* From Gov. JB Pritzker’s press conference yesterday…
Q: Bears CEO says they’re focused on Arlington Heights. They’re going to build a stadium without state help. They need legislators to give them property tax relief. What have you said? What conversations have you had with the Bears about that? And have you seen a property tax proposal that you’re willing to support?
Pritzker: So first, the state of Illinois, I think, as you know, believes that, you know, private businesses should be partners with the state wherever we can help them. That includes the Chicago Bears. It includes lots of other businesses. We provided lots of incentives and worked with them to provide infrastructure, etc.
Second, I have said directly to the Bears in the past, I want them to stay in the city of Chicago. That doesn’t mean they’re going to, they’re a private business. They can go wherever they would like to go. But I would like them to stay in the city of Chicago, partly because I’m a Bears fan, and I would like them to be somewhere nearby for Chicago fans who live in Chicago.
And lastly, I, you know, I’m going to, I have not talked to the Bears recently, so this is not from anything that’s happened in the last, I don’t know, several weeks. Actually haven’t had any conversation with them. They’ve not come to talk to me about it. But look, first, we need the Bears to pay off what’s owed on the existing stadium. So that’s going to be a really important feature of whatever happens going forward. And if they want a PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] bill or some other help, we’re going to make that a prerequisite for something like that happening.
* Crain’s…
The Bears have been seeking legislation in Springfield that would allow payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, a tool that would allow companies to freeze their property tax breaks and negotiate an annual payment in lieu of their regular rate.
Such legislation would help all so-called megaprojects, or those totaling $500 million or more, not just the Bears. But it would be central to the Bears’ plan to build a stadium in Arlington Heights, which the team is indicating is more likely than staying in the city of Chicago. […]
The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority still owes $534.4 million in combined principal and interest debt tied to Solder Field renovations that were made in 2003. The authority has another $48.3 million tied to what is now Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox. […]
State Rep. Kam Buckner told Crain’s the governor’s comments are “aligned with what many of us have been saying for a long time, including in some overtures from (Pritzker), and that is that the Bears have some unfinished business here in the city, to at least have a public conversation” about them getting Springfield help to move to Arlington Heights.
* Tribune…
The Bears also want to get a piece of the expanded sales tax revenue their stadium would generate over the racecourse.
Discuss.
- low level - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:22 am:
That is exactly the right way to handle this request from the Bears. That is what I voted for. JB4L - JB for Life
- DuPage Saint - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:28 am:
I am confused why the Bears should pay off that debt. It is not their debt. The Bears are tenants the city or state took out the bond. It would be like owning a rental house then I get a big mortgage then tenant moves and I say wait pay off my mortgage
But the Bears should get the same real estate tax certainty as the rest of us. I am certain my taxes will go up
- Jerry - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:28 am:
No “PILOT” for the Bears and pay for the first stadium. No more handouts for sports teams.
- Sox Fan - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:29 am:
So $500M to pay off soldier Field added on to the $2-$3 billion cost to construct. That’s got to be one whopper of a property tax (and sales tax apparently) break to make these numbers make sense.
- 44 - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:30 am:
At this rate Bears should start worrying about lease renewal at soldier field ! Nice the Sox have their debt almost paid off at least!
- Bored Chairman - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:31 am:
==I would like them to stay in the city of Chicago, partly because I’m a Bears fan, and I would like them to be somewhere nearby for Chicago fans who live in Chicago.==
Six percent of Bears season ticket holders are Chicago residents.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:32 am:
In a word…no.
It isn’t “property tax relief “ it is a tax payer funded subsidy, really just a profit bonus, payed by taxpayers.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:33 am:
I do not know if the Bears need the PILOT more than City/State need the Bears to pay off the debt. Soldier Field is a huge albatross once the Bears leave.
- Pundent - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:34 am:
Pritzker to Bears: “there’s nothing wrong with the last stadium the taxpayers gave you.”
- Louis G Atsaves - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:35 am:
When the lease expires the bonds still won’t be paid off? And that is the Bears’ fault?
Right now the Bears still have the worst lease of any NFL team that does not own their own stadium. On opening day, cars were towed off a lot before the game was ended that used the SpotHero app? Do they now allow tailgating parties before the games? At one point, Mayor Daley stopped them.
Run Bears Run to Arlington Heights.
- Sox Fan - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:38 am:
===When the lease expires the bonds still won’t be paid off? And that is the Bears’ fault===
Where did anyone, including the Governor, say the debt is the Bear’s fault?
But if they’re looking for a massive property tax break to move away from Soldier Field, essentially devaluing the stadium, the people who approve the break have every right to establish whatever conditions they want
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:40 am:
===I do not know if the Bears need the PILOT more than City/State need the Bears to pay off the debt===
I guess we’ll find out.
- DS - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:43 am:
Some of you have never been in a negotiation and it shows. The Bears want something they can only get from the state. I’m delighted that JB is playing hardball.
- Muddy trail - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:48 am:
=== I am confused why the Bears should pay off that debt. It is not their debt. The Bears are tenants the city or state took out the bond. It would be like owning a rental house then I get a big mortgage then tenant moves and I say wait pay off my mortgage.==
Commercial leases are different than usual apartment/landlord agreement.
It depends what all parties agreed to do when Soldier Field was renovated.
- asdf - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:54 am:
==Six percent of Bears season ticket holders are Chicago residents.==
Is there a source for this claim? Google had nothing. The closest thing I could find on the topic is that 50% of Bears season ticket holders live within 25 miles of the proposed Arlington Heights site
- The PAMan - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:54 am:
Pritzker should pull a Trump and demand for the State 10% of all future revenues in exchange for this handout.
- DuPage Saint - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:57 am:
@Muddy Trail. Exactly I agree a hundred percent if Bears agreed to pay off bonds they owe it. However I have a feeling that they as not part of the deal. The lease and all agreements should be public record and made available now before any other negotiations even begin. Both parties were well represented lets see what obligations are
- Give Us Barabbas - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:02 pm:
“I wanna new stadium, mom.”
“We have stadiums at home.”
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:06 pm:
- It would be like owning a rental house then I get a big mortgage then tenant moves and I say wait pay off my mortgage -
No. This would be more like you built your kid a house with an agreement you’d be paid back over time, but now he wants you to build him a new one before the current one has been paid off.
- Candy Dogood - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:10 pm:
Has the Chicago Bears Organization considered putting someone a group of folks in charge of their team that doesn’t hate Chicago?
I find it difficult to come up with a concise way to describe the relationship between the Chicago Bears organization and the Chicago Bears fans. The organization essentially holds the team we love hostage and repeatedly abuses the team in front of us. I don’t know what their end goal is, but we’re at a point where the Chicago Bears Organization so badly abused the team that the simple threat of “Or else” doesn’t really work.
Or else what? You’ll take your toxic family run business else where? Good. Do that. I don’t think we care anymore.
The People of Illinois who aren’t Bears fans and have no stake in the Chicago Bears certainly aren’t going to be creating the public demand to hand one of the state’s richest families hundreds of millions of public funds in order to support them being richer at our expense.
Soldier Field is not responsible for all of the terrible and incompetent decisions they have made.
There is no way that a package that helps the Chicago Bears organization gets out of the legislature and gets a signature from the Governor without the Chicago Bears organization paying off the debt that asked us to support.
It doesn’t help that they seem to repeatedly show their contempt for our law makers and expect their contempt to show how motivate fans to support their greedy and selfish proposals.
- Dan Johnson - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:10 pm:
Was this an interest-only deal for the last couple of decades?
- City Zen - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:13 pm:
==The Bears also want to get a piece of the expanded sales tax revenue their stadium would generate over the racecourse.==
Sorry, Bears. Racecourse gone. You don’t get to use them as a benchmark.
I wonder how many people know their hometown’s car dealerships have a similar deal at the muni level.
- Homebody - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:14 pm:
Billionaires can’t help themselves. They want everything from everyone, and see themselves as above the common people. They don’t want to pay taxes. They want the governments to pay them for the privilege of existing and doing business. We need to stop coddling them and treat them like the parasites on society that they actually are.
But despite all that, I think there is something notable in the quote in the article: “Actually haven’t had any conversation with them. They’ve not come to talk to me about it.” Looks like the Bears leadership are also wildly inept at lobbying and politicking. They don’t even have the common decency to be tactical or competent at their attempted shakedowns.
- low level - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:15 pm:
==Do they now allow tailgating parties before the games? At one point, Mayor Daley stopped them==
Yes Louis. There is tailgating at Soldier Field and has been for years. You made me laugh yet again with another uninformed comment. You may wish to revisit why Daley temporarily had tailgating stopped and how it was resolved.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:16 pm:
=== You made me laugh yet again with another uninformed comment===
lol. He’s “just asking questions”
- Louis G Atsaves - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:27 pm:
More than asking questions. Was an eyewitness to the tailgating shutdown back in the day. Security was all over the place. Uninformed indeed? Haven’t been to a Bears game in years. Which is why I asked.
Noticed in my travels that New York Teams play in New Jersey and other teams play in suburbs amongst the NFL yet they kept their names intact.
Run Bears Run to Arlington Heights.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:29 pm:
The McCaskeys are strange. The way Soldier Field is managed is strange. I almost truly wonder if they would not have done this if someone replaced more seat coverings at Soldier Field. Even the strangest rich people can hire consultants and write a strategic plan though.
- EmBearassing - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:34 pm:
The Bears owners are always looking for hand outs.
Chicago used to be the home to two professional football teams (not counting the short lived leagues like the WFL, USFL, and XFL). The Chicago Cardinals played most of their home games at Comiskey Park.
George S. Halas helped drive the Cardinals out of town. At one point, he sued to prevent the Cardinals from moving their games to the north.
The Cardinals moved to St. Louis and, later, moved to Arizona. The team’s only championships were from their Chicago years.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:39 pm:
===Which is why I asked===
Maybe ask Google.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:41 pm:
How about this: sell Soldier Field to the Bears for the cost of the outstanding amount owed, plus whatever renovations they want to make to the existing facility, and give the Park District a piece of the non-Bears revenue. How hard would that deal be?
- Casper the Ghost Bus - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:49 pm:
I don’t think the state should entertain any legislation to help the Bears until the team pays off the state retirement system unfunded liability.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 12:58 pm:
== I am confused why the Bears should pay off that debt. It is not their debt. The Bears are tenants the city or state took out the bond ===
The renovations to Soldier Field were made at the Bears request.
The debt is for renovations that they demanded.
Against the wishes of many, who believed that building an upside down UFO atop Soldier Field was shortsighted and ugly.
We should have had this fight about the Bears moving then, instead of corporate appeasement.
Whether the Bears “should” or not is irrelevant. The legislature and the Governor are demanding it upfront, separate from the negotiations. Good for them.
You gotta settle your first tab before you open a new one.
I also see the sales tax issue as a sticking point. If Arlington Heights is not getting property tax revenue, and they are not getting additional sales tax revenue, there is absolutely no reason for them to want this deal, in my view.
- Pundent - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:16 pm:
=Right now the Bears still have the worst lease of any NFL team that does not own their own stadium.=
If you’re trying to establish that they’re lousy business owners I’ll agree with you. But that’s not a problem for the state and taxpayers to solve. They destroyed a landmark at the expense of the taxpayers and have the gall to ask for more money. No way.
- hmmm - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:20 pm:
The bears dont deserve anything
- low level - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:24 pm:
==Noticed in my travels that New York Teams play in New Jersey and other teams play in suburbs amongst the NFL yet they kept their names intact.==
Wow. What an observation, Louis. You could have found that out just by watching the NFL on TV.
==Run Bears Run to Arlington Heights.==
We agree on this. As a lifelong Chicago resident and Bears fan, I am done with them and have been for some time. Personally I will be very happy if they move. The traffic at Roosevelt and State certainly will improve.
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:27 pm:
If the fans didn’t show up Cubs-like at Soldier Field, maybe the Bears would be confronted with how bad they have been. Fans let the Sox know. First build a winning organization before any taxpayer help.
- Dance Band on the Titanic - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:30 pm:
I believe the Music Man himself, Professor Harold Hill, has already written the Bears future fight song.
Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana
Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York or Rome
But Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana, my home sweet home
- regular democrat - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:34 pm:
This sounds like a strong opening first shot to the Bears that the 84 million to buy out the lease is not nearly enough. I understand why this issue has so many people fired up including Rep Buckner. He really holding their feet to the fire which has been good to see. It appears just about everyone has had enough of this nonsense. Just build the stadium already.
- Leslie K - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:39 pm:
===“I wanna new stadium, mom.”
“We have stadiums at home.”===
Loved that, Barabbas.
- Walker - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:40 pm:
This is politics not accounting.
- TJ - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:40 pm:
The Bears demanded an awful rebuild of Soldier Field, and shocker they don’t have the wherewithal to stick to the payments they agreed to.
Then, the preemptively bought the suburban land without any form of a plan in place to actually start building, thereby making it insanely easy to call their bluff on any relocation leverage.
Then they laughably alternated a few times between wanting to stay in the city or move to the suburbs all while endearing themselves to no one.
Then they keep asking for state then city then county then state and back again assistance all from parties that have no interest or incentive to cut billionaires a break (both GOP and Dem, and whether city, suburban, or downstate).
Then the back-to-back-to-back offseason champions lay an utter egg in a loss so embarrassing that the McCaskey’s should be sending flowers to the Ravens for somehow having an even more embarrassing loss last night, but generating loads of hostility among a fanbase that was just begging to be happy for something for once.
And then finally over in Denver, the Broncos with an ownership that actually has liquidity announced an all-privately funded new stadium process (though I’m sure it’ll have anti-consumer and anti-taxpayer issues buried in the details) and are already further ahead in the process of getting a stadium financed, getting land developed, and putting a meaningful stadium plan forward all while leapfrogging the Bears in terms of putting a competitive product on the field.
Simply put, the McCaskey’s need to put up the white flag, and sell either the entire team or the lion’s share of the franchise to parties that actually have money and can afford building a new stadium.
- Save Ferris - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 1:50 pm:
If AH wants to give them reduced property taxes and a giveback on sales taxes for their coffers, that’s up to them. I don’t live there and I don’t care how the municipality manages their cash flows.
But nothing from the state.
As to paying off the Soldier Field debt, correct that the Bears are under no obligation to do so. But the state is under no obligation to give them anything new. Certainly within the state’s purview and a good negotiating point to say, “You want new money? Pay back the old money we spent on your behalf.”
- low level - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 2:03 pm:
^^ Excellent points, thank you for that. Spot on.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 2:25 pm:
As is so often the case, Walker is correct.
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 2:26 pm:
I’m with JB on this - and I am an Arlington cheerleader for this project.
- DMC - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 3:10 pm:
Yes, the Bears should pay this bill for SF. So tired of subsidizing this junk. They provided the specs and what they wanted to the city. Now pay up. Oh and maybe start winning once in a while.
- Leatherneck - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 3:42 pm:
=Has the Chicago Bears Organization considered putting someone a group of folks in charge of their team that doesn’t hate Chicago?=
Heck, it would be nice to get some people in charge of the team that doesn’t hate winning.
- Precinct Captain - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 3:56 pm:
- asdf - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 11:54 am:
For perspective, that’s the straight-line distance from the racetrack site to Brighton Park in the city and northwards about 5 miles from the state line. It’s a worthless measure that means nothing.
- DEE - Thursday, Sep 11, 25 @ 4:52 pm:
The Boston Patriots are now know as The New England Patriots since the move to Foxborough…Cook County Bears?