The mayor of a Chicago suburb is continuing to make noise about the Bears moving to his city.
Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said a new stadium for the Bears could be built on the current site of the Arlington Park race track, located about 30 miles from Soldier Field. Arlington Park is for sale and is expected to be demolished and redeveloped by its next owner.
“It’s still on the table, to my understanding, but it’s a complete, definite ‘maybe,'” Hayes said of the Bears moving, via the Daily Herald. “I’m not in a position where I could say it’s a definite ‘go’ or definite ‘no go.'”
The Bears have stayed mum about the possibility as speculation has raged in the Chicago area. When teams don’t want to talk about their stadium plans, that often means they want to use another potential venue as leverage to get a better deal at their current venue.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has acknowledged that the Bears have valid concerns about Soldier Field, but the Bears’ lease with the city to play at Soldier Field runs through 2033 and Lightfoot said she is confident the Bears won’t move, and that the NFL wouldn’t let them if they tried.
I just don't see it happening. There is zero chance this is happening. JMO.
LINK "Every few years someone revives talk of the Bears moving to Arlington Heights or to Rosemont or to Gary, Ind.
Once they were said to even be headed for Keeneyville, IL.
That's a real place, near Route 20 and Gary Ave., not far from Stratford Square Mall. The late Michael McCaskey made the rounds in the area at the time and talked up the possibility back in the Mike Ditka era.
Of course none of these came to fruition and the latest rumor or wishful thinking—depending on your viewpoint—is courtesy almost entirely of media.
Kevin Kaduc of Yahoo Sports, a longtime writer in the Chicago area, and ESPN AM-1000 host Brian Hanley get credit for these rumblings.
The trouble with this idea of moving the Bears there is they are locked into Soldier Field with a lease that runs through 2033, and when all is said and done the total rental cost is only $6.3 million annually. They're not tossing out this kind of a sweet deal, and it seems unlikely the McCaskey family would like to eat the $6.3 million a year to move somewhere else.
This entire suggestion of an Arlington Heights Stadium is logical but ultimately the demolition and then construction of a new stadium would require much time and money from cash-strapped northwest suburban communities. Those towns are going to face a severe tax shortage in coming years as a result of first, the recession, and then the COVID-induced decline in the economy.
It just isn't happening unless it's entirely privately funded and it's hard to see why or how the McCaskey family could ever fork out the kind of cash from their own pockets for a Jerry Jones-type monstrosity when they can pay a paltry $6.3 million for rent. The McCaskeys' only source of income is the team and they don't have the ability to do what Jones did in Dallas"
Post by MartianBearsFan on Jun 17, 2021 20:20:50 GMT -6
You are all invited to come over to my place for the pre-tailgate party before the real tailgating and the game. Don't worry my future truck will drive us to and from the game. Provided that I still live in Illinois.
Here is what I heard this AM on 670: the Mc's are pretty competitive on and off the field and they are aware they are either the last, or one of the last team that doesn't own their own. field. They also are aware that they are considered undervalued as a franchise and it's bc they don't own their own stadium, and they are also aware that they have one of the smallest stadiums. It's possible they would be considered the most valuable NFL team if they owned their own/new stadium.
I do think at least owning the land for a new stadium would increase the value of the team when/if they go to sell it after Virginia dies.
I'm also surprised seeing how many people say that SF is a dump by people calling into the station and online, and it's a pain to get to and out of that stadium currently.
So I didn't realize just the size difference of the 2. Arlington is on 300+ acres, SF is on 7. The HH along w/investors could build a new state of the art stadium, parking, a hotel, restaurants, bars, offtrack betting etc.
This could be a Wrigleyville like setup as a selling point for new owners. It could also be a selling point to the family that wants to sell as there would be added revenue, and possibly job opertunities outside of the football team.
The mayor let her position be known about a possible move and her view of the team asking that they become relevant after October. 🤣😂🤣 I’m sure that’ll help!
Reading and talking to people on Twitter. It's 326 acres. SF is 7. The new LA complex is 286.
If they want to keep the team they could easily sell or lease almost 300 acres and still have more then enough to move the entire operation onto the site. New stadium, new practice field, new training facility, new operation HQ.
And of that 300 sqft how much added value did they add to it when they bought and committed the Bears to play there? They could likely finance most of the new stadium off it.
Or just sell the entire team with the added value without ever even breaking ground.
Reading and talking to people on Twitter. It's 326 acres. SF is 7. The new LA complex is 286.
If they want to keep the team they could easily sell or lease almost 300 acres and still have more then enough to move the entire operation onto the site. New stadium, new practice field, new training facility, new operation HQ.
And of that 300 sqft how much added value did they add to it when they bought and committed the Bears to play there? They could likely finance most of the new stadium off it.
Or just sell the entire team with the added value without ever even breaking ground.
Village of Staley. It takes a village, right?
Hotel, campground, restaurants, bars, Bears souvenir shops, parking, tailgating, concerts, conventions. Roller coasters/amusement park (Bears themed of course). They could make so much money off it that paying off the remainder of the SF lease to 2033 would be a drop in the bucket.
Not to mention hosting a super bowl. I'd bet year 1 the NFL goes for it.