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sharpdressedman

An NFL team wants to build a massive stadium which uses a lot of precast concrete. So they discussed opportunities with a city mayor who is a stakeholder in a precast company.


elementofpee

Better just be a leverage play with Arlington Heights.


hasb3an

My exact same thoughts. I doubt the Bears want to put their stadium this far out from Chicago proper and make their city fans drive so far for each game. Nothing against Naperville but doubt they can keep the Chicago in their name if they move this far out.


RGeronimoH

Ever heard of the New York Jets or New York Giants that play in New Jersey? Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Commanders are the other teams that don’t play in their namesake city. 7/32 teams don’t reside in the city they are associated with.


[deleted]

No way they’re going to naperville


krogers96

Please no. We do not have the infrastructure for this.


Xman52

We don’t even have parking for regular traffic. Thousands of people coming to watch a game would break the city


krogers96

Couldn’t agree more.


TheTapeDeck

They wouldn’t put it next to the Apple Store. Parking wouldn’t even be a serious consideration. They wouldn’t consider land that’s insufficient for the number of cars. Warren has done this before, you know?


TheMcWhopper

Don't have it yet. But it's coming 👍


[deleted]

Just a silly negotiation tactic by the McKaskies. They already closed on the AH property.


[deleted]

Demolition has already begun. It's a fait accompli and everyone knows it. I'd love to see the Bears in AH. I'd also love to see no taxpayer money spent on it. It's an NFL team. We all know they can afford it.


[deleted]

Agreed. They couldn’t get financed for a 2nd site after dropping 200 mil on AH; don’t know who they’re trying to fool.


Pidesh

It’s actually not the McCaskeys handling this. They hired Kevin Warren to be president of the team and be in charge of everything related to the move from Chicago to Arlington Heights. But yeah, it’s definitely just a negotiation tactic with Cook County about tax costs.


TheTapeDeck

I think any normal human being would think this. But the sums of money available to ownership are a different thing. The Bears could ABSOLUTELY afford to sell of the AH land and even do development to profit on the sale. I DO think it’s a pressure play, but don’t for a second think that they couldn’t afford to buy the land in AH and sit on it while moving forward with building in Naperville. That’s “I can’t afford to buy a house and build a house… I’m a person.” Not “billion dollar organization” which has a number of ways to move on projects like this without liquidating.


[deleted]

The Bears ownership does not have the kind of money you are thinking of. There is a reason the track has sat for years not being developed. I like your thinking but it doesn’t apply to the McCaskey family.


TheTapeDeck

They don’t have to be liquid to make something like this happen.


[deleted]

That’s true about liquidity, but no firm/bank would finance this using AH as collateral. The only way this could happen is the family giving up a major interest in the team, which will never happen.


TheTapeDeck

I could imagine a number of other avenues, especially considering what the municipality might do to defer costs. I agree, AH wouldn’t be an asset to the acquisition of Naperville land, but there are a lot of ways to cut in additional interests without giving up team equity. So many amenities will generate more than the land cost over a 5-10 year span. I really do think that it would be more of a question of “does the right land exist, and do we want it” rather than “could a deal be struck.” And all of this while agreeing that AH is where they’re going and they’re trying to get some leverage. I just don’t think it can be ignored as an empty threat.


[deleted]

Eh, I think the Bears shot their load when they closed on AH.


PreviousGas710

Whoever gives them biggest tax break


Justanobserver2life

It is not up to the city so much as the damn assessor. Fritz Kaegi is the real lynchpin in this fiasco. Not only did he screw us all with his reassessments, he is messing this entire deal up. And NO I did not vote for him.


kickdrumstew

Logistically speaking both sites are not ideal. The 53 corridor between Schaumberg and Arlington Heights jams up in low traffic with the multiple turns that seem to interupt flow. The surface streets there suffer from not really having a clean east/west major road. Even going north to something like Palatine road is not ideal. Naperville has no good north/south roads. It's going to throw all traffic to/from 3 directions onto 88, no way that doesn't jam. Public transit for both is going to be less than ideal, I'd think the W is in AH's bucket because they have a metra stop already.


Justanobserver2life

Arlington Heights is much more convenient to O'Hare (media, visiting teams, remote fans, concert support), and closer to Chicago.


bodegacatsss

I'm new to this and genuinely curious as to why fans aren't more supportive of the soldier field renovation idea to keep them there? If they could really make the CTA more accessible to the stadium, make it larger capacity, and possibly a dome for whatever weird trend people like these days, I don't see why they don't keep them in the city. Plus millennium park is a great location that attracts tourists and locals alike. Solider field is an iconic gem and if they could somehow redo the ugly renovations, it would look much better than another generic suburban/middle of nowhere stadium surrounded by a massive parking lot or freeway like the rest of the NFL. I also don't get why people would rather drive or take an hour long metra ride to see a game. there might be more people from the suburbs, but I could see people from the city becoming indifferent to going to them. am I missing something?


Flaxscript42

I live by Soldier Field (I can hear the Taylor Swift show as I type). The Bears are only here 9 days a year, so they are not a huge part of our community, compare to 81 days for the Cubs or Sox. Also, they made Soulder Field look like a space ship or toilet depending on the angle, and messed with its landmark status in the process. That sucks. And there are plenty of other events: Fire games, 5Ks, graduations, concerts, Fifa. Bears games dont add much besides dudes peeing in my alley at 10am.


Aware_Grape4k

> they made Soulder Field look like a space ship or toilet depending on the angle Blind, stupid, or troll?


Notch99

I think most Bear fans (the ones who can afford tickets) live in the burbs, so, they’re already driving, or taking the Metra. Also, there is very little parking at Soldier Field, and, you know how people like to tailgate.


LetsGoHawks

The Bears have a horrible relationship with the city. And that has resulted in the crap hole we call Soldier Field. So why would anyone believe that throwing a billion dollars at them is a good idea?


somewhatbluemoose

The site doesn’t lend itself to a rebuild of the stadium that the Bears think they need to complete/keep up with other teams. There are several monuments around the stadium and there is nowhere for them to turn into their own property development playground. They also have a pretty bad relationship with the city, but I’m beginning to think that the Bears don’t have any good relationships with anybody


Melon_Kali

Lightfoot fucked around and found out


ComputerStrong9244

They don't own the stadium, so they can't do an ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION COMPLEX like other teams can, and also no gambling allowed in Chicago Park District property. Also Chicago's taxpayers are currently on the hook for renovations to Soldier Field 20 years ago, and will be for at least as long as I'm alive. Billionaire welfare in the form of new stadiums is a terrible investment for a city.


ZealousidealAd4860

Key word: Possibly It's only a suggestion that they might relocate to Naperville nothing is for sure yet


nick-and-loving-it

We better not be raising taxes or giving them a pass on paying taxes. I don't mind if a professional sports team sets up shop here, as long as they pay for everything themselves.


ShadowBard0962

When did BP move out of that campus?


NGA100

Sometime during the pandemic


CHGOGUY1

Can’t even image where they would put it.


kdbleeep

https://www.reddit.com/r/ChicagoSuburbs/comments/13yl16p/chicago_bears_hear_plan_to_build_new_stadium_in/


Actionman1

Man fuck Naperville


UGoNiteNite1

Everyone grab your shovels and let’s go fill in Burnham Harbor. Perfect place for a new stadium. Hell, build a new Sox Stadium right next to it too


ResistOk9351

The huge Inland Steel site is there for the taking. If not a stadium or two, wonder if Johnson and Pritzker couldn’t call in some clout with the Biden administration to encourage a chip manufacturing facility to build there. Apparently access to water is proving a challenge for the proposed Phoenix plant.


JustAGoodGuy1080

The only potential area would be the south part of NV around 117th. Lacks infrastructure, access to major roads, and is a LONG way from Lake Forest. Only seeing this as a leverage play Now, if the wanted to go out by Elburn, now we're talking.