Even as Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus embark on their effort to make the Chicago Bears a contender for the first time in over a decade, political machinations continue in the background. It isn’t a secret that the organization is set to purchase Arlington Racecourse International in Arlington Park. It is a vast property that, once wholly owned, they’ll be able to reshape to their wishes. Most expect this is the critical first step towards them leaving Soldier Field for a brand new stadium.
Chicago political officials, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot, are unsurprisingly upset by this development. The Bears have been a staple of the city since the 1920s. They’re also one of its biggest attractions. It would be the end of an era in so many ways. Not to mention a political disaster for all those involved. They’ll go down in history as the leadership that failed to recognize how serious the danger of the Bears leaving was.
Until it was too late.
Lightfoot has maintained there are still plenty of ways to keep the franchise in the city. Yet based on recent updates from Jim O’Donnell of the Daily Herald, that confidence seems misplaced. Longtime businessman and mayoral candidate Willie Wilson made overtures to the team in hopes they might consider the possibility of staying. It sounds like he used both the carrot and stick approaches. Neither worked.
“Wilson wanted to talk about either an expansion of seating and a dome for Soldier Field or a fresh domed stadium on a new site within city limits.
He has also put forth the idea that if the Bears leave the city, his mayoral administration would seek a new team in Chicago from the NFL.
INSTEAD, PHILLIPS WAS thoroughly preemptive in responding to the resourceful 73-year-old businessman.
According to individuals familiar with the exchange, Phillips said the Bears’ sole focus currently is on long-term development of the racetrack site. That, along with ongoing due diligence regarding the $197.2 million Purchase and Sale agreement for the 326 acres agreed to by the team and seller Churchill Downs Inc. last September.
Phillips reportedly also indicated any communication with current Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is being limited only to discussion of the organization’s lease and operating conditions at Soldier Field.”
It is clear from that sequence of events that the Bears feel they’re done playing nice. They’ve been jerked around by the Chicago Park District for years regarding Soldier Field. When the idea of installing a sportsbook was dismissed out of hand, that proved to be the last straw. They placed a bid on the Arlington property two weeks later. Now the city is left trying to plug holes in the dam before it bursts.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Chicago Bears own the city even if they move.
The idea that the NFL would sign off on a second team coming is ridiculous. Especially when there are plenty of other cities that likely would get first dibs on a new franchise in the event of expansion or relocation. The league tried two teams in Chicago for years back when the Cardinals shared it with the Bears. They eventually ran out of town due to financial problems and resettled in St. Louis before finally landing in Arizona.
Any team coming would be viewed as second-class citizens in a second-class stadium. So it’s no wonder the Chicago Bears showed no concerns for Wilson’s supposed threat. They know it’s an attempt to bring them to the bargaining table, and they have no intention of biting. All signs point to them moving to a new stadium once it’s built and once they can get out of the Soldier Field lease.
This feels like a matter of time.
The only thing that might save it is if the CPD gave them total ownership of Soldier Field and the surrounding property. That is never going to happen. Thus here we stand.
