* WTTW…
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said he “couldn’t miss the opportunity to see what this diamond looked like,” when the White Sox and developer Related Midwest invited lawmakers Monday night to visit a temporary baseball field on the site of what they hope will be the new Sox stadium.
All-star athletes including Bo Jackson, Ron Kittle, Harold Baines and Ozzie Guillen were there, too, Welch said — not playing, but to take part in a panel presentation about what a new stadium could mean for the team and the city.
But even though Welch called it a “beautiful baseball field with a great view,” he told a full room at City Club on Tuesday that it wasn’t enough to change his mind that Illinois won’t provide big bucks to make it happen.
“The reality is, we still represent the taxpayers of the state of Illinois,” Welch said. “How do you pay for it?”
Related Midwest is developing a formerly vacant lot it calls The 78 in the South Loop — between Roosevelt, Clark and the Chicago River — and the Sox want to move there. The team also wants the state’s help with building a stadium with a skyline view.
* Tribune…
The White Sox proposal for taxpayer money is a tall order for a team that has lost 100 games for the second straight season, and comes at a time when the Chicago Bears have also appealed for help from lawmakers to pay for a new football stadium that would cost more than $3 billion before infrastructure costs.
In addition, some lawmakers have said any conversation on public funding for pro sports stadiums has to include financing for women’s teams, such as the Red Stars, which rents space in suburban Bridgeview’s publicly funded SeatGeek Stadium. And lawmakers said several budgetary issues heading into 2025, including public pension reform and school and mass transit funding, need to be addressed first.
“What I’m hearing out there when I talk to people is they’re worried about their grocery bill. They’re worried about paying their mortgage. They’re talking about the things that impact folks at their kitchen tables. They’re not talking about stadiums,” Welch, a Hillside Democrat, said during a City Club of Chicago event Tuesday at a downtown restaurant. “It was a beautiful baseball field with a great view. But again, that doesn’t change the conversation about who pays for it.”
Welch, who played baseball at Northwestern University, acknowledged a new Sox stadium on The 78 site would be great for economic development in the city, but said developers should spend more time considering what private investment options would look like for the venue.
…Adding… Gov. Pritzker said today that there has been “no movement” on any sort of state funding whatsoever.
* On to legislation to address mass transit subsidies and governance…
Welch: We have a working group on that, and they’re really just beginning their work. And I honestly think we have to let the process play out. We have to talk to all of the the advocates, and, you know, listen to to the folks that are going to be impacted by this. This is, this is a big deal, and we have some great leaders that are going to be running our working group around that space in Eva-Dina Delgado and Kam Buckner. They are experts in this issue. I really trust them around this issue, and I do believe we’re going to get it right, because we’re going to listen to everyone.
Q: So probably not in veto, but maybe in the spring.
Welch: Oh gosh, definitely not in veto.
Q: Okay.
Welch: This is, this is probably an end of May issue.
Somebody reported today that Welch is the one who said “probably not in veto,” but that was said by the questioner. No way is that happening in November.
* Also…
Q: What makes it different being a Black speaker than not a Black speaker? [tittering from crowd]
Welch: I mean, I think race in America matters. I think..
Q: I’m asking just, you know, how you, how people approach you. Do you feel it’s different than if it was somebody else in that position, like, do you notice the racial dynamics as a Black speaker?
Welch: I think there’s racism in America. Racism still exists in this country. And you know, I tell you that there are times when, you know, I think that race has come come into play, but that’s been the story of my life as a Black man in America.
- TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 12:26 pm:
I can tell the White Sox aren’t really serious about this new stadium plan. They haven’t even started threatening to move to another state.
Probably because that isn’t exactly a threat with the attendance they pull in these days.
- Norseman - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 12:37 pm:
=== … invited lawmakers Monday night to visit a temporary baseball field on the site of what they hope will be the new Sox stadium. ===
Did the Sox show them a temporary team that might actually win games at this field?
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 12:39 pm:
Norseman wins.
- Cool Papa Bell - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 12:57 pm:
For baseball fans there is a great article in the Athletic on how the Royals reacted to a 106 loss season; re-tooled, spent and hired baseball people to be better and to win. I don’t suspect Jerry will do the same.
==“Sometimes you need that slap upside the head, right?” Royals owner John Sherman, who greenlit the expenditures, asked reporters this spring. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we cannot tolerate something like that again for our fans.”==
To the stadium - Reinsdorf and partners are working out a $7 billion redo the area around the United Center, but they are seeking a handout for the baseball field. One more time, no thanks, fund it yourself. It looks like private financing is available if needed.
- Roadrager - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 1:03 pm:
==a new Sox stadium on The 78 site would be great for economic development in the city==
Cite sources, please.
- low level - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 1:16 pm:
==acknowledged a new Sox stadium on The 78 site would be great for economic development in the city==
This is false. Study after study has shown that professional sports stadiums have very little impact on economic development in metropolitan areas. Just look at Guaranteed Rate. Can anyone seriously say it helped spur development on the south side when it was built in 1991? I don’t think so.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 1:19 pm:
=== Just look at Guaranteed Rate===
This is a different sort of proposal. It’s basically the creation of a new neighborhood that would also act as a bridge btwn the south loop and Chinatown (which is really taking off).
That being said, it should receive the same government help as the West Loop expansion did. Mainly, infrastructure.
- NotRich - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 1:27 pm:
Bears and Sox brass are tone deaf.. and don’t really understand that the Illinois G A in 2024 is way too progressive to bail out billionaires.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:04 pm:
===and don’t really understand that the Illinois G A in 2024 is way too progressive===
I think a whole lot of reporters are even more tone deaf, if that’s possible.
- Retired SURS Employee - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:08 pm:
AS a long time White Sox fan, since 1957 when I was eight years old, I don’t support any public funding for a new stadium, especially since the present stadium is only 22 years old. On the other hand, I do support any effort by the present owners (one of whom is a high school classmate) to spend money on producing a team that doesn’t lose 100+ games a season.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:10 pm:
===present stadium is only 22 years old===
The park opened in 1991. It’s 2024.
- JoanP - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:32 pm:
Sounds like the Sox’ ROI for this event was negative.
- Pundent - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:44 pm:
The average cost for tickets for a family of four to a White Sox game will set you back $115. Add in parking and food and you’re over $200. And for that you’ll have the pleasure of watching a team that will lose over 70% of the time they take the field.
- low level - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:53 pm:
== It’s basically the creation of a new neighborhood that would also act as a bridge btwn the south loop and Chinatown==
I have an issue with referring to it as a “new neighborhood”. It will be part of the South Loop. Even if we do accept that premise, the “new neighborhood” does NOT need a baseball stadium to be successful. It would be better off with more family housing.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 2:59 pm:
===I have an issue with referring to it as a “new neighborhood”===
Um, that’s why it’s called the 78.
- low level - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 3:30 pm:
==Um, that’s why it’s called the 78.==
I understand that. Related can attenpt to distingiush it as a “new” neighborhood all they want but it will be part of the South Loop when completed.
- ArchPundit - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 3:43 pm:
—The park opened in 1991. It’s 2024.
This feels like a personal attack
- DuPage Saint - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 4:03 pm:
Ask Nancy Reagan used to say Just say no. I am so tired of whiny billionaires. The Cubs seem to being ok. Maybe the Bears and Sox need smarter owners
- Just a guy - Wednesday, Sep 18, 24 @ 4:19 pm:
I’m glad that Speaker Welch could take time out of his busy schedule to get a tour of the field, a cruise on the river, and I’m sure some excellent cuisine/beverages along the way to confirm the fact that taxpayer money isn’t a good fit here. Sometimes, irony is just - ironic.