77 Hitmen

Aren't the TV and radio booths right behind home plate? I know the press box was moved to the first base side of the 400 level a number of years ago, so was your suite past the press box along the 1st base side? JR's plan to have two solid rows of luxury suites sandwiching a very small (only 5 rows deep) club level was indeed one of the things that ruined the stadium by pushing anyone who isn't in the lower deck all the way up to the 500 level. As far as I know, they have never filled all those suites, either. Plus that members-only/not-for-regular-fans Stadium Club eats up a good chunk of space down the 1st base side too. I've been to several other post-Camden ballparks and the luxury suites are blended in well throughout the park and aren't two massive blocks between the lower and upper deck. There's plenty of very good seats available for regular fans in the 200 and 300 level, including more club level seats available than at Rate Field.

Hissy fit meltdown response in 3.....2....1......

Nonetheless, I bet few Suns fans wish they could trade ownership groups with the Bulls.

Under JR's stewardship, the White Sox are ranked 30th out of 30 teams for revenue generated. He's always been rather myopic about how to run this franchise and the numbers support that opinion. The crazy thing is that the one person with any say in the matter who has been the most vocal in saying the Sox can't compete at their current location and need a new stadium at the 78 is.........Jerry Reinsdorf. The perpetual arguments that he's somehow being forced to do this by Ishbia and/or Related Midwest are just completely and laughably detached from reality.

The Bears are looking to getting a bill put together to present to the IL legislature. Here are links to the Crain's and Trib articles about this. Pritzker offers up a playbook for a special session on a...The governor says the Bears are assembling a hybrid stadium proposal from rival House and Senate plans but must build support in Springfield first.https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/23/bears-stadium-pritzker/ “They’ve asked for advice, and so our staff, as well as legislators, have offered them that,” Pritzker said, speaking to reporters Tuesday in Chicago. “They’re looking at both of the bills that passed, the one in the House and the one in the Senate, hoping to put the provisions of each of those together in a form that they think will pass.” “It’s one thing to articulate generally what you want. It’s another thing to actually say: We’d like a provision like this, a provision like that. And those are, many of them anyway, already written. They have lobbyists who could help them write those provisions. There are legislators who would help them write the bill. And again, then they need to go and talk to people about the various provisions to get support for it.”

Agreed. If it was all about maximizing ways to grow their portfolio, there are better ways to invest than to buy a MLB team. The jump in value from when JR bought the team in 1981 sounds impressive, but I don't know that it's much different than if he and his partners had put $20M in the S&P500 45 years ago. Of course, it's a huge ego/passion project for a billionaire to buy a MLB team. As I said earlier, it's a very elite club. As far as the Ishbias go, I'll also add that I don't see anyone suggesting that their eventual purchase of the Sox guarantees pennants. Look at how things have worked out so far for the Mets. Heck, even look at their own Phoenix Suns. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a fan that thinks having a team owner who is very wealthy and appears to be willing to pour a lot of money into a franchise and wants to try to win is a bad thing. It's almost like a lot of people never learned the difference between opportunities and guarantees and simply cannot tell the difference between these two concepts.

Politico reports that the Bears are working behind the scenes with IL officials on a possible stadium deal. https://www.bleachernation.com/bears/2026/06/22/bears-stadium-watch-12/

The only place I have read any suggestion that Ishbia is a terrible, greedy, despicable human being on a different level than other billiionaire pro sports owners such that Sox fans should dread his potential ownership is one single poster on this site (now inducted as the sole member of my Soxtalk HoF) pushing this narrative ad nauseum. That's it. Can anyone find anyone anywhere who has intense reservations about Justin Ishbia buying the White Sox? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? The negatives I have heard about the Ishbias is that their throwing money at the Phoenix Suns hasn't turned them into a winning team and that's a cautionary tale about getting too excited about their ownership of the Sox. Also, disputes with his mansion in Winnetka. Both are valid complaints, but I don't see anything that would make Sox fans howl in protest at him being lined up as the team's next owner. Are there really other Sox fans out there outraged at the idea that super-wealthy billionaire brothers with deep Chicago ties have emerged at the likely next Sox owner? I'm not seeing it anywhere.

That and they own a team for their ego. There aren't many things as elite as owning a MLB (or other major pro sports) franchise. This (and tax implications) is why Jerry is keeping the option to sell the team until he's 98. And I'm not vilifying him for that, he's no different than other owners in that regard.

Yep, he still has future potential and he needs to work on improving. Sure, in an immediate sense the Sox might be better off with him on the 26-man than Romo, but he'd be stagnating here in a backup position.

Opposition in IN to the Bears stadium plan is starting to show. The first cracks are showing in Indiana’s Bears stadium planIndiana's bid to lure the Chicago Bears to Hammond is facing its first signs of political resistance as Porter County officials question taxes tied to the deal.

Yeah, Detroit metro itself is a medium-sized market to begin with before you even consider the rest of the territory their fan base covers outside the Detroit area.

We needed someone to do ads for Ankin Law if TA faltered.

Yep! Perhaps the only player in Sox history who dropped his pants on the playing field.

Yeah, that's the key - building up a thriving "district" around the ballpark no matter where they end up - even if they stay at 35th St. To answer @Kyyle23 's point, the problem is that remodeling isn't going to fix some key design flaws. I've been to a number of other ballparks and most have lots of decent seats in the 200 and 300 level if lower deck seats are not available before you really get pushed to the bad upper deck seats. At Rate Field, after the lower bowl there is a very small (only 5 rows deep) 300 club section before you get pushed all the way to the 500 level. The lower deck (including outfield seats) only has something like 22k seats with maybe another 3k or so for the pricey club level. After that, fans are in the 500 level, which the Sox have had problems selling tickets for over the years. Also, many other popular parks have the lower concourse at street level, too, which makes the park feel more connected to its surroundings. One answer would be to build a new ballpark on the site of Old Comiskey and then build up a stadium district around it. Maybe Ishbia ends up there if the Amtrak development falls through. Would that work in drawing casual fans and would businesses in a surrounding stadium district there thrive the 280 days a year the Sox aren't playing a home game?

Soxtalk's junk filter works like a charm! It even blocks out idiotic laugh emojis.

I get the concern, but I'm more worried about potential back issues with him in the coming years than that. It looks like he won't be a free agent until 2032. So yeah, on the bright side we'll likely be in the Ishbia era by then. If everything works out, he could very well be around to hit HRs for the Sox into the Chicago River at Shore Capital Field. 😜🤪🙃

They already totally whiffed on the #3 and #4 overall picks in successive years. To also miss big time on the 5th overall pick just a few years later is a huge missed opportunity for this franchise....especially when a few guys picked after Smith are already finding success. They really, really can't blow the 1st overall pick next month.

I'd imagine it's a generational thing. Since it sounds like any new ballpark is 8-10 years away (early to mid 2030s), keep in mind that they'll generally be targeting the interests of people born after about 1990 and not what us older Gen X and Boomer fans care (or don't care) about the ballpark surroundings. The statement that Sox fans show up when the team wins but stay home when they don't is precisely why they're looking for a location that draws more casual fans. Whether that all works out or not will literally be a billion dollar question for this franchise.

Yeah, the Park District already has a proposal to update Soldier Field to be primarily a concert/events venue. They have said that the Bears account for only about 20% of the revenue they get from Soldier Field. Without the Bears on the schedule, it probably opens up the possibility of more events in late August through whenever it gets too cold to host such events (early October?). Tailgating is arguably the biggest downside of the Sox moving to the South Loop. I don't know if there's a way to provide some lots in the Amtrak/78 complex that can be used for tailgaters.

The Murakami effect on the White Sox:

Welcome to Soxtalk! The only people who I've heard say that Mansueto doesn't want the Sox at the 78 were Jon Greenberg at the Athletic and Josh Nelson at Sox Machine. They must be making their own presumptions that weren't based on any actual intel. I have never seen an actual quote from Mansueto that said anything of the sort. Why wouldn't Mansueto want the Sox there to help jump start the stadium district he wants to create around his stadium? The Fire only play something like 20 home games a year and MLS's offseason will be all of June to mid July. Bring in a partner that can draw another 2 to 3 million visitors to the site every year. Uh yeah, Mansueto wouldn't mind that. The Fire only play 2-3 home games a month meaning it'll be relatively easy to avoid any scheduling conflicts between the two teams if the Sox build in the South Loop. And yeah, this is likely good news for the Sox since, if approved, it gets the infrastructure hurdles to the 78 site addressed even before the Sox make a final decision on their stadium plans.

Timely comment just before the Crain's article about the 78 TIF suggesting the developer's plan still envisions two stadiums at the site. If the Amtrak land falls through, the 78 could very well still be the backup plan. The map in the Crain's article shows nothing but surface lots south of the Fire stadium on the 78. That sounds like a placeholder until the Sox stadium question gets settled as there's no way they're going to keep all that prime land as surface lots permanently - even if the Sox end up staying at Rate Field. No doubt the $425M expenditure is much more sellable if you add 81 dates that could bring 25-30k people per game to the site.

Mayor Johnson proposes a $425M TIF subsidy for the 78. Chicago Sun-TimesMayor Johnson proposes $425M TIF subsidy for The 78Chicago Fire FC owner Joe Mansueto has been widely praised for bankrolling his own $750 million soccer stadium on the South Loop parcel known as The 78. But taxpayers would be subsidizing that develop"The roster of TIF-eligible infrastructure projects includes construction of a 1,200-space underground parking garage that would be used for soccer games, concerts and other stadium-related events, and as a platform for an open-air plaza and future high-rise development on the site. The breakdown includes $199 million for public structures, plazas and open space; $104 million for road infrastructure along LaSalle, 13th, 14th and 15th Streets; $11 million for Clark Street improvements; $30 million for river wall improvements along the south branch of the Chicago River; $8 million for Roosevelt Road and $34 million for Metra improvements."

This is the new economic reality in pro sports and something that all professional male sports teams in Chicago except for the Sox are in various stages of getting done. Cubs (done), Bulls/Blackhawks (underway), Fire (underway) and yes eventually the Bears somewhere. Ishbia is still in his 40s and he and his brother are immensely wealthy. He isn't buying the Sox only to keep them at a stadium surrounded by parking lots for the next 30 years. I just hope he hires the best and brightest architects and engineers (people who will closely study what has worked and what hasn't at other MLB parks) to make sure they get the design of any new ballpark right this time.