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* Sun-Times…
[Bear’s president and CEO Kevin Warren] offered little update on the Bears’ downtown stadium push other than to reaffirm that their preference is to build on the lakefront rather than in Arlington Heights. He wants a stadium to begin construction next year and open in 2028, although that sounds ambitious given the blowback from local and state politicians.
“We live in a complicated world,” he said. “This is an election year. We have people that don’t have meals to eat. We have people sleeping on the street. We have a lot of complex issues we’re dealing with. I’m a realist to understand these projects aren’t just something you do over a weekend.”
Warren acknowledged there are more important funding priorities for the state. But he also said benefits from the stadium should be part of those conversations.
“It’s just important that our people here recognize what a stadium project will do for the city," Warren said #twill https://t.co/qkRN0QnpGQ— Ben Szalinski (@BenSzalinski) June 12, 2024
* NBC Chicago…
“I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed in anything. I understand these are big projects,” Warren said when asked if he was disappointed the Bears weren’t included. “They take time, energy and effort to come together. They’re expensive. You have to have foresight, you have to have vision, you have to have wisdom.
“I understand this is part of the process. I strongly believe we need a new stadium. For Chicago to have never hosted a Super Bowl, a Final Four, a College Football Playoff, these mega-events. We’re losing out.”
It’s important to note the Bears did not ask for a bill or legislation to be passed during this session. However, during the Bears stadium proposal presentation in late April, Warren was hopeful of getting something done as quickly as possible.
It’s well-documented that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker isn’t steadfast in helping the Bears’ stadium plans with public dollars. His press secretary called the Bears’ funding plan a “non-starter for the state.”
* Daily Herald…
The McCaskey family isn’t considering selling a minority stake in the team to free up cash to get a Bears stadium deal done in Chicago.. […]
“That’s something that we have not talked about. That’s something that is not on the table at this point in time,” Warren said when asked if Bears ownership would sell minority shares to help pay for a stadium. “It’s just not, and I don’t ever visualize that becoming a part of the discussion. We don’t think it’s necessary to do.” […]
Warren also was asked what would become of the former Arlington Park racetrack, which the team purchased for $197.2 million early last year just as he was beginning his tenure as Bears president.
He wouldn’t say if or when the NFL club intends to put the large tract of land on the market. […]
Attendees of the noontime event in downtown Chicago included Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, who this week renewed his pitch to bring the Bears to town.
Warren called Irvin an “astute” businessman and politician, but didn’t further address the mayor’s proposal.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:15 am
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Warren or the McCaskeys or both are delusional. the Bears need the city a whole lot more than the city needs the Bears. The Bears claim they will lose huge amounts of money if they don’t get moving fast yet they own land in Arlington Park which is a great place for them. Even if all the politicians said yes Friends of the Park will tie them up for years. It will not be built at Soldier Foeld and we taxpayers will not pay. Move on
Comment by DuPage Saint Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:24 am
Or, and just hear me out here: No. Nothing for private multi-billion dollar entertainment companies.
Sports teams need cities more than cities need sports teams.
Comment by Homebody Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:29 am
Jim Thompson and Mike Madigan are gone from the Statehouse. They are also dealing with a person who knows what a billionaire’s financing options are. It’s a new day. The sliver of leverage they have is how it can be part of a downtown reimagining with an emphasis on tourism. But they will have to pony up more out of their pockets and wanting to keep therevenue from other events is laughable. Maybe they should consider selling minority stakes.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:30 am
“You have to have foresight, you have to have vision, you have to have wisdom.”
I think the opponents of public spending are going to read that and interpret that he’s implying they do not have those traits.
Comment by NIU Grad Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:31 am
Note to President Warren: the Bears can pay for their own HQ with their own money. There are no Government Entitlements available. Saying this as a person of faith: charity begins at home.
Comment by Jerry Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:31 am
This is the weakest part of the Bears position: their refusal to sell 20% or so of the company to pay for the whole thing privately.
Comment by Dan Johnson Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:35 am
“For Chicago to have never hosted a Super Bowl, a Final Four, a College Football Playoff, these mega-events. We’re losing out.”
So true! Everywhere I go, big strong tradesmen come up to me, tears in their eyes, they say “we can’t compete with a world class magnet city like Indianapolis, we don’t have big important things happening in Chicago like final 4 basketball games. We’re not on the map, nothing ever gets built here, there’s nothing to draw people.” Lots of people are saying it!
If I didn’t know better I’d think journalists have the power to build the Bears a new stadium. That seems to be the only interest group Warren and the McCaskeys have been able to appeal to throughout this entire idiotic process.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:35 am
We’ll get right on that just after we build that third airport and the Illiana Freeway.
Comment by Skeptic Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:35 am
The weakest part of the Bears position is that they negotiated a deal with the City for the State to pay for their stadium. I wish I would get as much attention for my deal with Google for Microsoft to pay me $1 billion.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:49 am
Warren sold McCaskey a bill of goods to get the Presidents job that pays him big money. People need to be honest with his real accomplishments. He was mid level with the Rams, not the head lawyer in Minnesota and was on very thin ice with the Big 12. The score yesterday specifically Bernstein pointed all this out and how he’s wasting time with the Bears getting any money from the state to build in Chicago.
Comment by Long Time Independent Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:51 am
The Bears seem to be worth between $5 and $6 billion dollars - thats $6,000,000,000.
They have a $200 million operating revenue. The team has been held by the same family since Papa Bear paid the $100 franchise fee.
The Mc Caskey family has made untold millions, maybe billions in actual cash over a 100 years. They have something that is worth $6 billion. They have no need for public money, only greed for public money.
I hope the Governor and leaders stand firm on not giving into the Bears. They can sign a new lease at Solider Field or build their own stadium in AH and be hero we need by “bringing” a Super Bowl to Chicago.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:52 am
I still predict this ends up with a stadium in Arlington Heights. The schools/village/team will figure out some sort of TIF/PILOT/other arrangement to simplify the tax and funding issues and the state won’t have to contribute.
Comment by Sox Fan Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:53 am
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the Bears were trying to run out the clock to the 2033 Soldier Field lease with all these changing and difficult-to-sell plans, so their lease termination payment is minimized.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:03 pm
The Bears have reached a level of haplessness where it’s really hard to figure out what they want. Any plans they make could be based on flawed perceptions, old wives’ tales, or non-sequiturs. Anything they say or do could be part of that flawed plan, or could be a deviation from that plan. There’s multiple leaders with unclear lines of authority. One of those leaders is 101 years old. They’ve already negotiated with the city for the state’s money, and don’t seem to realize how absurd that is. It’s total strategic chaos.
“You have to have foresight, you have to have vision, you have to have wisdom.” You also need a basic grasp of observable reality. Hard to find that from inside an incompetence tornado.
Comment by vern Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:07 pm
“You have to have foresight, you have to have vision, you have to have wisdom.”
Missing the key part, though. You have to have 60-30-1.
Comment by Dunwich Snorer Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:08 pm
Some people just can’t get they have been dumped.
That’s how Orders of Protection get started.
Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:09 pm
Skeptic gets *****
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:31 pm
In my opinion what happens in and around the city (violence and safety wise) at the time of the DNC convention –and the public perception of how that is managed by the city and state will be a significant determinant on whether the stadium is ultimately built in Chicago or Arlington Heights.
Comment by Responsa Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:35 pm
I don’t believe we should give them what they want to build a new stadium. New England plays way out in the boonies in Mass and they are doing just fine on tv. But I do think about the revenue currently earned by the Bears in SF It will be a loss to the City if the Bears play elsewhere. Maybe the revenue can be made up by luring the Red Stars to SF More games than American football, a large enough crowd. Fire is already there. Interest in games growing. But it will still be a loss In so many ways
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:36 pm
== Jerry - Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 11:31 am:
Note to President Warren: the Bears can pay for their own HQ with their own money. There are no Government Entitlements available. Saying this as a person of faith: charity begins at home. ==
Soldiers Field is a publicly owned stadium. The Bears don’t own it now. The lease it for a part of the year. They offered $2 billion to building a new publicly owned stadium that would operated year round and bring in a boat load of money for the Chicago Park District, Chicago, and Illinois. If you want to get technically, it’s probably the Bears that are providing charity here.
Comment by thoughts Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:36 pm
===it’s probably the Bears that are providing charity here===
lol
Yeah. Go with that.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:38 pm
=But he also said benefits from the stadium should be part of those conversations.
“It’s just important that our people here recognize what a stadium project will do for the city,”=
=The schools/village/team will figure out some sort of TIF/PILOT/other arrangement to simplify the tax and funding issues=
Simplification is not needed. It is already very simple and well documents. The Bears would be taxed on 33 1/3% of fair market value (since it is Cook County more like 20%). The tax rate multiplied by every $1,000 of fair market value. VERY simple.
They want a discount. That is a “no”.
Prove it. The only ones that will really benefit are the McCaskey’s.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:41 pm
Not moving to AH due to property taxes being too high for my multi-billion dollar investment
I want the park district to own my multi-billion investment so I do not have to pay property taxes
Never seen a company so adverse to paying property taxes while claiming to be such a strong civic partner!
Comment by I Hate Paying Property Taxes Too Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:44 pm
I don’t think Warren is doing a great job here but he also can’t make the puzzle pieces of a new stadium fit together if the private owners aren’t independently wealthy and there’s no significant appetite for public financing. You need new owners.
Comment by DuPage Dad Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:49 pm
JS Mill, you have to multiply the 25% classification by the multiplier, which for tax year 2023 is 3.0163. So the Bears would be taxed on around 75% of the fair market value of the property (as calculated by the assessor.)
But with that being the case, that is the fault of the McCaskey’s for not understanding how Cook County property taxes work before spending $200 million for a suburban Cook parcel, and not a statement that they should get any special treatment ahead of any other commercial property.
Comment by Juice Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 12:54 pm
The Bears also want the state to refinance the mortgage on Sox Park for another 40 years. They also were billions short on their costs too. But they drew up some nice cartoons of the new place.
Comment by Jerry Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 1:01 pm
Time to, Warren and McCaskey about rebuilding AP…might move the needle
Comment by Annonin' Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 1:03 pm
“Papa Bear paid the $100 franchise fee.”
Col. Staley paid the $100 franchise fee. In the fall of 1921, when AE Staley Corp. was headed for a loss year, Staley gave the franchise to Halas and gave him a stipend of $5,000 to take the team from Decatur to Chicago and not come back.
In effect, Gene Staley paid $5,000 to get the Decatur Staleys out of town. In the doing, he literally rewarded George Halas for taking the Decatur Staleys’ official franchise to Chicago.
Comment by Save Ferris Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 1:41 pm
-thoughts - now that’s funny actually it’s hilarious. It’s so funny one would think you got that idea from Warren or George.
Comment by Long Time Independent Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:03 pm
If I was spending $2B+ of my own money, I’d like to own the build after. That only happens in Arlington Heights, there is no option for that on the lakefront. If a lakefront stadium is built, the $2B is a negotiating point on the lease. If government money is used, it’s a factor in the lease cost. This strikes me as a negotiation. Nothing more…
Comment by Lincoln Lad Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:08 pm
Nope.
Not One Penny Ever.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:13 pm
DuPage Dad nailed it right here: “…he [Warren] also can’t make the puzzle pieces of a new stadium fit together if the private owners aren’t independently wealthy and there’s no significant appetite for public financing. You need new owners.”
I understand many of the folks on this thread and their feelings about billionaire owners and their franchises. But the fact of the matter is, these teams, their fans and those around them generate massive amounts of revenue when they play. And while the McCaskeys have certainly generated billions of dollars without a doubt over the years, when you compare them as owners to a Kronke or a Robert Kraft, it’s on par with comparing an excellent HS running back with Walter Payton or Barry Sanders - there is no comparison. The McCaskeys are trying to play with the big boys, without using big boy money. If the team really wants this to be successful, they sell. Because as long as Virginia (and then George) are in charge, you’re going to have the mom and pop lemonade stand trying to compete against Coke or Pepsi.
Comment by Just a guy Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 3:28 pm
The gov made it clear to them what they must do to even start the conversation. As of now, they have done nothing to change the proposal. Talking about it more (I was at the Chicagoland Chamber event - He was not persuasive and I’m a HUGE Bears fan) is not going to get it done. This is not Minnesota ten years ago. Figure it out or move on. Arlington Heights is yours.
Comment by New Day Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 4:28 pm
== Warren called (Aurora Mayor Richard) Irvin an “astute” businessman and politician… ==
I guess by “astute” he means “able to hoodwink millions in OPM.” In Warren’s case, though, it’s billions.
Comment by Soxfan Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 5:39 pm
We in Arlington Heights are waiting.
Comment by Rahm’s Parking Meter Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 5:59 pm
@Juice my number was trying to account for the multiplier since CC assessor usually assesses at around 10% FMV (at least for residential) that may be off for commercial, but I guarantee you that they are not being taxed on 33 1/3% FMV. And no chance anything like 75% FMV. My number a could be off but not that much.
General pint taken though. They should have done their homework.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Jun 12, 24 @ 6:59 pm