Something strange is going on. The latest we’ve heard about the Chicago Bears and their pursuit of a new stadium was an apparent pivot away from Arlington Heights. Multiple parties have been trying to strongarm the organization with high property taxes. In response, team president Kevin Warren has begun listening to proposals from other townships like Waukega, Aurora, and Naperville. He’s leaving all doors open, making it clear that just because the Bears own the Arlington Park property doesn’t mean they are under any kind of requirement to build the stadium there.
Amidst that, Warren also took a meeting with new Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson. There was a belief the two sides could at least discuss the possibility of the Bears staying in the city, provided it was at a new location that wasn’t Soldier Field. Most people shrugged that off as an unlikely outcome. Johnson had no reason to take such a political risk since the entire mess was created by his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot. Well, things may have just picked up some steam when the two sides released this cryptic statement.
This message is oddly timed by the Chicago Bears.
When taking it at face value, it means nothing. The only thing they’re saying is the two sides talked, which everybody already knew. However, it could also be a carefully-worded signal that the Bears hopes of staying in the city aren’t dead yet. It means there has been good communication between the two sides. That is something that hasn’t always been the case for this franchise and the Chicago political landscape. There is also a lot of potential positive momentum at stake.
Imagine what keeping the Chicago Bears in the city could do for Johnson’s political ambitions. He’d be viewed as a savior in the eyes of many. The man who rescued a longstanding tradition from coming to an end. On the flip side, staying in Chicago with control of their own stadium is the exact result the Bears can possibly hope for. Maybe this is all a bluff to get Arlington Heights to cave on property tax demands. Yet it’s difficult not to see this statement as a message that something is happening.
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Way to carry water for the billionaire McCaskeys. There are so many basic errors in this “article” it’s hard to believe it wasn’t written by an AI Bot instead of an actual person. The tax issue is with Cook County not the village of Arlington Heights. Taxes are higher in Lake (Waukegan… which was misspelled in the “article”) and in DuPage (Naperville). And in Illinois these are villages, not “townships”. By the way, the tax rate assessed on the Bears property is not “high” — it’s the same for everyone. They bought the property for $200,000,000 and now these billionaire… Read more »
Warren is a blessing to this franchise