Bears to meet with Gov. Pritzker aides Wednesday to discuss new stadium proposal
The Chicago Bears are scheduled to meet with two of Gov. JB Pritzker’s top aides on Wednesday for the first time to discuss the team’s proposal for a new closed-roof stadium on the lakefront.
Pritzker has repeatedly said he’s against using public subsidies for new sports venues, and the Sun-Times reports that, according to a source with knowledge of the governor’s thinking, Bears officials will likely hear there isn’t a “magic number” that could get them to change Pritzker’s mind.
Last week, the Bears revealed their plans for a domed stadium that would be built on Museum Campus, just south of where Soldier Field now sits. The team said it would cost $4.7 billion, of which the Bears would contribute just over $2 billion.
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The Bears are also asking for $900 million from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority that would be backed by the city’s 2% hotel tax, which was used to build Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, and renovate Soldier Field in the early 2000s.
However, according to a Sun-Times report from late last week, Illinois Sports Facilities Authority executive director Frank Bilecki says the actual cost for a new stadium would be much more to taxpayers than the “sticker price” the Bears put out in last week’s announcement.
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According to Bilecki, that report says, the actual cost to taxpayers would be an estimated $6.9 billion. Bilecki’s estimate includes $1 billion to pay off the existing debt from Soldier Field and Guaranteed Rate Field, as well as 40 years of projected interest rates to pay off the bonds the Bears are asking for to build the new stadium.
In other words, the cost to taxpayers after financing ends up being much more than the “sticker price,” much like a home buyer will pay more than the listed home value by the time a 30-year mortgage is paid off.
Mayor Brandon Johnson supported the Bears’ plan last week, saying it doesn’t include any new or increased taxes and praising it for creating facilities that could be used by the public.
But Pritzker has said a new Bears stadium is not a priority for him and that taxpayers would need to see more of the benefits.
While the Bears seem intent on building a stadium in the city and along the lake for now, the team still owns the 326-acre Arlington Park property in Arlington Heights, formerly home of the Arlington International Racecourse.
The Bears purchased that property in February 2023 for $197.2 million. At that point, it seemed almost certain the Bears would move to the northwest suburbs when they built a new stadium.
However, the Bears and local school districts in and around Arlington Heights reached an impasse on the valuation of the property, leaving the Bears with a higher property tax burden there than they feel they should have.
After the Bears had announced last week they would reveal their plans for a lakefront stadium, Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes reiterated that Arlington Heights remains a great relocation spot for the Bears if lakefront plans fall through.
“We’ve got 326 acres of prime real estate in the northwest suburbs in the heart of their fandom,” Hayes said.
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