PFW suggests a second Chicago NFL franchise; is it worth it?

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past day or so, the (former) San Diego Chargers relocated. The team will now play in Los Angeles, which makes them the second team to move there in one year. This is a bit surprising, as L.A. has gone from no NFL teams to two in such a short time. However, the Chargers have been unhappy with their stadium, and the city of San Diego was unwilling to pay for a new one.

Now that the Los Angeles Chargers are officially back, the two biggest markets in the United States each have two NFL teams. The next biggest market without a team? Chicago.

I was just browsing through my Twitter feed (follow me, by the way) when I saw an article that was so shocking that I just had to read it. Eric Olson of Pro Football Weekly suggested something huge: another team in Chicago.

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At first, this seems like an interesting topic. Chicago already has two baseball teams, so why not have two football teams as well? Plus, Chicago has been a football city for most of its existence as a sports city. Having another team could revitalize the city’s love for the game. However, having another team in the Windy City might do more harm than good.

For starters, let’s look at this through a business perspective. With a new team would likely come a new stadium. Stadiums are becoming more and more expensive to build. The upcoming stadium in Los Angeles is projected to cost $2.6 billion. Even though one in Chicago probably wouldn’t be that expensive, it would still have a very hefty price tag. A large amount of that would probably come from taxpayers. Do you want to pay more taxes? Of course you don’t.

From a pure football standpoint, Chicago is (typically) very loyal to the Bears. This isn’t like the situation in Los Angeles where there hadn’t been football in decades. There has been football in Chicago for nearly 100 years now. A new team in the city probably wouldn’t attract many new fans. It’s not worth putting a team in a city that already has a team with a firm fan base.

In short, while a new football team in Chicago might be interesting at first, it might not be the best move in the long run.

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