Now We Know Why Chicago Bears Are Sneaking Stadium News Before Draft
Something weird happened this week. Right as the NFL draft was set to take place, the Chicago Bears issued a press release announcing that they would unveil their plans for a new lakefront stadium on Wednesday, April 24th. People were confused. Why do this 24 hours before the draft? One would think they’d wait until after when they would have the media’s full attention. Some speculated this was a deliberate attempt to avoid too much attention, perhaps because the organization knew it would receive backlash.
We now have a good idea why. The Chicago Tribune delivered a report that the price tag for this new stadium and its surrounding infrastructure will be unlike anything the city has undertaken before. Not only that, but appears taxpayers will be on the hook for a significant part of the bill.
“The Chicago Bears are set to announce a $4.6 billion plan to build a new enclosed stadium and improved lakefront area with half of the money coming from taxpayers, sources said. But the team will have to overcome serious skepticism from several directions.
The stadium itself would cost $3.2 billion to build, with another $1.4 billion in proposed infrastructure improvements, according to sources familiar with the plan who spoke to the Tribune on the condition of anonymity.
The sources said the Bears plan to pledge $2.3 billion, which includes some financing through the NFL. But the Bears’ plan includes an additional $2.3 billion in public financing, along with refinancing outstanding debt for prior publicly financed stadium projects for the Bears and White Sox, according to the sources.
Taxpayers would be on the hook for the proposed infrastructure improvements along with about $1 billion in new borrowing to finance the new stadium south of Soldier Field, the sources said.”
This explains a lot.
People were already not wild about the idea of footing the bill for a new stadium, let alone one that will cost $4.6 billion. Even half of that is massive. They likely hope excitement from the draft might soften the blow for fans who won’t want to see taxes raised to cover the costs.
The Chicago Bears must feel they have a way to make this work.
Footing half of the bill themselves is a start. Maybe they think there is more support among Chicago politicians than people believe. After all, revamping the downtown infrastructure could lead to big revenue opportunities in the long term. There is no question a stadium of that magnitude would become a magnet for major events outside of football. That includes March Madness, concerts, wrestling, and so on. It will be interesting to see what role the White Sox play in all of this since the two organizations seem intent on pooling their resources.
Team president Kevin Warren was always a big thinker. He isn’t afraid to aim high in everything he does. His efforts led to the expansion of the Big Ten conference with USC and UCLA in college sports. It immediately became evident that he had grandiose visions of a massive lakefront stadium that would be the envy of the NFL world, challenging SoFi Stadium in L.A. It will be quite an accomplishment if he somehow manages to talk his way through the storm of resistance coming his way.