* A little Bears stadium news from while we were away on break. USA Today…
Roger Goodell confirmed that he recently met with select lawmakers in Illinois to help in efforts for the Chicago Bears to finalize plans to build a new stadium. […]
“There’s no specific timetable from my standpoint, other than we know that they are looking at the alternate groups, Indiana or Arlington Heights,” Goodell told reporters after team owners met at an airport hotel. “We want to make sure that Arlington Heights and Illinois have an opportunity, as well as Indiana, to put their best foot forward.” […]
Goodell’s meeting with lawmakers seems significant, yet he downplayed that involvement and characterized it as a normal part of NFL business.
“I’m involved in a lot of stadium efforts,” he said. “It’s not unusual for me to be involved in conversations with either public officials or others. Or our staff. There are important decisions, not just for the communities but for teams and the NFL. So these are important things for us.”
* Crain’s…
The comments are notable because they contrast with the Bears’ increasingly public embrace of Hammond. Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said Aug. 13 that the team’s “sole focus at this point in time” was developing a domed stadium and mixed-use development there.
The Bears’ board voted in June to advance the Hammond project, and the team has been studying two potential sites there. The Bears have completed due diligence on the Lost Marsh property and determined it is viable, while also evaluating the nearby Wolf Lake Terminal site.
But Goodell’s remarks suggest the NFL is not yet prepared to close the door on Arlington Heights, where the Bears own 326 acres at the former Arlington International Racecourse. […]
Goodell offered no timetable for a Bears decision, leaving the franchise’s two-state stadium competition unresolved despite the team’s increasingly detailed exploration of Hammond.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Gov. JB Pritzker told Capitol News Illinois on Thursday that he’s had conversations with Goodell as well. The governor’s said throughout the summer the onus is on the Bears to put together legislative language that can pass both chambers of the Illinois legislature.
“I have not had the sense that Commissioner Goodell has a dog in the hunt, as they say, that he’s chosen one state or another, or a place for the Bears,” Pritzker said during a campaign stop in Urbana. “I think what he’s trying to do is get the best outcome for the Bears. And so, if he’s talking to legislators and talking to me, he’s not doing it without the Bears’ understanding that he’s having those conversations.”
State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, told Capitol News Illinois that lawmakers have “continued to talk to representatives of the Bears and the NFL about stadium issues throughout the summer.”
“The talks have been constructive, but they have not resulted in anything substantive,” Cunningham said. “I expect the discussions will continue into the fall.”
* NBC Chicago today…
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said he’s still hopeful about Hammond’s bid - and not concerned about Goodell’s recent meeting with Illinois lawmakers.
On Aug. 13, Goodell met with four lawmakers, including State Sen. Bill Cunningham and State Rep. Kam Buckner – the lead negotiators for the Bears’ stadium proposal in the Illinois General Assembly. […]
Sources told NBC Chicago the meeting with Goodell centered on Arlington Heights, not Chicago. […]
“You know what I think the Bears are going to think?” Braun said. “When you’re moving at the speed of business to address a crisis like this, thank goodness you’re going to be in Indiana, hopefully, not in a place that’s slower footed.”
Thoughts?
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:11 pm:
Did Goodell stop by Arlington Heights to see the shovel in the ground or was he just struck by the lack of building cranes in downtown Chicago?
Kevin Warren is the absolute worst hire in Bears history.
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:13 pm:
Goodell walked both sites with Bears leadership last year. You gotta think he’s looking at those smokestacks and thinking about what a future Super Bowl in Hammond is going to look like…
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:14 pm:
The NFL wants a multi-billion-dollar stadium in Hammond like they want one in Minot, South Dakota.
And no, the Meadowlands are not the same as NW Indiana.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:14 pm:
===looking at those smokestacks===
And the floods and the lake effect blizzards when Indiana can’t keep its roads open and the power outages…
- lake county democrat - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:15 pm:
Two explanations come to mind (I’m sure others can think of more!) I don’t think the NFL cares if Chicago plays just across the state line. I do think they care that it’s a lousy site and when the team is bad they might not fill the place (and for some games you’ll have a Vegas-like situation where the away team fans are just as loud - Detroit, Indianapolis, Cincy). I just don’t see that many North/Northwest siders and suburbanites making that trek for a mediocre team. The other theory is that he’s trying to give the Bears some cover because they strongly prefer AH but have backed themselves into a corner - at least take some of the “we need to make a decision fast” pressure off.
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:15 pm:
“When you’re moving at the speed of business…”
I humbly suggest that the Bears try moving at the speed of thought.
– MrJM
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:18 pm:
===The other theory is that he’s trying to give the Bears some cover===
…whether the Bears know it or not
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:19 pm:
Pedantic aside: Minot is home to the North< \I> Dakota State Fair (which was lovely when I was there nearly 40 years ago)
– MrJM
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:20 pm:
===When you’re moving at the speed of business to address a crisis like this”===
And therein lies all that is wrong with Indiana governance.
- Common Sense - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:31 pm:
Besides fans not traveling to Indiana for a mediocre football team, who is going to trek out there for a mid-week January concert (assuming that this performer is not named Taylor Swift).
- fs - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:31 pm:
If they actually wanted to move to the Hammond area, it would already be done. Complete with renderings and a major press conference. The fact that it’s September, and none of those things have happened, is an absolute tell of where they actually want the stadium.
Eventually, they might build there. But they clearly don’t want to build there.
- Pundent - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:36 pm:
=I don’t think the NFL cares if Chicago plays just across the state line.=
It could be that there are divergent interests at play. The NFL is probably less than enthusiastic about having a super bowl in Hammond. And that’s primarily where their interests lie. They also probably like the idea of creating “entertainment districts” which bring in incremental revenue and increase the enterprise value of franchises. Because at the end of the day the NFL wants the most marketable product and highest enterprise value for their franchises. Their interests are rooted in revenue and they’re largely agnostic, some would say hostile, to team fan bases. The best deal for the McCaskey’s may not be the best deal for the NFL.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:41 pm:
==The NFL wants a multi-billion-dollar stadium in Hammond like they want one in Minot, South Dakota.==
I think this is right, but I don’t know if the Bears agree, or who can overrule who.
==Besides fans not traveling to Indiana for a mediocre football team, who is going to trek out there for a mid-week January concert (assuming that this performer is not named Taylor Swift).==
Honestly, there’s only a small number of artists who can fill a football stadium anyway.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:41 pm:
====When you’re moving at the speed of business to address a crisis like this”===
And therein lie all that is wrong with Indiana governance.=
Yes, ask the residents of nearby Gary how fast Indiana moves when they need electricity.
- Pundent - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:42 pm:
=And no, the Meadowlands are not the same as NW Indiana.=
Agreed. The Meadowlands are in the center of an economic region between NY and NJ. Hammond is at the end of one. And it’s not the wealthy end.
- Ducky LaMoore - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:42 pm:
Just watch the first 45 seconds of The Blues Brothers and tell me that is a great place for a professional sports stadium. That is what Indiana is offering. Maybe the politicking should have been done before they bought the track, and the Bears could have avoided looking like horses’ backsides.
- Sox Fan - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:48 pm:
===Besides fans not traveling to Indiana for a mediocre football team, who is going to trek out there for a mid-week January concert (assuming that this performer is not named Taylor Swift===
I believe the issue is more that the few large acts that can actually sell out large stadiums (65K+) plan their midwest legs of tours around the weather as much as anything. It wouldn’t make sense to schedule Chicago/Hammond in the winter months when the rest of their tour locations at that time are in the south/southwest.
- SWSider - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:50 pm:
Yes, the state and suburbs want to take a billion dollar franchise/business from Chicago. If only there was something Chicago wanted (maybe a hundred and fifty million, give or take) that they could get in return.
- Pundent - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:52 pm:
=When you’re moving at the speed of business to address a crisis like this=
The pitch for choosing Indiana is “we come to bad decisions quickly.”
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:53 pm:
===Just watch the first 45 seconds of The Blues Brothers===
Exactly
- Regular democrat - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:03 pm:
I believe this was a power move by the nfl to tell kevin warren thats enough with this hammond nonsense. Its going to be ah and thats it. Dont forget the other owners have to vote on this and i think they sent goodell to deliver the message
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:07 pm:
The Bears are bumbling around and ham-handedly pitting places against each other. Whatever the strategic plan is, they should seriously revisit it.
But I do not like the “they cannot move to Hammond because there are a bunch of empty steel mills there” retort. Fulton Market was an actual warehouse market 30 years ago. Places can change a lot, and there is a lot of industrial history in the yuppie neighborhoods if you look closely enough.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:08 pm:
=the Bears own 326 acres at the former Arlington International Racecourse.=
Which the team claims the land is not worth what they paid for it. That makes what would be a lengthy resale process a bit trickier. Maybe.
AH is where they are going to be.
- Google is Your Friend - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:16 pm:
==- Pundent - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 12:36 pm:==
There will never be more than one Super Bowl at a Hammond stadium even if it gets built there. NYC, Detroit, Minneapolis, Indianapolis were all one and done. It was always a pipe dream and always will be.
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:21 pm:
We’re just waiting here in AH.
But in all seriousness, this is a joke. Dan Bernstein and others on the sports side did a good job while others on that side are carrying water for the Bears.
Sit down, cut the deal and you aren’t building a football stadium on a slag heap near BP or at Wolf Lake Terminal with all the stuff there. And don’t forget the Toll Road runs down the middle of the site.
- Save Ferris - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:22 pm:
==The NFL wants a multi-billion-dollar stadium in Hammond like they want one in Minot, South Dakota.==
###I think this is right, but I don’t know if the Bears agree, or who can overrule who.###
The borrowing limit for an NFL team is $900 million. They can go to $2 billion in debt with NFL voting approval. George McCaskey said the Bears’ $2 billion contribution will be borrowed.
Given the McCaskey’s lack of liquidity, the NFL has almost total power over where the Bears build.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:35 pm:
===I humbly suggest that the Bears try moving at the speed of thought.===
Thank you for the actual LOL.
===NFL has almost total power over where the Bears build. ===
Imagine being a billionaire and having some other billionaire try to convince you what a great idea it would be to spend time in Hammond, Indiana.
- Paul Peterson - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:45 pm:
Dan Bernstein did a good job?
You must be one of his 6,600 followers on Blue Sky
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:48 pm:
Well, Paul, I’ve been listening to his shows in some form of another for years as a nonpolitical forum (and I miss Terry Boers). So yes, guilty.
BUT - he has been well sourced, and said things I have heard from people I trust, some of whom read this blog, from both sides of the border. That’s where the credit goes. Same for David Kaplan and Leila Rahimi, Laurence Holmes and others who have tried to “bone up” their political knowledge as this story has evolved.
And my final thought as a former B & B listener - Paul ‘ HEY BUDDY!
- ArchPundit - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 1:56 pm:
==Imagine being a billionaire and having some other billionaire try to convince you what a great idea it would be to spend time in Hammond, Indiana.
LOL. I imagine Goodell would love the McCaskey’s to sell to one of the mega oligarchs just to make his life easier.
- low level - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 2:00 pm:
==lack of building cranes in downtown Chicago?==
LOL. You must have missed all the new skyscrapers built downtown in the past 25 years, not the least of which is the current construction at 400 Lake Shore Drive.
Much more than Hammond or anywhere in Indiana…
- GoneFishing - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 2:14 pm:
Roger Goodell was probably confused when he was in downtown Chicago and saw a billionaire building a stadium for an MLS team and not the Bears.
- It's always Sunny in Illinois - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 2:26 pm:
This will all come together after the November elections, when “The State of Illinois Chief Negotiator” with the Bears Rep Kam Buckner brings home the deal and double Bears Down on the $1.29 in Property Tax savings for all taxpayers pushing it to $ 2.58….
- Paul Powell - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 2:26 pm:
There are somewhere between 6-9 construction cranes in downtown Chicago currently, including the Bally’s development which has slowed down.
This is down from 35 in 2017
By contrast, Indianapolis, which has a population just over 900,000 and a metropolitan area of 2.2 million compared to Chicago’s 9.6 million, has several massive developments underway in hospitality/convention/ music, health care and tech.
https://www.visitindy.com/meetings/why-indy/new-developments/
Meanwhile the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby stated at the Crain’s Power breakfast recently , that Chicago was a strong place to run a company and United has no plans to move.
He stated the business environment and safety is better than outsiders think, but warned that leaders need to avoid unforced errors like proposing a head tax on jobs that are toxic to business expansion.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 2:28 pm:
===This is down from 35 in 2017===
They obviously over-built.
- Paul Powell - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 2:35 pm:
What’s also obvious is that new investments in Chicago including construction is hindered by bad messaging by the City leaders
- Should have given the ball to Payton on the goal line - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 2:49 pm:
– George McCaskey said the Bears’ $2 billion contribution will be borrowed. –
And it will be the fans who pay that off. Wherever a new stadium gets built the fans will be given the wonderful opportunity to buy personal seat licenses and higher ticket prices because the McCaskey’s certainly aren’t going to put a cent more of their money into this than they have to.
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 3:08 pm:
Can imagine traffic backing up on the Chicago Skyway if the stadium is built in Hammond. Only three lanes in each direction to and from the games. Also, drivers must stop at the toll booth to pay the fare…no open tolling like Illinois tollways.
There is no public transportation in Northwest Indiana. Imagine being stuck on the Borman Expressway going to and from the games.
- Paul Powell - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 3:10 pm:
Do you think the other NFL team’s fans somehow avoid paying through the nose to attend games?
And yet with exception of Jacksonville and Carolina (which has a capacity of 75,000), somehow they sell out every regular season game.
You are missing the fact that unlike almost every other NFL team the Bears stadium, if it ever gets built will be privately financed and not owned by the City or county.
- DMC - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 3:16 pm:
If I could post the eating popcorn meme here I would. These comments are quite entertaining. Hammond, IN. Are you kidding me?
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 3:19 pm:
Rudy’s Teeth - The South Shore proposed a new branch line to the site - from Hammond Gateway Station. Similar to the Giants Stadium branch off NJ Transit.
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 3:42 pm:
Folks traveling from the north suburbs would have to drive to Chicago, board the train at Millennium Station, and ride to the stadium site.
That’s a lot of driving, parking, and a long walk on Sheffield Avenue.
Or they could take Metra to the South suburbs and get a car service to the stadium. Not a practical option.
- FlyBoy - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 3:46 pm:
===Meanwhile the CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby stated … that Chicago was a strong place to run a company and United has no plans to move.=== In other, more private venues, Kirby reportedly says he wants to move United to DFW, apparently where he lives (or wants to).
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 4:12 pm:
I forgot to put the /s on my comments mocking Kevin Williams saying shovel in ground and no cranes in Chicago. Sorry
- Fivegreenleaves - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 9:27 pm:
At this rate, I’m looking forward to the 2034 season at Soldier Field.
- Chicago Fan - Tuesday, Sep 1, 26 @ 11:47 pm:
If this drags on a few more months, and why wouldn’t it, I’m curious to see how Mayor candidates position themselves on this. Would be such a win for the city and state if something doable in Chicago emerged. Disappointing that it doesn’t appear to even be on the table.