77 Hitmen

USA Today has issued their MLB ballpark rankings for 2026. We're #27! Take that, Chase Field! https://ftw.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2026/03/25/best-mlb-stadiums-ranking-2026-edition-baseball-ballparks/89304877007/

When is Gordon going to sue the Sox?

This article is paywalled, but it's about plans for the empty piece of land just north of the 78 between Wells St and the river. It's not stadium-related, but some may be wondering about that empty land just west of the Roosevelt Collection. South Loop developer lands $83 million construction loan...The financing kicks off construction on what appears to be the first phase of the long-planned Riverline residential development in the South Loop.

Here's an interview with the Crain's reporters who broke the news about Ishbia's intention to buy the Amtrak yard. The discussion is in the first 18:40 of this link. I don't think it's paywalled. Sox owner-to-be lines up possible stadium site: Crain’s D...Justin Ishbia is set to buy a massive South Loop rail yard for a potential White Sox stadium site. Crain’s reporters Danny Ecker and Justin Laurence discuss with host Amy Guth.

Baby Boomers start turning 80 this year, Gen Xers (my age group) started turning 60 last year, and even Millennials start turning 45 this year. Let that sink in for a minute - by the time the lease is up at Rate Field, Millennials will be pushing 50. The Sox can't just rely on legacy fans to start filling the ballpark again when they finally find some success on the field. Maybe if they rattled off a bunch of WS titles in quick succession like the Dodgers, but that's a VERY tall order even if Ishbia opens up his wallet (just ask Mets fans). Most younger fans aren't going to devote a lot of time and money to see the Sox if all they get to do is drive to the park, see the game, and drive back home. Relying on "That's all that I've personally wanted for the last 50 years" fans isn't a winning business model going forward.

Yep, they've lost so many fans over the years that they'll need to do more than field a team that makes the playoffs every few years to become relevant again in Chicago.

I think he's loyal to a fault to those who are good to him. That's why the organization has been full of ex-Sox players instead of the best talent available. It's probably why KW, Hahn, and Cooper were around way past when it was time for them to go. It's why TLR was brought back in to be skipper when he had no business being our next manager. But there is a long history of vindictiveness towards those who aren't sycophantic enough to the organization.

....and if you go back to the beginning of JR's ownership Bill Veeck and Harry Caray. The Ishbia era can't come soon enough. But unfortunately, Jerry has told Roger Bossard he wants to continue burning this franchise to the ground until he's 99.

He used the ol' Jedi Mind Trick?

Jerry has long had an antagonistic relationship with the fans other than the people in the luxury suites. He runs the team in a very insular way. He's more interested in proving his critics (the fans, the media) wrong than what is in the fans' interest. Needless to say, buying the Sox for somewhere close to $2B is a huge investment for Ishbia and in all likelihood it's a team that he'll own for decades. Surely he knows what isn't working with the franchise both on and off the field. If he thought the current ballpark situation was "just fine", he wouldn't be buying up a huge tract of land next to the 78.

Yep. Chicagoland has 9M people - they don't have to surpass the Cubs to become a successful franchise here, they just have to start making the playoffs more frequently AND have a park and area that'll draw more than just legacy Sox fans and keep people coming back even during the down times. We'll see if Ishbia wants to privately finance a new ballpark at the 78. The news about him in serious talks to buy the Amtrak yard across the river sure seems to strongly indicate a "yes" to that, though it's far from certain, of course.

This is truly a golden opportunity to settle the Sox stadium situation once and for all. There's a ton of potential at the South Loop site. They'll never surpass the Cubs, but a gem of a ballpark right by downtown along an expanded riverwalk and adjacent to a new stadium district could at least make them competitive in the Chicago market. This is their only chance to get things right. There won't be any do-overs if they mess things up again. Wherever they end up will be their home for the rest of our lives. Please keep Jerry Reinsdorf far away from the stadium design process! And yeah, they also need to build a winning organization, too, for this to matter, we all get that.

If we're talking about the last time the Sox talked about a new stadium, I don't remember many people feeling all that warm and fuzzy about New Comiskey going up. To begin with, Jerry and Eddie immediately soured the whole new ballpark situation with their threat to move the team to what is now Tropicana Field and ended up pissing everyone off for extorting taxpayer money for their new park. Then, they built (at the city's insistence) at the same site that they've had problems with for decades. The Robert Taylor Homes were still around back then and the area wasn't that great at that time. There was even an incident where workers found a bullet hole in one of the new upper deck seats being installed at the new park, which wasn't great for PR. Finally, while people looked forward to moving to a modern, baseball-only facility, a lot of people (rightfully) groaned when they saw how high and steep that 29-row upper deck was sitting above 3 levels of premium seating. If we're talking about being excited about new ownership, yeah Sox fans were excited in 1980......about Ed Debartolo buying the team. Then the AL shot that down and we ended up with Jerry and Eddie as the fallback option. And people might not remember, but Jerry was the more likeable of those two. Yes, fans were eager to see an end to the austerity this franchise had under Veeck, but it didn't take JR and EE long to rub fans the wrong way.

JR has the controlling option to sell until 2034, when he'll be 98.

Yeah, I don't know what the hell the Sox Machine guy is talking about. The Master Plan for the site shows the area south of the Fire stadium full of buildings. Even if the Sox don't build there, they aren't going to use all that prime real estate for a surface lot and a retention pond.

Here's an interview with Scott Merkin on Fox32. Not much new on the stadium situation, but he says Jerry told Roger Bossard this offseason that he wants to do this until he's 99. FOX 32 ChicagoInside scoop on potential White Sox stadium site in the S...In this week's Toyota Talks, Tina Nguyen chatted with MLB.com White Sox beat writer Scott Merkin about the new potential White Sox stadium site after Matt Ishbia purchased a plot of land in the South

The process is super strict — no shoes, no hats, knees exposed, back against the wall — and to account for potential shrinkage

Same with the "let's move them to Arlington Heights next to the Bears" speculative nonsense.

Looking at the comments, Josh Nelson believes there is no room at the 78 for another stadium because of the surface lots and retention pond that are in the Fire's plan. The Sox apparently don't agree with him since Boyer is still talking about the 78 site as the team's primary focus and I find it hard to believe that surface lots and a retention pond are going to stop someone from building on the south portion of the site. But, I usually take what Nelson says with a grain of salt. He is right, though, that the Alderwoman does not support a Sox stadium there and there will be more community pushback if the Sox announce they will build there.

Yeah, I'd be very interested in seeing what they envision for the Amtrak property and the southern portion of the 78. Would they put the Sox ballpark just south of the Fire stadium on the 78 and use the Amtrak land for a stadium district/parking? Or would the Sox stadium go on the west side of the river? What are the benefits or drawbacks to either option? They mentioned Shore Capital's plans to develop some sort of medical campus with Northwestern Medicine on that site, but I don't imagine that would take up the entire 47 acres of the Amtrak property. They could very well build both that and a stadium district on that land. Ishbia must surely realize that they aren't getting public funding for the stadium itself.

And don't forget that is brother Mat is also going to be an investor in the Sox ownership group and is separately worth another $10B. The Sox ownership arrangement will be reversed from that of the Phoenix Suns, where Mat is the majority owner with Justin is part of the Suns ownership group.

@Sleepy Harold Here's a little more from Brooks Boyer in this NBC 5 interview. He says at 62 acres, "certainly there's room" for a Sox stadium on the 78 site and says the Amtrak site and the 78 could create an "amazing sports district". He said any talk about financing was above his pay grade.

Here's an article from the Athletic by Jon Greenberg: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7129164/2026/03/18/white-sox-justin-ishbia-new-stadium-amtrak-railyard/

Because the new owner of the Rays is from Florida and didn't buy the team to move them to Montreal. He was also previously part of a group that was trying to bring an expansion team to Orlando before he bought the Rays instead. I should amend my post - they'd move to Orlando if the city/county provides a huge chunk of public money toward a new stadium. They aren't moving to any city unless there's a boatload of public money for a stadium waiting for them. Unless Montreal is going to put up close to $1B in public money for a new stadium, MLB is not going back there. The only cities/states that I know of that are offering public money for a new MLB stadium are Portland ($800M) and Salt Lake City/Utah ($900M). One of those cities will likely get an expansion team.

My first guess would be to Orlando. To answer @WBWSF 's question, yes I think the new owners would move the Rays if they don't get a stadium deal done. They're no way they're staying at Tropicana Field long-term.