CHICAGO | Da Bears | Now these shitheads wanna drive their clown car over to Indiana?

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by sentinel

That's maybe somewhat true, but gotta keep going for more than one season to justify the substantial capital costs they're requesting taxpayers provide.

I'm not sure. It seems like the political winds have shifted against these publicly-funded stadiums, in general. The Chiefs are easily the most successful team of the past 10 years and are having the exact same issue in Missouri. Voters in their county shot-down a tax and funding proposal, so they went over the border to Kansas for leverage.

Now, Missouri is proposing to add a roof to the existing stadium, while the Chiefs continue exploring a 65k seat dome in Kansas.

[Danillo]

Originally Posted by moorhosj1

I'm not sure. It seems like the political winds have shifted against these publicly-funded stadiums, in general. The Chiefs are easily the most successful team of the past 10 years and are having the exact same issue in Missouri. Voters in their county shot-down a tax and funding proposal, so they went over the border to Kansas for leverage.

Now, Missouri is proposing to add a roof to the existing stadium, while the Chiefs continue exploring a 65k seat dome in Kansas.

Nobody should believe anything the Bears, or any other pro sport team for that matter, say. They lie, lie, lie until the con some government into spending too much money on a stadium that doesn't justify the expense, then 15 or 20 years later try to run the con again. I agree that more and more place are onto the con and less willing to throw away the money.

I've thought for a long time that instead of essentially laundering public money through unneeded new stadia to fund pro sports, we'd be better off just giving the teams money directly. Now, that would be an outrage (justifiably) so the laundering-via-stadia schemes persist, but it would be a more efficient way of using money.

[Steely Dan]

An open letter to the Chicago Bears:

Dear Chicago Bears,

Your NFL Franchise is valued at $9,000,000,000

You have more money than God.

Please go fuck yourselves,



Signed,

The taxpayers of Illinois

[twister244]

Originally Posted by sentinel

because they've had a winning season so far.

They lost to the Packers two weekends ago - They can fuck off.

[nomarandlee]

I pity the Bears. Their threats and leverage leave a lot to be desired. The idea that will seek refuge in NW Indiana, far away from +90% of their ticket season base, in a very non-sexy part of the "metro" makes this threat all but laughable to the other side.

Maybe they can get Indiana to put more money in the kitty than Illinois, but that will come with a MASSIVE decline in brand identity, fan loyalty, and potential for development around a new stadium that a stadium in AH or Chicago would afford.

[left of center]

The new thread title made me lol pretty hard

The Bears are a total joke. They have been more fun to watch this season thankfully, but even if they go all the way and win the Superbowl (they won't), they still don't deserve a dime of taxpayer money. The city and state are broke, and our limited government funds have far more pressing needs than a giant stadium that will get used 8 times a year.

The Indiana threat is hilarious because they've used this play before back in the 90s. Daley fell for it, but I doubt Pritzker will. If Indiana wants to give them a few billion, I am all for it. The Bears get a nice stadium that Illinois taxpayers didn't pay for, and frankly it will be easier for most city residents to get to than AH. Cool. Go ahead and do it!

How long do you guys think until we hear the Sox threaten to move to St. Petersburg again?

[optimusREIM]

Letting the bears leave downtown would be a huge miss and generally a downgrade in prestige for the city. They should be waterfront. The best proposal so far was the stadium next to soldier field. The people of Chicago would cut off their nose to spite their face...

[left of center]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

Letting the bears leave downtown would be a huge miss and generally a downgrade in prestige for the city. They should be waterfront. The best proposal so far was the stadium next to soldier field. The people of Chicago would cut off their nose to spite their face...

Chicagoans are cutting off their nose to spite their face because we aren't handing over billions of tax dollars to a $9 billion NFL franchise? Lmao, okay...


The Bears are an independent organization and can make decisions in their own perceived best interests.

The city offered them plenty of options, such as the Michael Reese site. The Bears are the ones choosing to leave the lakefront, because the stadium which they designed back in 2000 has too few seats and no dome (which Daley specifically wanted but the Bears leadership vetoed). The city and the state both want them to stay, but are not going to pay them $2 billion to do so. If the Bears think they can get a free/heavily discounted stadium deal somewhere else, they are free to pursue it.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by left of center

The city offered them plenty of options, such as the Michael Reese site. The Bears are the ones choosing to leave the lakefront, because the stadium which they designed back in 2000 has too few seats and no dome (which Daley specifically wanted but the Bears leadership vetoed). The city and the state both want them to stay, but are not going to pay them $2 billion to do so. If the Bears think they can get a free/heavily discounted stadium deal somewhere else, they are free to pursue it.

Well said.

And to anyone paying attention to the budget debate right now - It makes you even more angry about the idea of a single penny going to the NFL. If the Bears were threatening to leave because Brandon Johnson put in some outrageous tax into his budget proposal that targets sports team events - We would be having a very different debate. And if Brandon Johnson is reading this thread - Don't even think about it.

But that's not what's happening here. Nobody is threatening the Bears with anything - They are just acting like a bunch of spoiled brats expecting us taxpayers to subsidize their mediocre NFL team. Piss off......

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by optimusREIM

The best proposal so far was the stadium next to soldier field.

That was a time-wasting nonstarter.

Bears want to OWN their own stadium and surrounding land to fully control all revenue.

The lakefront public land protection ordinance is airtight on this. Friends of the Park would have had any such scenario tied up in the courts for years and they would ultimately prevail anyway because the law is firmly on their side.

You can wish reality to not be real all you want, but it's a fool's errand, and the Bears are an eggresiously fucking foolish organization.

[Busy Bee]

I still think if you could cobble the land together a stadium in Rosemont is a decent idea.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I still think if you could cobble the land together a stadium in Rosemont is a decent idea.

I believe there are height restrictions on certain land parcels in Rosemont because of the airport.

[munchymunch]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

That was a time-wasting nonstarter.

Bears want to OWN their own stadium and surrounding land to fully control all revenue.

The lakefront public land protection ordinance is airtight on this. Friends of the Park would have had any such scenario tied up in the courts for years and they would ultimately prevail anyway because the law is firmly on their side.

You can wish reality to not be real all you want, but it's a fool's errand, and the Bears are an eggresiously fucking foolish organization.

My personal pipe dream is them building south of soldier and then getting the air rights over the Metra tracks. If only the McCaskeys weren’t cash poor…

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

I believe there are height restrictions on certain land parcels in Rosemont because of the airport.

Yeah, any stadium in that vicinity would have to depress the field and lower bowl like SoFi.

Could be cool though.

Rosemont has the transit access and the highway access for the tailgate crowd and any self-contained entertainment complex the Bears had in mind would fit right in around there IMO.

[woodrow]

God, could you imagine having to get to the airport during one of the games if they built at Rosemont?

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Yeah, any stadium in that vicinity would have to depress the field and lower bowl like SoFi.

Could be cool though.

Rosemont has the transit access and the highway access for the tailgate crowd and any self-contained entertainment complex the Bears had in mind would fit right in around there IMO.

I wonder if there is a world in which the Stephens Convention Center could be replaced by the stadium, or the Rosemont Theatre (with a new, smaller theatre built underneath the stadium?).

The Stephens Center was built in 1975. I imagine it is a little long in the tooth; perhaps it is still quite viable.

Just spitballing.

I imagine a dynamic where if the Illinois legislature does step up the financial ante a bit more, they will do so on the precondition that it is in the city. Most of all because that is where plenty of votes would come from.

[twister244]

Rosemont, Lakefront, Schaumburg, Dubai - It doesn't matter.

The only thing that matters to the Bears is - Who is willing to kiss their ass with money handouts. That's what they care about.

The fact they are threatening Indiana shows how disconnected they are and greedy at the same time.

[Crawford]

There's no way in hell they're moving to NW IN.

What share of players, ownership and season ticket holders live anywhere near NW IN? It has to be close to zero. They're up in Lake Forest or out in Barrington or wherever. I hope Chicagoland tells ownership to pound sand. They aren't going anywhere.

I think the closest fancy suburb is Burr Ridge, and that's still a pretty far trip to some IN cornfield. Not happening.

[Steely Dan]

^ This rotten organization is so fucking greedy and stupid, I wouldn't be surprised if they moved the team to the dark side of the moon, as long as the Mooninites blank-checked them with public money to build a new domed stadium on the lunar surface.

[r18tdi]

The proposed Gary stadium actually looks half-decent: link