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Bears, White Sox should take note of Chicago Fire stadium plan

Tuesday, Jun 3, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Important news, if it happens. Crain’s

Chicago Fire FC owner Joe Mansueto has reached a deal to buy property in the South Loop for a $650 million, 22,000-seat soccer stadium that stands to become a new sports and entertainment hub in the heart of the city and jump-start developer Related Midwest’s megaproject known as The 78.

Forging ahead with his vision for a privately financed Major League Soccer venue in the city’s urban core, the billionaire Morningstar founder confirmed he is under contract to buy nearly 10 acres of vacant land south of Roosevelt Road between Clark Street and the Chicago River. Pending City Council approval, Mansueto aims to break ground on the stadium by early next year with the goal of the Fire beginning to play there in 2028.

Under the agreement between Mansueto and Related Midwest, the Fire would build the open-air venue while the developer moves forward with complementary buildings around it, leveraging the stadium as an anchor for a sprawling 62-acre development Related has been trying to launch since City Hall approved it in 2019.

* Lots of work to do before this becomes a reality. Sun-Times

Mansueto’s willingness to bankroll stadium construction makes him an outlier among Chicago sports moguls who in the past have routinely looked for public handouts and property tax breaks.

Still, a formidable city subsidy would be needed to cover major infrastructure costs at the long dormant site.

A new road built by the Chicago Department of Transportation, the Wells-Wentworth connector, already runs through the 62-acre site even though it has never been used.

The nine-acre stadium site also has mass transit access — the nearby Roosevelt station serves the CTA’s Red, Green and Orange lines — that could reduce the need for stadium parking. With the Chicago River just west of the site, there’s also the possibility of water taxi service for game-day crowds.

But there are railroad tracks that need to be relocated and a crumbling seawall that needs to be rebuilt. Water, sewer and power lines need to be installed, and parking garages and surface lots need to be built. So does the last leg of the Riverwalk between Lake Street and Ida B. Wells Drive that had an initial price tag of $140 million.

* Tribune

Designed by architectural firm Gensler, the proposed 22,000-seat, open-air soccer stadium would be located at the north end of the long-fallow development. It would feature a natural grass pitch, an array of seating — including club options and luxury suites — and an intimate setting for fans to cheer the Fire on match days.

The new stadium is scheduled to break ground as early as this fall, pending approval from the city, with a target completion date ahead of the 2028 MLS regular season. The Fire currently play at a rarely filled Soldier Field on a newly signed three-year lease extension.

If the Bears and White Sox can’t afford to do this stuff on their own, the owners should sell their teams to people who can.

* Meanwhile, Crain’s takes a non-clickbait approach to what happened to the Bears during the spring session

The so-called megadevelopment legislation would allow eligible developers — defined in one bill as those investing at least $500 million, with signed labor peace agreements and that stay in operation for at least 20 years — to have their property tax frozen for decades, even as the property value rises as the project takes root.

The developer would then negotiate with the local taxing bodies, including municipalities and school districts, on an annual payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, which would likely be significantly less than a regular bill due to the frozen property tax rate. […]

Negotiations over how many years the tax break would last, whether to make the annual payments tied to inflation, and ensuring school districts are front and center of the talks will continue in the coming months.

But no amendment aiding the team this past weekend was going to sneak by those in the Chicago delegation wary of any vote that has them opening the exit door.

       

18 Comments »
  1. - Ducky LaMoore - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 1:43 pm:

    “If the Bears and White Sox can’t afford to do this stuff on their own, the owners should sell their teams to people who can.”

    It’s not about affording so much as it is about willingness. Both ownership groups have a sense of entitlement, and they just can’t believe state and local governments won’t bend over backwards to bail them out, as if they actually needed to be bailed out.


  2. - ArchPundit - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 1:46 pm:

    How dare you propose doing a capitalism /s


  3. - ThePAMan - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 1:52 pm:

    He may want to first focus on putting together a soccer team that actually wina


  4. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 1:57 pm:

    ===He may want to first focus===

    That hasn’t stopped the Bears and Sox from asking for handouts.


  5. - lake county democrat - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 2:10 pm:

    I’m all for teams building their own stadiums, but this is a big waste of that site (unless there is room for a ballpark there too). It’s hard to think of a professional sports team with a history of more failure than the Fire. Soldier Field is the perfect place for them, especially if the Bears leave - the reason it’s rarely filled is because the team is rarely worth watching.


  6. - Count Floyd - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 2:11 pm:

    The Fire has a winning record at the moment. The investment in players and team infrastructure has been substantial.


  7. - Cash and Carry - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 2:13 pm:

    Visited Wrigley Field last week. The entire stadium has been restored and refurbished including replacement of the concrete and steel.
    Existing bricks were cleaned and reused.

    Almost all of the “Project 1060″ rehab work was paid for by the team owners.

    The other teams ought to stop asking the taxpayers to fund their stadium operations.


  8. - Thomas Paine - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 2:17 pm:

    Are we just keeping hope alive for The Chicago Bears at this point so that our friends can keep milking them for lobbying contracts?

    Because what they are asking for is to have their property taxes frozen for twenty years so that every other taxpayer in Cook County can pay more.

    If you live in Cook County and you vote for that, I hate to be you in the next election cycle.


  9. - McD - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 2:25 pm:

    Three cheers for Mansueto. But I have one nit to pick: I hope that sketch isn’t the final design. Makes no sense to do a Cocoon like stadium. Open it up to downtown.


  10. - TreeFiddy - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 2:36 pm:

    As a long-suffering Fire fan, it’s been so nice to have an owner in Mansueto that actually cares about the franchise and is taking steps to modernize their player development/scouting and branding. Hopefully all of this can finally lead to some sustained success that can make the team relevant in the market.


  11. - Save Ferris - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 2:47 pm:

    “he Bears and White Sox can’t afford to do this stuff on their own. Neither ownership group has an outside source of capital or cash flow to support a 10 figure investment. The only sufficient capital source is team equity, selling which would dilute their control. For the Bears, it would likely mean owning less than 50% of the team.

    Hence the request for handouts. I’d be a big fat no giving either party state funds. If local municipalities want to hand over their property taxes, that’s their decision. I don’t live in either.


  12. - Juice - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 3:14 pm:

    Save Ferris, I’m not sure that the White Sox can’t. Jerry is doing the large redevelopment on the West Side near the UC on his own dime, which is a very significant investment. And with the Ishbia’s taking a larger percentage of the ownership, I would assume there is access to additional capital within the ownership group more broadly, if they wanted to.

    On the Bears, Pat Ryan, one of the only non-family owners of the team, is financing the new Northwestern Football stadium on his own, to the tune of $850 million, which I thought was more than the amount of property tax relief that the McCaskey’s were asking for.


  13. - New Day - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 3:30 pm:

    Repeat after me, Crain’s. It was never on the agenda. It was never on the agenda. It was never on the agenda.


  14. - Thomas Paine - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 4:04 pm:

    === If local municipalities want to hand over their property taxes, that’s their decision. ===

    I do not believe it is just the locals. MWRD, Cook County, everyone is affected for 20 years.

    Look, I do not blame private entities that want to access the government’s tax-free bonding authority. I just do not believe they should essentially ask us to co-sign a loan for them and put up all of the collateral for nothing in return.


  15. - Pundent - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 5:05 pm:

    =Neither ownership group has an outside source of capital or cash flow to support a 10 figure investment.=

    I’m not convinced that they can’t find a lender to support their stadium ambitions. No one had lost money owning an NFL franchise. The Bears simply prefer taxpayer terms to lender terms.


  16. - Just Me 2 - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 5:06 pm:

    Soccer is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. That stadium will be a nice asset to own in a decade or so.


  17. - Boone Logan Square - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 6:16 pm:

    Justin and Mat Ishbia now own a third of the White Sox. Not only do they have the money to fund a stadium, they can finance the project using their United Wholesale Mortgage.


  18. - Pundent - Tuesday, Jun 3, 25 @ 7:40 pm:

    In 2002 the Bears franchise was valued at about $540M and the city issued nearly $400M in bonds to renovate Soldier Field. Fast forward to today and the city owes over $700M in principal and interest on those bonds. Meanwhile the enterprise value of the Bears now sits at roughly $6.4B. When it’s all said and done the taxpayers will have paid over $1B for those renovations while the Bears have seen a 1,200% increase in value.


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