Not only did the Chicago Bears and White Sox fail to win state funding for new stadiums before the General Assembly’s session ended last week, the teams shouldn’t expect to notch a legislative win later this year.
Chicago Bears
Robert Smigel may be best known as the breeder behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the crass canine puppet whose jokes make Don Rickles look housebroken. We sit down with him before his Chicago show.
While financing for the Chicago Bears’ proposed new lakefront stadium remains in doubt, opponents of the plan have sent an unequivocal “hands off” message regarding any use of lakefront property for private interests.
Caleb Williams is the Chicago Bears’ starting quarterback. Just in case there was a shred of doubt the No. 1 overall draft pick is the team’s No. 1 QB, coach Matt Eberflus erased it on Friday.
The Bears would pitch in $2 billion, plus use a $300 million loan from the NFL; billions more in taxpayer money would be used to finance the other half of the stadium as well as to make infrastructure improvements and add park and public space to the area.
Last week’s announcement of a proposed new domed, lakeside stadium brought with it more questions. Namely, the price tag.
The former Southern California star was ready to embrace the attention after the Chicago Bears grabbed him with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
The expectations are clear: Become the franchise quarterback the Bears have craved for years and lift the founding NFL franchise to the top of the league. Other than that, there's no pressure at all.
For the Chicago Bears, this week may just turn out to be one of the most significant in the history of the franchise.
Mayor Brandon Johnson enthusiastically endorsed the plans for a new stadium, calling the renderings of the futuristic oval-shaped stadium with a translucent roof “miraculous.”
The news that the Bears now want to remain the Chicago Bears in more than just name is the latest twist in the team’s high-profile search for their forever home that faces at least two major obstacles: the need for millions of dollars from taxpayers to subsidize the new stadium and an all-but-certain legal challenge.
As the Bears and White Sox are on the hunt for taxpayer cash to fund new stadiums, Quinn says it’s once again time to ask the voters what they think.
While the team hasn’t yet released plans, Bears president Kevin Warren stated they would commit over $2 billion to transform the Museum Campus and revamp the surrounding infrastructure — all of which Warren hopes could begin as soon as this year.
Should the former governor succeed, a nonbinding referendum would ask Chicago voters on Nov. 5: “Shall the people of Chicago provide any taxpayer subsidies to the Chicago Bears or the White Sox in order to build a stadium or a real estate development?”
The Bears went 7-10 in their third straight losing season and haven’t finished above .500 since going 12-4 to capture the NFC North championship in 2018. But they sent a strong signal that they’re ready to start winning with their second trade for a star receiver in as many years.
The parks advocacy group said it isn’t chasing the Bears out of Chicago, but wants an “open, clear and free discourse driven by the public instead of private interests.”
