Chicago Bears on the Move

[dsvitak]

They've been trying for years to get a replacement for Soldier Field.

https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicag..._6SwQamMrRiuvA

Well..Da Bears just purchased a massive horse racing facility, well over 320 acres, just three miles from O'Hare. This is only about ten miles from downtown Chicago.

This should work for them. Plenty of room to build a new stadium, parking is mostly there, and LOTS of other shops, restaurants, and condos to be built.

Looks like a huge win for the Bears ownership.

[dsvitak]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-park-property

Here's a better article. I didn't realize that the Bears play in the smallest stadium in the NFL, at 61,500.

Average capacity is about 68k..and many of the newer stadiums have a ton of high dollar luxury suites.

Not sure what this is costing the Bears..but 8k tickets times $200 each, for 10 games a year is $16M, plus all the other revenue you can generate.

If they build a LARGE stadium, of 84K capacity, then you can triple my back of the napkin math to an additional $50M a year revenue.

[Déjà Bru]

City money involved? Could be something as simple as discounting or waiving this:

The Chicago Tribune reported over the summer that the Bears would have to pay $84 million in damages to the city of Chicago if they break the lease within five years.

I hope they can re-purpose Soldier Field.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

City money involved? Could be something as simple as discounting or waiving this:

I hope they can re-purpose Soldier Field.

The Rays need a place to play!!!

[The Game]

I live in Woodstock (far far NW burbs) I would love to have them closer to me. Going to Soldier Field even from the western burbs and Elgin is difficult. My GF was a season ticket holder and we would take a Bears bus from Schaumburg and that was a 3 hr hassle getting there. Return trip was usually a bit better.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by The Game

I live in Woodstock (far far NW burbs) I would love to have them closer to me. Going to Soldier Field even from the western burbs and Elgin is difficult. My GF was a season ticket holder and we would take a Bears bus from Schaumburg and that was a 3 hr hassle getting there. Return trip was usually a bit better.

I live about 20 miles from Busch Stadium. PITA getting to the ballpark, especially with the Cards almost always getting 40k in attendance. Well..before this year, anyway.

[AnotherAlias]

It'll be a lot easier for me to get to games!

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

City money involved?

They better not ask the taxpayers of Chicago to spend money on a new stadium. We did that once before with the "renovation" (read "desecration") of Soldier Field. Never again. They can move to Pigsnuckle, Arkansas for all I care.

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I hope they can re-purpose Soldier Field.

I should think they could repurpose it with a few hundred strategically placed sticks of high explosive. Save as much of the original stadium as can be saved, detonate the modern monstrosity that sits inside it.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by dsvitak

Well..Da Bears just purchased a massive horse racing facility, well over 320 acres, just three miles from O'Hare. This is only about ten miles from downtown Chicago.

EDIT: oops, I read that as "ten minutes," not "ten miles." Never mind.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

They better not ask the taxpayers of Chicago to spend money on a new stadium. We did that once before with the "renovation" (read "desecration") of Soldier Field. Never again. They can move to Pigsnuckle, Arkansas for all I care.


I should think they could repurpose it with a few hundred strategically placed sticks of high explosive. Save as much of the original stadium as can be saved, detonate the modern monstrosity that sits inside it.

Didn't JB and the rest of Illinois legislature pass a bill to block any taxpayer funded stadiums going forward?

[The Game]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

EDIT: oops, I read that as "ten minutes," not "ten miles." Never mind.

1 mile = 10-20 minutes at times, most times. The good thing is AH is off of Rt 53/ 355, so getting there should be easier. I jear there is a Metra station there already. A few roads like 14 will need to be expanded and theres not much as far as restaurants & gas stations in that area.Obviously, we from here know all of this.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by The Game

Didn't JB and the rest of Illinois legislature pass a bill to block any taxpayer funded stadiums going forward?

I don't know, but I'd certainly be all in favor of such a law. It's a crime that these multi-millionaires (or, in many cases, multi-billionaires) come crying to the taxpayers saying that they need millions in public funds or else they'll be forced to go elsewhere. The White Sox, as I'm sure you'll remember, pulled that trick when Reinsdorf threatened to move the team to Tampa Bay unless the state helped pay for a new stadium - that's how we ended up with 1-800-Mortgages-R-Us (or whatever it's called) Field.

Considering how NFL teams these days just pull up stakes and move elsewhere (Colts, Browns, Raiders, Oilers, Rams, Raiders again, Chargers, Rams again, etc. etc.), I can't understand why any city would pay a dime to keep a team. For a large city like Chicago, NFL teams should be looked at like buses - if you miss one, rest assured another will come along shortly.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by The Game

1 mile = 10-20 minutes at times, most times. The good thing is AH is off of Rt 53/ 355, so getting there should be easier. I jear there is a Metra station there already. A few roads like 14 will need to be expanded and theres not much as far as restaurants & gas stations in that area.Obviously, we from here know all of this.

The Metra station is a big advantage - I'm sure they would run special trains on game days to take some of the burden off the local roads. Yeah, Northwest Hwy and maybe Euclid Ave would have to be expanded somehow, but I'll leave that the taxpayers of Arlington Heights to figure out

It's a shame, really, that the race track had to shut down. I went there once for a company event and we occupied one of the suites. It was a really fun experience. Of course, I never went back, so I suppose I'm part of the problem. But then I'm also a really terrible gambler, so it's probably all for the best.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

EDIT: oops, I read that as "ten minutes," not "ten miles." Never mind.

At 2 in the morning, ten minutes is ten miles. For most of the day, ten miles is more than an hour. Try driving from Wrigley Field south to Champaign after a day game. Game ended at four, and I got home at 10 pm...six hours for 150 miles.

Edit to add..I checked. It was 148 miles. Good guess. Heh heh heh.

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

The Metra station is a big advantage - I'm sure they would run special trains on game days to take some of the burden off the local roads. Yeah, Northwest Hwy and maybe Euclid Ave would have to be expanded somehow, but I'll leave that the taxpayers of Arlington Heights to figure out

I don't live in Arlington Hts. but I drive on Euclid all the time. There isn't much room to widen it east of where the stadium would be. Also, game day traffic on 53 will be a nightmare.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

The Metra station is a big advantage - I'm sure they would run special trains on game days to take some of the burden off the local roads. Yeah, Northwest Hwy and maybe Euclid Ave would have to be expanded somehow, but I'll leave that the taxpayers of Arlington Heights to figure out

It's a shame, really, that the race track had to shut down. I went there once for a company event and we occupied one of the suites. It was a really fun experience. Of course, I never went back, so I suppose I'm part of the problem. But then I'm also a really terrible gambler, so it's probably all for the best.

I've only been to AH racecourse once. I went to Maywood 5 times.

[eriqjaffe]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

I'll leave that the taxpayers of Arlington Heights to figure out

Speaking as an Arlington Heights taxpayer, **** that ****.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by eriqjaffe

Speaking as an Arlington Heights taxpayer, **** that ****.

I think I read somewhere that baseball is the only sport on which a city could spend tax money and expect a reasonable return. That's because baseball teams play 81 home dates. Compare that with an NFL team, which plays 10-12 home games (depending on whether they make the playoffs). Yet the same sort of infrastructure improvements have to be made for both. It just doesn't make a lot of economic sense for a city to invest millions of dollars to accommodate a business that operates 10-12 days out of the year.

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

I think I read somewhere that baseball is the only sport on which a city could spend tax money and expect a reasonable return. That's because baseball teams play 81 home dates. Compare that with an NFL team, which plays 10-12 home games (depending on whether they make the playoffs). Yet the same sort of infrastructure improvements have to be made for both. It just doesn't make a lot of economic sense for a city to invest millions of dollars to accommodate a business that operates 10-12 days out of the year.

It's more like billions these days.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by joefromchicago

I think I read somewhere that baseball is the only sport on which a city could spend tax money and expect a reasonable return. That's because baseball teams play 81 home dates. Compare that with an NFL team, which plays 10-12 home games (depending on whether they make the playoffs). Yet the same sort of infrastructure improvements have to be made for both. It just doesn't make a lot of economic sense for a city to invest millions of dollars to accommodate a business that operates 10-12 days out of the year.

Hmm. Maybe that's true of a city but apparently it's not a concern if a state is involved.

Originally Posted by Curve Ball Dave

It's more like billions these days.

Well, we're getting there. Almost plural.

Bills reach deal for new stadium, with a record amount of taxpayer money funding it

The Buffalo Bills set a new record, and it's a dubious one unless you're an NFL owner. The Bills will have the most public money set toward the construction of a new stadium. According to the Buffalo News, the Bills will get a new $1.4 billion stadium.

I'm a political liberal (and, please, let that be the ONLY reference to politics after this) because I believe in the power of good government to accomplish things that individuals cannot or will not do for the common good.

However, forking over $1.4 billion of taxpayer money to an NFL owner so that he or she can make $billions more is irksome to me. I am with eriqjaffe on this (without the asterisks ).