and restrooms available year-round, amenities currently scarce along the city’s prized Lakefront Trail.

The team has also suggested adding a sports-focused museum to the campus, as well as a pedestrian bridge across Burnham Harbor to Northerly Island under the plan, first reported by Crain’s Chicago Business.

And the Bears would like a hotel built near the stadium — but that’s “not a make-or-break” part of their vision, a source familiar with the talks said.

Infrastructure costs would be expected to top $1 billion, with most of that for expanding and/or moving exits to the stadium from DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and potentially bypassing the drive with a smoother connection from Columbus Drive to McFetridge Drive.

Traffic plans are still being hashed out, sources said, with the aim of making it easier for pedestrians and motorists alike to get to the lakefront.
...

During Thursday’s meeting, Friends of the Parks leaders again pushed the Bears to consider the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital near Bronzeville, but Warren said that parcel is too narrow for a stadium, sources said.

A spokeswoman for Friends of the Parks said the group shared “our values” with the team but had no immediate reaction to the team’s proposals.
...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker hasn’t been briefed on the Bears plan, and has thrown cold water on the idea of public stadium financing. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, has seen parts of the plan, but taken no position.

And Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, has urged the Bears to work out a public financing deal with the White Sox — whose chairman, Jerry Reinsdorf, is eyeing the same pot of public money for their own new stadium in the South Loop.

Representatives for the teams have met but haven’t formulated any unified spending proposal.
...

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... mpus-hotel

Does not quite offer what can be built on the AH site - hotels, restaurants, a Bears "experience", etc. So is Warren and the Bears "emotionally" tied to staying in Chicago on the lake front, will this influence their decision or is strictly business? Friends of the Park didn't comment after Poles comments (above). Can they be won over with Warren's proposal offering an expansion of open spaces of 20%? Where will the $1 billion public contribuion come from, budgets everywhere are pretty tight.

[thunderspirit]

In my experience, Friends of the Park doesn't much consider compromise on anything. Their stances tend to be extremely balck/white.

(Their role is to protect the city lakefront for public use, so I get it.)

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Does not quite offer what can be built on the AH site - hotels, restaurants, a Bears "experience", etc. So is Warren and the Bears "emotionally" tied to staying in Chicago on the lake front, will this influence their decision or is strictly business? Friends of the Park didn't comment after Poles comments (above). Can they be won over with Warren's proposal offering an expansion of open spaces of 20%? Where will the $1 billion public contribuion come from, budgets everywhere are pretty tight.

This is all posturing so that they can say that they tried to stay downtown, but couldn't come up with a site and/or funding solution that made sense for all parties involved. The logistics of getting to and from the stadium will still be a nightmare, the Bears won't own the land or any of the bars/restaurants/hotels surrounding the venue. From a business/profit/long-term revenue decision, doing anything other than developing AH would be a colossal mistake. Many professional sports teams across the US aren't actually located in the their namesake city. Chicago also won't see a Superbowl in the new stadium if they try and develop on the lakefront. I also don't get the whole "leaving the lakefront will be abandoning the city" thing. They play EIGHT games all year at Soldier Field. Eight. The Bears and the McCaskey's need to move to AH for the longtime success of the franchise.

[Otis Day]

Agree 100%.

[STLINI]

Another article today in The Athletic with Kevin Warren saying that the lakefront is their priority for a new stadium. Guess we'll see.

https://theathletic.com/5369105/2024/03 ... in-warren/

[Grizzled]

While the Bears plans for the #1 pick are big news at the owners meetings, so is their new stadium plans. Owners seem to prefer that the Bears stay within Chicago city limits. They believe the team will also do better economically doing so. Warren is saying that AH isn't out if the running but on the back burner, although he could be playing high stakes poker. Another article indicated that the Bears are working on designs for the entire project:

https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-b ... -meetings/

[Otis Day]

I may be dumb, I just don't understand how they would be better off economically having the stadium in downtown Chicago. In AH they own the land and can bring people/businesses in that will pay rent, buy off parcels of land, they would seem to get a bigger % of concessions and they would not be paying rent forever. I think this is a play.

[Arkansasbear]

Chicago also won't see a Superbowl in the new stadium if they try and develop on the lakefront.

Why would that be? It seems to me if the stadium is on the lakefront, it becomes a more likely site than if out in the 'burbs. Fan get to come and stay in Chicago the whole time and don't have the commute out to the game.

[Arkansasbear]

New Bears lakefront stadium could come with hotel, sports museum — and $1B campus revamp


And Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, has urged the Bears to work out a public financing deal with the White Sox — whose chairman, Jerry Reinsdorf, is eyeing the same pot of public money for their own new stadium in the South Loop.

So if the Sox and trying to get a bite of the public funding, is there a spot that could be developed like Arrow Head (Chiefs) and Kauffman stadiums (Royals). They are across the parking lot from one another. You have a slight scheduling issue to look at when the NFL season starts - they can't both be home on the same Sunday and you have to plan for the potential of the Royals making the post season and needing to be home. But that is a fairly easy obstetrical to overcome.

Heck, if the city can't work it out, maybe the Bears get the Sox to build there stadium in AH as well.

[thunderspirit]

Chicago also won't see a Superbowl in the new stadium if they try and develop on the lakefront.

Why would that be? It seems to me if the stadium is on the lakefront, it becomes a more likely site than if out in the 'burbs. Fan get to come and stay in Chicago the whole time and don't have the commute out to the game.

Oh, the Bears would get one. And then when everyone from out of town realizes how hard it is to get anywhere to/from the lakefront stadium, they'll never get another.

But they'd get one.

[Arkansasbear]

Why would that be? It seems to me if the stadium is on the lakefront, it becomes a more likely site than if out in the 'burbs. Fan get to come and stay in Chicago the whole time and don't have the commute out to the game.

Oh, the Bears would get one. And then when everyone from out of town realizes how hard it is to get anywhere to/from the lakefront stadium, they'll never get another.

But they'd get one.

Gotcha. The logistical nightmares that come with going to and from the game downtown. That makes since. Thanks.

[wab]

Chicago also won't see a Superbowl in the new stadium if they try and develop on the lakefront.

Why would that be? It seems to me if the stadium is on the lakefront, it becomes a more likely site than if out in the 'burbs. Fan get to come and stay in Chicago the whole time and don't have the commute out to the game.

There isn't anywhere on the lakefront that has the logistical infrastructure to handle a super bowl. It would be a nightmare.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Bears president: Lakefront stadium gives team ‘best opportunity for success’

Building a stadium on the Lakefront will give the Bears “the best opportunity for success,” president/CEO Kevin Warren said Tuesday at the NFL’s annual meetings.
...

“Right now, we're putting our energy to downtown Chicago, to the museum campus, just from an energy and resource standpoint,” Warren said.

As for Arlington Heights?

“We are the largest landowner in Arlington Heights right now …” he said. “We own a beautiful piece of land. … We’ll stay in communication with Arlington Heights, but the focus now has to be on Chicago to give us the best opportunity for success.”
...

“One of the concerns with Arlington was, if we couldn’t even have a resolution of short-term property taxes, how did that bode for the next 40 years?” chairman George McCaskey told the Sun-Times.
...

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he spoke with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on the phone recently.

"I understand what he expects and what he hopes to be able to create in the city of Chicago," he said. "[I’m] also very aware of what’s being proposed in Arlington. I think they’re both exciting options. But there’s a long ways to go with this.

“I don’t think any of us have said, ‘This is where we want to be’ or ‘This is where we want to do it.’ You respect the process, you go through the process and hopefully determine the best thing for our fans, for our team and overall for the community."

Warren had an introductory meeting Thursday with Friends of the Parks... Among the items discussed were a domed stadium, opening up green space by 20% and adding other amenities to the Lakefront.

“I understand their mindset, because I feel the same way,” Warren said. “I want the Lakefront to remain beautiful also.”
...

The Bears have promised to give $2 billion of its own money to build a publicly owned stadium — but would likely require at least $1 billion in infrastructure for the museum campus. Asked about the public dollars needed for infrastructure, Warren claimed he didn’t know the exact details.

“One thing that I can guarantee you: I am fiscally conservative, and I am financially responsible,” he said. “So anything that we recommend, from a financial standpoint, will be very well thought out.”

Plans for the museum campus would include expanding or moving stadium exits from DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

McCaskey called the museum campus a jewel of the city.

“But it needs better access,” he said. “And this is an opportunity to provide that and bring out all that the museum campus has to offer. And I think if we do it right, it will be great for the museums, great for Bears fans, great for the people of the city of Chicago and great for the region.”

The Bears have held meetings and formed a partnership with the White Sox, who are seeking a new baseball stadium in the South Loop, to, McCaskey said, form an “understanding about public financing to make both projects succeed.” Warren said he didn’t feel like the Bears were competing with them for the same money.

“With the intellectual horsepower that we have in Chicago,” Warren said, “we should be able to figure this out.”

It’s complicated. Beside questions of public funding, the Bears have to find a way to make up for revenue they’d lose by not owning their own stadium like they would in Arlington Heights.

“We’re hopeful that we’ll have enough opportunities and enough say in the management of any facility on the museum campus that it will be a workable situation for us,” McCaskey said.
...

Warren wouldn’t give a timeline for the Bears’ plans moving forward...

“We're getting close to have a plan ready to take public,” he said.

Warren wants progress in the next nine months.

“I really believe that this is the year that we have to pull together and collectively, across the state and across the city and the county to do everything we possibly can,” he said. “In a manner that makes sense. Not being reckless, but in a manner that makes sense to pull together.”

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024 ... ty-success

[dplank]

Lakefront was always the right answer. I’m thankful Warren stepped in and seems to be averting that suburban Walmart disaster

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Chicago also won't see a Superbowl in the new stadium if they try and develop on the lakefront.

Why would that be? It seems to me if the stadium is on the lakefront, it becomes a more likely site than if out in the 'burbs. Fan get to come and stay in Chicago the whole time and don't have the commute out to the game.

You're assuming that out of town fans, the NFL, and media outlets have the same tolerance for the nightmare that is navigating Grant Park and the museum campus that us native Chicagoans have. I assure you that is not the case. If the stadium gets built further south, it will be a greater distance from the Michigan Ave. #magicmile than it was with Soldier Field. Shopping and looking special because they could afford a Super Bowl ticket is all these people will care about. They don't care about waterfront vistas or downtown atmospheres. If you can give them the same experience, but with more restaurants and shopping in the Woodfield area, they wouldn't give two shits about being on the lakefront. Furthermore if they get to hob-nob with their Superbowl attendees in a captive Chicago Bears campus with sports bars, museums, and high-end restaurants, they would be in fat hog heaven.

[IotaNet]

Interesting article on Bears Digest. Personally, I'm not convinced that Warren isn't bluffing. (And in some ways, this reads like an intentionally planted story to create pressure on AH.) But even if he is, he's doing it like a Boss. As I said when he first got named to the job, he is nobody's punk.
----------------------------
Everyone Loses from Taxing Bodies' Stadium Project Greed
Analysis: Bears owner Kevin Warren wasn't bluffing about a dome in Chicago and blame for lack of potential tax revenue rests with three school disticts' greed.

"There's a large tract of land, about 326 acres, bordering on Route 53 and not far from Interstate 90 in the Chicago suburbs, soon to be available.

At least it would seem this way.

Thanks to the greed of Community Consolidated School District 15, Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 and Palatine Township High School District 211, with help from Cook County and also the state of Illinois' unwillingness to be involved, the proposed Chicago Bears domed stadium in a place readily accessible to more actual Bears ticket buyers than the lakefront is dead."

Article here: https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/everyone-l ... ject-greed

[Boris13c]

I just cannot see them building on this site in Chicago. There will be a lot of restrictions. There will be less money making opportunities. They will be dealing with the city, the Friends of The Park and who knows who else. I think it is a ploy to get AH to move. The AH site is the McCaskey's/Bears. They can sell naming rights. They build how they want. They can develop and profit off of the surrounding land. No brainer to me.

it is almost as if they are trying to ensure as many roadblocks are in their way as possible ... like they are making a grand proposal but at the same time setting it up to fail

I don't get any of this ... building a sports stadium is not rocket science but it does require legitimate plans that can actually be successful

[thunderspirit]

Does not quite offer what can be built on the AH site - hotels, restaurants, a Bears "experience", etc. So is Warren and the Bears "emotionally" tied to staying in Chicago on the lake front, will this influence their decision or is strictly business? Friends of the Park didn't comment after Poles comments (above). Can they be won over with Warren's proposal offering an expansion of open spaces of 20%? Where will the $1 billion public contribuion come from, budgets everywhere are pretty tight.

This is all posturing so that they can say that they tried to stay downtown, but couldn't come up with a site and/or funding solution that made sense for all parties involved. The logistics of getting to and from the stadium will still be a nightmare, the Bears won't own the land or any of the bars/restaurants/hotels surrounding the venue. From a business/profit/long-term revenue decision, doing anything other than developing AH would be a colossal mistake. Many professional sports teams across the US aren't actually located in the their namesake city. Chicago also won't see a Superbowl in the new stadium if they try and develop on the lakefront. I also don't get the whole "leaving the lakefront will be abandoning the city" thing. They play EIGHT games all year at Soldier Field. Eight. The Bears and the McCaskey's need to move to AH for the longtime success of the franchise.

This.

When they actually break ground, I'll believe it. Until that happens (which I do not think will), it's all posturing to get concessions they want from AH.