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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
More sports team stadium drama could be on the horizon as the Chicago White Sox are said, as of this writing, to be preparing to announce a significant private investment in a new South Loop ballpark.
The ballclub has already demanded a share of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority’s bonding authority, which the Chicago Bears claimed for itself in its entirety this past week for its own stadium plan (to the tune of $900 million).
The city’s women’s soccer team, the Red Stars, is also hoping for a new stadium and will likely want a piece of that ISFA bonding authority — a fact both Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch pointed to last week.
Unions are a crucial component to all this, but a high-level official with Local 150 of the Operating Engineers Union said while his organization supports the Bears’ massive domed stadium plan, the NFL team’s desire to use up all of ISFA’s bonding authority and freeze the other teams out just isn’t realistic. “I think until there’s a bigger, more global deal that comes together, I just don’t think it’s real,” he said of the Bears plan.
The White Sox want to capture all the state sales tax revenue from the new South Loop site, which is probably a no-go. Unlike the Bears, with their $1.5 billion capital funding proposal, the Sox won’t be asking for any direct state cash.
The spring legislative session is scheduled to adjourn May 24, and the Bears want a deal done by then. But judging by the comments of state leaders this past week, if these plans are going to have even a remote chance of passage, the teams will have to drastically scale back their state asks and show some tangible benefits for state taxpayers.
The governor repeatedly threw cold water on the Bears proposal, dismissing ideas like the Bears snagging the revenue from events at the publicly owned stadium as “probably non-starters.” Pritzker also flat-out refused to repurpose state revenues for a stadium. Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and Welch have also expressed skepticism, with Welch doing so pretty forcefully.
Some pro-Bears types have grumbled privately that while Pritzker seems to be enjoying bashing the Bears’ plan, he is all about using state money to help fund projects like Gotion’s electric vehicle battery plant in Kankakee County.
Pritzker’s top spokesperson responded the governor has “supported economic development across this state, but there has to be a benefit for the taxpayers.”
“Forty years of bond payments is not what Gotion or Rivian are getting,” she said, referring to the Bears proposal to refinance the Illinois Sports Facility Authority’s debt over 40 years. The Bears plan, she noted, “is going to cost taxpayers billions of dollars, not hundreds of millions in one-time money.”
And $125 million from the state’s deal closing fund has already been released to Gotion for its plant, she said, “with clawback provisions, obviously, if they don’t live up to their promises.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson told NBC Sports Chicago he “needed to make sure that the Bears organization and my administration were on the same page” before the stadium proposal moved to the state level.
Indeed, a big chunk of the Bears’ $1.5 billion capital funding proposal just announced was negotiated with the mayor’s office.
“City officials said Johnson’s office won’t ask the City Council to chip in for the infrastructure upgrades,” the Sun-Times reported.
So, the mayor negotiated a $1.5 billion package funded entirely by other government entities, mainly the state, without including any other government entities in those negotiations or making sure there was enough available cash to fund the wish list (there isn’t).
The funding would come in three phases. The Bears made it clear the team needs $325 million in Phase One to open the stadium’s doors, with much (not all) of the other two phases paying for various amenities, like new parkland, a skating rink, a museum, a hotel, etc. Those second and third phases were downplayed by the team.
“We would be excited if all three phases happened,” said Karen Murphy, the Bears’ executive vice president of stadium development, according to the Sun-Times. “We need Phase One to happen for our project specifically.”
Bears CEO Kevin Warren also seemed to back away, telling Crain’s Chicago Business: “We can start to dispute whether the amount was too much or the infrastructure costs are too much or what is the appropriate amount of the bonds.”
That sound you hear may be some of the mayor’s negotiations being thrown out the window.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:08 am
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I’m not sure what Kevin Warren and the McCaskeys thought they were accomplishing by gassing Mayor Johnson up like that to put their very dumb plan in front of the public.
But I don’t understand how billionaires sleep at night so maybe this is all way beyond my capacity to comprehend. Maybe SDG or one of the other CTU big brains can explain this chess move since it seems that something significant has shifted in Brandon Johnson’s politics.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:23 am
An Arlington stadium probably costs $3 billion and they would get to keep the revenue for all events and avoid the 9% amusement tax. My guess is that they end up in Arlington unless the state and city contribute a billion or so to keep them in Chicago.
Comment by Chicagonk Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:25 am
==$1.5 billion capital funding proposal==
I read today that Frank Bilecki (IFSA’s CEO) says it’ll be at least 4.8 Billion. So much for Kevin Warren’s saying “we put everything out in a transparent manner.”
Comment by Jocko Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:26 am
===But I don’t understand how billionaires sleep at night…===
They sleep soundly, atop giant mounds of cash, and dream of ways to skim more from any source they can think of. It’s good to be a billionaire.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:30 am
It’s probably past intervention time for the Bears leadership. They’ve complained ferociously about the limitations of the Park District owning “their” stadium for decades. Now they want a couple billion large to fund a new stadium so they can have a shiny new stadium (with some of the same operational problems they whine about) while also having the City demolish Soldier Field (the only venue) in 75 miles in any direction that could compete with the new stadium for lucrative major concerts?
Right, let’s get right on that generous offer Chicagoans (banned punctuation).
Comment by ChicagoBars Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:32 am
It’s almost as if Mayor Brandon Johnson and the CTU want to sabotage the term and lose in three years.
Comment by pragmatist Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:35 am
I agree with anyone who says this ends up back in Arlington Heights. The property tax issue isn’t insurmountable, and I imagine you could even get a local TIF district agreement in place to cover the “public funding” portion.
Comment by Sox Fan Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:37 am
===I’m not sure what Kevin Warren and the McCaskeys thought they were accomplishing by gassing Mayor Johnson up like that to put their very dumb plan in front of the public.===
Because he is gassable, and gassing him helps the Bears get more of what they ultimately want. It is not the Bears fault.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:48 am
You would think a professional organizer would be good at organizing.
Comment by City Zen Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 10:50 am
What right does Reinsdorf have to demand anything from the Sports Facilities Aithority? The state should just shut it down and let these billionaires either self fund or go to a bank and get a mortgage
Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 11:06 am
“the mayor negotiated a $1.5 billion package funded entirely by other government entities, mainly the state, without including any other government entities in those negotiations”
Not cool or trustworthy. That’s not how to build support and alliances, cutting people out of negotiations and then expecting them to pay for it.
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 11:08 am
If this were called for a vote right now what would it get? 20 in the House and 10 in the Senate?
Comment by low level Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 11:18 am
=== 20 in the House and 10 in the Senate? ===
20 and 10? Who’s gonna do it? The progressives? lol
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 11:22 am
Bears and Sox deals are DOA. Bears aren’t going anywhere and have the cash and land to do their own development.
A huge portion of Illinoisans simply don’t care if the Sox leave Chicago. They feel violated over the scummy deal way after the clock had run out 30 years ago.
Comment by Um, no Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 11:33 am
At the risk of repeating myself:
N.O.P.E. — Not One Penny, Ever.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 12:09 pm
==20 and 10? Who’s gonna do it? The progressives? lol==
Rich, I literally was just throwing those numbers out there as a basis for conversation. Honestly I have no idea.
Comment by low level Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 12:12 pm
= “We can start to dispute whether the amount was too much or the infrastructure costs are too much or what is the appropriate amount of the bonds.”=
The Kansas City Chiefs proposal was rejected by the voters, in part, because they couldn’t provide a coherent explanation on how much funding would be needed. Kevin Warren seems to have that same problem. Couple that with a lack of interest in Springfield, taxpayer opposition, and a Friends of the Park lawsuit and this proposal seems to be going nowhere. But at least he has Mayor Johnson on his side.
Comment by Pundent Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 12:21 pm
I agree with Dupage Saint.
George, Ginny, and Jerry and need to go to the bank and apply for a business loan. This is their problem, not taxpayers.
Comment by Jerry Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 12:22 pm
The state government would be right to focus more tax dollars on improving low-income areas and helping those residents. It’s one thing to divert tax money to desperate migrants, and quite another to billionaires.
Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 12:38 pm
== huge portion of Illinoisans simply don’t care if the Sox leave Chicago==
Very true, including many lifelong Sox fans. Go ahead and move, we are done.
Comment by low level Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 1:34 pm
The Mayor’s Office is just an accessory to the McCaskey family’s avarice. Having one mega project rather than two sure would be great for the trade unions /s.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 2:33 pm
- Pundent - Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 12:21 pm:
= “We can start to dispute whether the amount was too much or the infrastructure costs are too much or what is the appropriate amount of the bonds.”=
The Kansas City Chiefs proposal was rejected by the voters, in part, because they couldn’t provide a coherent explanation on how much funding would be needed. Kevin Warren seems to have that same problem. Couple that with a lack of interest in Springfield, taxpayer opposition, and a Friends of the Park lawsuit and this proposal seems to be going nowhere. But at least he has Mayor Johnson on his side.
Good points all right here. Well said. And since Brandon doesn’t have a funeral to attend today for Ofc. Huesca (courtesy of the Comptroller doing a great job of saving him from another PR disaster), he’s got another day he can spend figuring out how to make his fellow progressives think this is a good idea.
Comment by Just a guy Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 3:41 pm
==courtesy of the Comptroller doing a great job of saving him from another PR disaster==
Can you elaborate?
Comment by low level Monday, Apr 29, 24 @ 5:59 pm