UA-59049186-1 Chicago Bears Submit Bid on Arlington International Racecourse - Good if it Goes
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Chicago Bears Submit Bid on Arlington International Racecourse

ABC 7 Chicago

Thursday, the Chicago Bears officially submitted a bid on Arlington International Racecourse. Team President and CEO Ted Phillips:

“So it’s happening?”

Film post question guy! How’s your summer been?

“Fields! WOO!!!”

Justin or this one?

“ALL OF THE ABOVE!”

Gotcha. I’m planning on doing the draft class profiles next week. I think you’ll like them.

“WOO?”

Woo.

Anyway, Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes clearly wants this to happen; I still think he and his city are being used for leverage. I’ll believe a new stadium is actually happening when shovel meets dirt. That said, this at least makes the possibility significantly more real than it was a week ago.

I think that would be their preference, but it’s not entirely up to them. The Bears don’t own Soldier Field, the city of Chicago does. An undertaking such as that one would cost money that neither the city nor the state has. Trying to get the public on board with a tax increase to pay for what would surely be a multi-billion-dollar project on the heels of a pandemic with the city and state already cash-strapped would be a tough sell. On top of that, the debt from the 2002 renovation still hasn’t been paid off. The Illinoize:

“The ISFA issued nearly $400 million in debt for the project, and, according to a 2019 report from the agency, has barely paid off the interest on the project in 20 years. The Sports Facilities Authority is mostly paid for by hotel lodging taxes in Chicago, but the city of Chicago and state government are each expected to pay $5 million per year to the agency.

But, get this. Over the last few years, state taxpayers have sent over $65 million each year to fund the Sports Facilities Authority. A state budget report explained the expenditure was for “funding for ISFA’s operations, stadium insurance and maintenance, capital improvements, and $46.6 million for fiscal year 2021 debt service payments.”

The hospitality industry was one of the hardest-hit by the pandemic, ergo less money in hotel taxes coming in. Even if the financial obstacles can be overcome, there’s still the issue of finding space to make it work. All of that said, though, nobody is going to want to be the mayor who loses the Bears to the suburbs, so never say never.

“Can’t the McCaskeys pay for it?”

Not much of their net worth is liquid, so no. Frankly, this new stadium talk makes the possibility of the sale of the team sound more real. Virginia McCaskey is 98 and according to the Daily Herald’s Jim O’Donnell, other family members want to sell now. CBS Sports:

“According to O’Donnell, the three most likely candidates to purchase the team would be Pat Ryan, Jeff Bezos and Neil Bluhm. Ryan is a billionaire and he’d likely have the best shot at landing the Bears because he’s already a minority owner (he also has the right of first refusal to buy any part of the team that the McCaskey’s might sell). Ryan is well known in Chicago and already has the football field and basketball arena at Northwestern named after him. Not to mention, he’s one of the eight people that sits on the Bears board of directors.”

Bluhm tried to buy Ryan’s stake in the team in the ’80s, but the team blocked the sale. Were he to buy the team, the likelihood of a move to Arlington Heights increases substantially, as he has ties to Churchill Downs, which owns the Arlington Racecourse.

There have been rumors of Bezos wanting to buy a team for a few years now, but nothing substantial. That one feels an awful lot like the NFL wants Bezos more than the other way around.

“What about the lease at Soldier Field?”

Things like that can be worked out. The NFL is not going to stand in the way of their charter franchise, located in the third-largest market in America attempting to no longer play in one of the worst stadiums in the league. A move to Arlington Heights would almost assuredly come with a retractable roof, as Mayor Hayes has spoken about the facility being able to be used for things other than just football. Such a stadium makes it a matter of when, not if for a Super Bowl and a Final Four in Chicago. Tl;dr: don’t worry about it.

Bear in mind (pun kinda intended), this is all a process, so stay tuned.

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

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