Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: What Illinois Can Learn From Texas On Battery Energy Storage
Next Post: Question of the day
Posted in:
* No Chicago legislator has one iota of honest motivation to vote for this proposal unless there’s something in it for the city. If the Bears don’t pay off the hundreds of millions still owed on the Soldier Field renovations, if the city gets no new projects, then why support it?…
Unless I missed something, there's nothing new here. The Bears are still insisting on legislation that'd allow for their property taxes to be frozen and for them to instead negotiate a PILOT with local taxing bodies. It's a long shot to pass during the fall veto session. https://t.co/36NCJqQoTj
— Brenden Moore (@brendenmoore13) September 8, 2025
* Explained…
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:31 am
Previous Post: What Illinois Can Learn From Texas On Battery Energy Storage
Next Post: Question of the day
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
They might have a shot if they get it done in the first 3/4 of the legislative session, but after that they’re toast.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:40 am
I hope no one falls for the Bears attempted heist of the Illinois taxpayers. There are literally 1000 more worthy causes that need attention than a sports team that makes money. Public pensions, K-12, higher education, roads, an state income tax cut.
Comment by Steve Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:47 am
That organization continued to make the most mind boggling pr decisions that it’s a shocker they won a Super Bowl.
Last night was a commercial for keeping the team in Chicago. The classic Monday night overhead shot of Soldier Field near the lake and skyline. The rollout of a new coach they won from a division rival. Hope abounded. And they chose to make the case yet again for a suburban stadium. It’s the pr campaign no one asked for for the outcome they can already achieve.
Comment by That Train’s Never Late Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:49 am
Credit to the Bears, they’re as good at the business of football as they are at the game of football.
Comment by DS Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:49 am
Only 6 Superbowls have been held north of the Mason-Dixon line. The other FORTY-NINE have been held in the South (or California). The Bears will get one pity Superbowl at best out of their domed stadium, and they’ll they be back to Florida (17) or New Orleans (10).
Comment by Suburban Mom Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:54 am
The Halas/McCaskey family has owned the Bears since 1921. After 104 years, one would think that the owners would have had their own stadium in place.
It is embarrassing that the owners have constantly demanded other people to pay or subsidize their stadium deals.
Comment by Bear Down Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:56 am
It sounds like the Representative has had enough of this nonsense. Good for him I hope he keeps speaking out
Comment by Regular democrat Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:58 am
The Bears can move to Gary for all I care.
Comment by Remember the Alamo II Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:58 am
-It is embarrassing that the owners have constantly demanded other people -
If they can’t build a new stadium , with their own money, a new owner it what’s needed.
Comment by Steve Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:59 am
If last night was any indication, the Bears are just addicted to taking L’s. That’s the only explanation that I have for their repeated attempts to push for things that clearly are DOA in Springfield and the city/county building.
Comment by TJ Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 8:59 am
Usually when billionaires can’t get what they want in Illinois they move out of state and we stop hearing from them.
Perhaps they should be asking Ken Griffin and Bruce Rauner to get Florida to build them a stadium.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:06 am
Very odd statement by Warren, both timing and content. Kam Buckner hitting the nail on the head. There’s no way the Bears aren’t looking for some public handout. Rich correct about the uphill climb to get Chicago legislators votes.
Comment by Original Rambler Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:13 am
Message to President Warren:
The Chicago Bears are a for-profit, privately owned corporation. Of course you are responsible for building whatever facility you’d like with your OWN money.
Quit asking for government handouts. Pay your taxes like a good citizen. You should repay the city and state for your Free Stadium you got years ago. A good civic minded corporation would do that.
Thanks,
Illinois Citizens
Comment by Jerry Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:17 am
The Bears have an extra $650 million to pay off the Soldier Field debt? That stadium is truly the Mistake by the Lake.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:17 am
==If the Bears don’t pay off the hundreds of millions still owed on the Soldier Field renovations==
It still is difficult to understand how the city agreed to this bad deal. Werent there better options when this was before the legislature 25 years ago?
Comment by low level Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:18 am
Maybe the McCaskey family should consider offering 25% ownership of the franchise to the state and 25% ownership to Chicago. Sorta like Green Bay South.
Comment by H-W Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:30 am
Someone with a AH real estate tax bill ought to post the various rates so the readers could calculate how huge a giveaway they want and for how long. Guessin’ the value of the stadium AND adjacent land produces oddles for schools and local governments.
Comment by Annon'in Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:31 am
It seems Kevin Warren thinks the best way to get a bill passed is to repeatedly hold media availabilities about the Bears evolving stadium plans, despite that strategy repeatedly failing to build any support in Springfield. And not only has it failed to build support, it’s actually outright alienated some legislators.
Comment by TNR Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:33 am
Asking the State of Illinois to fund a stadium in AH for the Bears has as much of a chance as Darren Bailey winning the governor’s race in 2026.
Comment by Rudy’s teeth Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:41 am
“The Bears can move to Gary for all I care.”
Same. Asking taxpayers for a financial present to a business where the people running said business are objectively awful at that business should be met with only derisive laughter. Making taxpayers fund a stadium for a horrendous pro sports team is Ohio Republican stuff, it has no place in Illinois. Warren and the McCaskeys don’t seem to know their place so it seems they need to be instructed.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:51 am
One thing that coverage has missed in the letter is the random dig that’s shoved into the paragraph about economic development: “Chicago only has 10 cranes in the sky, which pales in comparison to other major cities.”
I’m not sure what that point was mean to accomplish, but it seems like something Warren put is foot down on keeping in the letter. Playing on Chicago Defeatism, rather than leadership, is not going to win friends and influence people.
Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:52 am
If I was Sue Scherer and/or Regan Deering I would announce today that any further state help for the Bears would be conditional on the team’s immediate return to Decatur after 105 years.
Comment by Leatherneck Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 9:58 am
=“Chicago only has 10 cranes in the sky, which pales in comparison to other major cities.”=
I was truly baffled by this as well. Perhaps it was chosen over alternative language labeling Chicago as a sanctuary city. It’s as if Warren is intent on burning every bridge in the city on his way to Arlington Heights. Perhaps he thinks it will resonate with downstate legislators who justify giving the Bears money because they “have” to get out of the city. But what Warren fails to realize is that civic pride extends beyond the city limits. He’s essentially insulting everyone in the metro area for little if any apparent benefit.
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:00 am
Look - I want the Bears in my town.
I don’t want to pay for it beyond infrastructure. The Bears should pay off Soldier Field.
All can be true and should be true.
Comment by Rahm's Parking Meter Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:12 am
“It still is difficult to understand how the city agreed to this bad deal. Weren’t there better options when this was before the legislature 25 years ago?”
Quick Answer: Mayor Richard M. Daley, Governor George H. Ryan, and Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
Daley managed to promote numerous bad deals that Chicago is still paying for. Gorgeous George was obsessed with pork barrel deals and Madigan was running the legislature back in the day.
Comment by Bear Down Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:20 am
Is it public what the Bears ask is for an assessed value versus what their likely assessed value will be? It isn’t obviously clear the extent of the reduction in taxes they are asking for relative to any other commercial property owner. I think they are asking for special legislation to allow them and similarly-situated very large commercial taxpayers to negotiate a lower rate — or is it lower assessed value? — than every other commercial taxpayer. Clarity from the hive mind appreciated!
Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:24 am
Obligatory community note: The Bears minority partner Patrick Ryan is worth nearly $10 BILLION dollars and has largely funded a new stadium in Evanston for Northwestern.
The Bears are also now allowed to sell 10% of the team to private equity to partially fund a new stadium. We’re in year three? thirteen? of them making increasingly absurd plays to get taxpayer help (again) to build a new stadium rather than tap either or both of those readily available options at the cost of selling some equity.
Meanwhile the Wirtz & Reinsdorf family are moving quickly to build a modern and lucrative mixed use district around their existing privately owned stadium that will be open and generating income years and years before whatever lesser, less well located, project the Bears owners are planning.
This is all McCaskey Madness.
Comment by ChicagoBars Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:25 am
Never once have the bears put a number on what “property tax certainty” even means. Willis Tower pays approximately 53M in property tax with the Assessors market value of approximately $1B. The stadium is estimated at 2-3B. If I’m even considering voting for something like this, my starting position is $150M/year in property tax
Comment by Sox Fan Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:29 am
Thanks Sox Fan. That’s helpful. Are there any other properties in Cook County worth $2-3B? Probably not. Maybe a hospital or university but…they don’t get assessed.
Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:34 am
===Hope they read defenses tonight better than they’re reading the room.===
Based on their 4th quarter performance, I’d say, “no”.
Comment by From DaZoo Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:36 am
Dan Johnson- I believe Willis Tower has the highest assessed value in Cook County
Comment by Sox Fan Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:44 am
== Madigan was running the legislature back in the day.==
He was running the House yes but dont forget Pate Philip was in charge of the Senate.
Comment by low level Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:45 am
===Based on their 4th quarter performance, I’d say, “no”.
A good metaphor for their effort at a new stadium.
While things have been testy for a while it’s always good to remember we all cannot stand the McCaskey’s.
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:45 am
I am enjoying watching the corporate and political incompetence of the Bears. Sports teams have an emotional hold on fans in a way few other for profit entertainment corporations (perhaps outside of Disney) have. And the clowncar that is the Bears just keeps making it worse and worse. They are wildly incompetent, but raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue solely because the family patriarch got in on the ground floor a hundred years ago.
They epitomize everything wrong with corporate america. Cronyism, attempting to suck up public funds for private benefit, failing upward, and a complete lack of accountability to their customers.
Comment by Homebody Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:51 am
“If I’m even considering voting for something like this, my starting position is $150M/year in property tax”
The problem with PILOT isn’t the number, although that is *a* problem. The true policy concern is the idea that now developers are going to go straight to the local yokel and skip the assessment process, which is designed to ensure fairness and market stability. Why wouldn’t data centers, intermodal facilities, solar farms, casinos ask for the same deal? They’re just as important to their local as the Bears would be AH. If this is a good idea, fine, let it pass. But it shouldn’t be a contingency upon which things move forward.
Comment by *ducks* Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:52 am
Ducks, I share the same concerns as you regarding PILOT. Which is another reason this should not be rammed through veto session.
Comment by Sox Fan Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 10:58 am
I mean a Super Bowl would be nice and all, but at the end of the day it’s a football game. Not a Wolrds Fair or Olympics or whatever.
We really don’t need a Super Bowl to define us as a city, we not Tampa Bay
Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:00 am
Homebody, that was very well said.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:06 am
=I think they are asking for special legislation to allow them and similarly-situated very large commercial taxpayers to negotiate a lower rate — or is it lower assessed value?=
Both. I would LOVE to be the superintendent of District 214 and negotiate with the Bears. It might go something like this…”our offer is this, nothing” pay your bill. Or, I would offer a break for 10% of the gross every year.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:13 am
Agree with Homebody. The Bears are transparently bad, just trying to acquire the most public money they can. I wish our past and current political leadership in Chicago were not also transparently bad.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:28 am
They are wildly incompetent, but raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue solely because the family patriarch got in on the ground floor a hundred years ago.
You just described JB and family.
Comment by Capcitynewt Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:31 am
- and a complete lack of accountability to their customers. -
Yeah, at this point the Bears owners are somewhere in between AT&T and Comcast in my satisfaction rating.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:39 am
- You just described JB and family. -
JB’s record with the legislature destroys the Bears’.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:40 am
Thanks JS Mill — both a lower property tax rate and a lower assessment is the ask. How low for each? That’s up the local governments — so goes the ask, right? And that could be 10% or 50% or 90% less. Who knows?
The Disneyland analogy is interesting. Wonder how much Great America is worth. Or Disneyland/Disneyworld. How much is Wrigley worth?
But the idea the superintendent of a school district (an educator) or a city administrator / mayor should assess property and not….the assessor strikes me as problematic.
Would be perhaps cleaner if their bill just said what their percentage tax break (both rate and assessed value) should be by virtue of their size and wealth.
Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:47 am
I dislike the Ricketts family’s politics, but I will say this for them: they own their stadium, and they have often made good decisions about the Cubs. They aren’t insulting the taxpaying fans the way that the Sox and Bears are.
Comment by Formerly Unemployed Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 11:53 am
Did Arlington Park race track get a property tax break? I thought they paid real estate taxes but somehow got it paid back by the state.
Comment by DuPage Saint Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 12:05 pm
There have been so many fits and starts to their various stadium proposals that, through their own missteps, the Bears have completely obscured the fact that their current proposal is not a bad one. They’ll pay for the stadium themselves (that’s good,) they want a property tax break and road fund dollars for infrastructure (complicated and the devil is in the detail, but hardly unprecedented for a big development,) and they need the support of Chicago members to pass a bill (by far, the biggest obstacle they face.) I don’t see how their public relations blitz does anything to address the latter.
Shut up, sit down, and figure out a way to give Chicago members a “win.” And then maybe there’s an outside chance of pulling something off.
Comment by Telly Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 12:07 pm
“I dislike the Ricketts family’s politics, but I will say this for them: they own their stadium”
Another large developer that should immediately stand up if this were to pass and say “ok, fine. We want to set our own payment schedule, too.” And they’d have an objectively better argument because they’ve improved the surrounding property with their own investment.
Comment by *ducks* Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 12:22 pm
=I am enjoying watching the corporate and political incompetence of the Bears. Sports teams have an emotional hold on fans in a way few other for profit entertainment corporations (perhaps outside of Disney) have. And the clowncar that is the Bears just keeps making it worse and worse. They are wildly incompetent, but raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue solely because the family patriarch got in on the ground floor a hundred years ago.=
This also described to a T the Cubs under the Wrigley and Trib ownerships.
Comment by Leatherneck Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 12:26 pm
Excitable Boy five stars ***** first 3 quarters indeed
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 12:34 pm
What’s hilarious to me is what leverage to the Bears have with AP now? They just said this is their only option. Just call their bluff and wait if I was AP.
Comment by Former Bartender Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 12:37 pm
“Why wouldn’t data centers, intermodal facilities, solar farms, casinos ask for the same deal? They’re just as important to their local as the Bears would be AH. If this is a good idea, fine, let it pass.”
PILOT is an established economic development tool that has been used for decades in multiple states. It’s been used for manufacturing projects, housing projects, office projects…all kinds of stuff. If Illinois approves the creation of PILOT for the Bears, I would hope that tool would be available statewide for other types of projects as well.
Comment by sulla Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 12:38 pm
@DuPage Saint,
Arlington Park got a credit against their pari-mutuel tax that was valued at the amount of property taxes they paid.
Comment by Juice Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 1:10 pm
The Bears and Brandon Johnson went to the same kooky school of public affairs and learned the same things: fail to read the room, make demands that can never be met, overestimate their political savvy, and underestimate the amount of bad will they have created.
Comment by pragmatist Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 1:17 pm
Kevin Warren: Chicago only has ten cranes.
Also Kevin Warren: We’re not going to add cranes in Chicago.
Comment by Lamb Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 1:46 pm
Some billionaire just found $100 million in his couch cushions to get his name put on Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Maybe the Illini football AD can coach up the Bears on how to secure non-taxpayer funding for sports facilities.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 1:47 pm
@Sulla - according to what I understand, it would not be Bears exclusive.
Comment by Rahm's Parking Meter Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 1:51 pm
The trade unions will soon be stepping in on behalf of the Bears.
Comment by Blue Dog Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 2:15 pm
I’m not a football fan, but like movies and music. How about instead of subsidizing football we restore the Uptown theater? I bet the ROI would be comparable.
Comment by City Guy Tuesday, Sep 9, 25 @ 2:35 pm