77 Hitmen

Who are the people in the know? City officials? Land developers? I'm not questioning your info, but I'm curious because the Sox sure seem to be still talking as if they still have aspirations for a stadium at the 78. I think it was Brooks Boyer who said so in a press release this summer. The soccer stadium will take up about 10 acres and some other MLB parks take up about 15 acres. Of course, as you said, there are other things that need to go around such facilities, so it's not as simple as adding up acreage until you get to 62 (the total acres at the 78 site).

Because fans want to go to an MLB stadium where loud jets fly overhead every few minutes?

I seriously can't think of any viable options for the Sox other than the current site or the 78. Anything else would be a step down from 35th & Shields. The Soldier Field and Michael Reese sites are NOT better locations than the current site. I know some fans will insist that they should move to the suburbs - Arlington Park (w/ the Bears) or somewhere SW like Tinley Park, but I really don't see that as a successful option even if it would be more convenient for a segment of the fan base. I will be shocked if Ishbia decides to pour $1B into a stadium way out in the suburbs.

The deal has been officially announced. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/19/mlb-media-rights-deals-nbc-espn-netflix.html Some interesting items from the deal: - MLB returns to NBC after a quarter century absence. Previously, NBC had been nearly synonymous with national telecasts going back to the first televised game in 1939. - NBC will now have a Sunday night pro sports telecasts all year long with Sunday Night Football being joined by a Sunday night NBA game after the NFL season ends and then Sunday Night Baseball after the NBA season ends and the baseball coverage will go until the NFL season starts up again. NBC will also broadcast a prime-time Monday night game on Labor Day - Early season Sunday Night Baseball games will be on Peacock instead of NBC. - First game of the season (Giants vs. Yankees) will be on Netflix - ESPN buys MLB.TV and will have the streaming rights to all out of market games. - ESPN also buys the in-market streaming rights for the Padres, Rockies, D-Backs, Guardians, Twins, and Mariners

This isn't stadium related, so I decided to post it here. I found this encouraging from the Greenberg article about Ishbia's meeting with the Pope: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6820934/2025/11/19/pope-leo-justin-ishbia-white-sox-invite/ “I have met with, except for one, every Major League Baseball owner,” he said, declining to name the lone holdout. “Before I was fortunate enough to have this deal with Jerry come together, one of my goals — and I’m a goals nerd — in calendar year ’23 and calendar year ’24 was to, either in person or via Zoom, meet with every Major League Baseball owner just so I could learn and get to know them a little bit over a period of time. And so, I accomplished that goal, except for one. Yeah, I’m in listening mode.”

Bingo. That'd be a terrible location for a Sox stadium. I'm not sure why it keeps getting suggested as a new Sox home. It would be a traffic nightmare and it's a 20 minute walk to the nearest L stop. They'd also need to put at least a retractable roof on the thing with those ice-cold winds blowing right off the lake in the early part of the season. That could add a few hundred million to the price of the structure. Not much night life around it and the Friends of the Park would never allow an entertainment district to be built next to it either. They'd be much better off staying at 35th & Shields than moving to the Soldier Field site. If Ishbia is really going to bankroll a new stadium, it's either going to be at the 78 or on the site of Old Comiskey Park with an entertainment district around it. If he's really going to privately finance a new stadium, I'd have to think the 78 site would be his first choice. But we'll see, it's not my money.

Justin is a minority owner of the Suns with brother Mat being majority owner. I believe brother Mat is expected to be a minority owner of the White Sox. In other words, the reverse of the Suns ownership. I'm not sure how that works as far as using their combined fortunes to operate the team and how that currently works in Phoenix. Just like the 2025 Sox were almost certainly going to be an improvement over the 121 loss team, the Sox under the Ishbias are almost certainly going to be bigger spenders that the Sox under JR - not just on major league payroll, but on the organization as a whole. In other words, it's a very low bar to clear for the incoming ownership. In the end though, if the Sox are to become consistent top-tier, big-market spenders, the new owners - even if they're billionaires - will want to improve revenue streams for the franchise. That's why Justin Ishbia is telling the Pope about his intentions for a new stadium and why he'll likely pay for most of it privately if that's what it takes to get one built.

I don't know if it was posted already in this thread, but here's a link to Greenberg's Athletic article: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6820934/2025/11/19/pope-leo-justin-ishbia-white-sox-invite/

From the Sun-Times article: “My view is, this is a community asset. This belongs to the city of Chicago. It’s my job as steward, when it’s my turn, to do my very best to create wonderful, happy memories and moments for Chicago fans all over the city and all over the world.”

Paul Sullivan has an article on Ishbia's meeting with the Pope. Some more interesting quotes from Ishbia in his interview with the Trib. Of course, Sully has to be Sully and bring up the Cubs and Pete Crow Armstrong in this article. 🙄 https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/19/chicago-white-sox-justin-ishbia-pope-leo-xiv/

What is new is that this is the first time Ishbia has publicly commented on his intention to get a new stadium built and his commitment to keep the team in Chicago. I know we can say "well, duh! that's been so obvious for months", but as far as I know this is the first time he's said anything at all about the team and the stadium situation. The only other instance I'm aware of in which Ishbia said anything to the media was his generic press release after news broke about the eventual sale of the franchise to him. I find this story exciting because it's an affirmation from the future owner of the team of what we've expected for months to be in the works. And yeah, there's no doubt a lot of work going on behind the scenes. Not only do you not come in cold on a $2B franchise purchase, but even for a billionaire, I don't imagine it's as simple as writing a $1B check for a new stadium as if you were putting down payment on a new house.

Oh, and Ishbia is says this in the Sun-Times article: “I have zero to do with the organization today. I’m a passive owner. And by the way, I don’t want to use the word ‘owner.’ 
I use the word ‘steward.’ For me, Jerry today is the chairman, and he is the steward of the franchise. And one day, I’ll have a good fortune of being the steward,” Ishbia said, adding that “anything that has to do with business or baseball operations is solely, 100% in Jerry’s court.”

The Sun-Times has a story on this now: https://chicago.suntimes.com/pope-leo-xiv/2025/11/19/justin-ishbia-pope-white-sox-stadium “I’m 48, right? And so whether a new stadium occurs in four years or 34 years, I don’t know, but I’m going to be involved in a stadium at some point with the White Sox. “I just asked him to bless the new stadium,” Ishbia told the Sun-Times. “I don’t know when it’s going to occur, I can’t say an exact date, but, it will at some point.
I asked him to bless the stadium and bless the individuals and people who’ll be working on that stadium and the fans who will come to that stadium. The 34 years part is a head scratcher. I don't imagine his plan it to wait until he's 82 to build a new stadium.

Very interesting news after months of silence. As long as Ishbia wasn't at the Vatican to ask the Pope for a miracle to get a new stadium built! 😉

What's over are the days of a significant number of people who only want to drive to a game, see the game, and drive right back home. That doesn't mean nobody does this anymore or nobody will do it in the future, but the trend against this is obvious and teams in all major sports are moving away from stadiums surrounded by nothing but parking lots. It looks like even the Brewers are exploring options to turn part of the parking lots at American Family Field into some sort of "stadium village". https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2025/11/12/see-brewers-options-to-develop-land-around-their-stadium/

The Rays have new ownership and will (most likely) be getting a new stadium (w/ entertainment district) soon. They might also be outspending the Sox in a few years...though perhaps not before 2029, which is when they plan to have their new stadium completed.

I think a seat at the kids' table would be a step up for the Sox. Our seat is out in back, near the dumpster.

What are the $ amounts for the deal? I've only read that they've agreed to a 5-year contract.

It'll be interesting to see what happens after this lease is up in 2029. I won't even get into the new stadium question because we have another thread for that. But, I suppose they'd be negotiating with Ishbia, not Reinsdorf, for the next lease if they stay at Rate Field.

I looked up what the Braves pay in rent at Truist Park and it's $6.1M per year. How much talent does that get you on a MLB roster? https://www.thecentersquare.com/georgia/article_db606e60-9e5e-11ec-97b6-a37e2dd445ca.html# If I'm reading this article correctly, the Brewers have paid $20M in rent total over 20 years. https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2023/12/05/governor-signs-brewers-subsidy-agreement-at-american-family-field/ Some teams, as you said, own their stadiums. While I agree that Reinsdorf has ruined the White Sox franchise, people need to drop the myth that the Rate Field sweetheart lease is giving him a huge financial advantage over other teams.

Getting a lot of revenue from parking lots was a great plan.....in 1991. 3+ decades later, other teams have found there are more profitable ways to use the land around their stadiums. I know people like to cite Jerry's sweetheart lease as *proof* that the Sox are making money hand over fist. I don't disagree it's a great deal for JR, but how much does it give the Sox a leg up on other MLB teams? I suspect it's not enough to offset their lack of money coming in from other sources.

When the Fire open their new stadium on the 78 in 2028, it'll be under MLS's new season schedule. The season will run from mid-July to playoffs in May with a winter break from mid-December to early or mid-February. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46943880/mls-switching-schedule-align-world-soccer https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6806105/2025/11/13/mls-calendar-change-2027-schedule/

I can probably count the number of teams who bring in less money than the White Sox on one hand. Poor attendance, poor TV ratings, poor RSN situation, no additional revenue streams around the ballpark except for parking fees. I'm not sure where the Sox stand as far as corporate sponsorship goes, but I'd expect them to be pretty low on the list among MLB teams.

That's true.....my mistake. I still have my doubts that these 3 players would be enough to take a team from 102 losses to a division title. Perhaps it's more likely in the AL Central than in other divisions, but the Sox still have too many holes and lack enough organizational depth to become division champs next year even if they signed those players. TBH, other than Tucker, I wouldn't want them to sign players over age 30 to high-priced contracts right now - especially given JR's budgets - as there's a good chance they'll be washed up by the time the Sox can field a team around them that can make a deep playoff run.

In theory, yes something like that could be arranged. But this is Jerry Reinsdorf. If I'm not mistaken, he has explicitly said that he's not ready to give up control of the White Sox. Even if he had a change of heart on this, with the strong possibility of a labor stoppage at the end of next season, it doesn't seem like good timing for Ishbia to assume control of this franchise now as much as I'd like JR to relinquish control asap. It seems odd that the team sale arrangement doesn't even give Reinsdorf the option to sell the team until 2029. Why not have that option available now even if he has no intention of exercising it? Of course, the significance of 2029 is that is when the stadium lease expires.