soxfan18

The TIF and the ballpark funding are not related. That $500m is already spoken for for the infrastructure improvements needed for the larger 78 development, IE: building the Red Line stop and moving the Metra tracks.

There's no room for the 20k+ parking spots the Bears want.

From the interior view, you can see suites behind the 100 level seats and below the upper level.

. Stop with this nonsense. They aren't leaving. MLB would force a sale to someone local long before it got to that point.

That would be the emptiest threat ever. Bailing on 50% ownership of an arena that's in great shape and constantly improving? No one would ever take that seriously.

No, it's for the ballpark. The 'total project' as in the whole 78 will be in the 10s of billions. That's what makes this ask so phony. Related should be able to finance the park, and ultimately, probably will. But of course they'll try to squeeze what they can out of the public 1st.

What do the Bulls have to do with this? JR is the head of an entirely separate ownership group for them. The Sox aren't leaving, but in a world where they did, the Bulls wouldn't go with. They're tied to the Hawks through the UC Joint Venture.

Chicago refers to the City of Chicago. That was evident from the reference to neighborhoods in his post, along with 'the city' in prior ones. If he meant Chicagoland, he'd have said so.

I'm just going off what I've seen reported. Fanatics didn't adjust the prior Majestic versions because they weren't ordered to.

In this case, Fanatics is making what Nike templated out and ordered. Nike is who made the choice to move off of the prior Majestic template that was still in use. NHL game jerseys are going to be continued to produced by SP Apparel in Quebec, and they won't be altering the cuts until 2026-27, so we've got a little time.

Stop saying there's no parking. There's been plenty out there saying there will be 4,000 dedicated spots. Not to mention all the other garages and SpotHero options in the area.

Does Jerry own the lots, or are they part of the lease with ISFA? I assumed the lease would expire along with the ballpark. It would be a huge mistake to not have water shuttles running from Union/Ogilvie. Ideally you'd have a River North pickup as well. Could even extend to Navy Pier on weekends to lure in tourists/suburbanites. It could even be a free service the team runs, similar to the Cubs' remote parking shuttles.

I thought that too from the initial renderings, but from this view it looks like there's 3 levels in RF and 2 in LF.

What real estate involvement has he really had in the last 20+ years? He made his money in it ages ago, but his wealth is tied up in the teams.

This couldn't be further from the truth. Wrigleyville is a haven of 20 somethings year round. And Goose Island lost their lease because the property was sold and the building torn down to make way for the huge development that went up there with the Lucky Strike & Shake Shack in it.

Like I said: There's been 1 relocation in the last 50 years, by a team playing in a stadium that was, well, the biggest dump in baseball with plenty of structural issues. There is another one ongoing for that same reason.

It was a very different time, you can't compare the late 80s to now. 1) Florida had no teams, so it was seen as a lucrative market if you could get on cable systems across the whole state. 2) Staying at Old Comiskey Park longterm was not feasible. They were in the same situation as those Expos I was referencing, or the A's today. Staying at GRF is. There's nothing structually wrong with it, there's just so much wrong with it.

They would have to figure something out with the state to stay at GRF. Anyone who thinks they'd leave Chicagoland doesn't have a clue about the economics of baseball. There's been 1 relocation in the last 50 years, by a team playing in a stadium that was, well, the biggest dump in baseball with plenty of structural issues. There is another one ongoing for that same reason. Forbes ranks the SOX 15th in value despite decades of mediocrity. The prospect of this move might see them gain spots in the next ranking, and the top 10 is very much within reach once if everything with the 78 goes to plan. There is no remaining market where they would be anywhere near that. Other owners would not approve a move that is a step back and would decrease the average team value.

Ah yes, the mysterious book that came out. ? Look at The Battery in Atlanta, Ballpark Village in STL, Xfinity Live in Philly...are those districts not successful?

My hunch is Related approached the Sox with these points very much at the forefront. A ballpark will drive over 2 million visitors annually to the site. That's far more than the ~700,000 who would attend Bears games. And of those 2+ million, there's far more unique visitors who are more likely to spend time/money elsewhere in the development, vs. the average Bears attendee who is more likely to be a repeat visitor (STHs make up 60-70% of Bears ticket sales) with a regular tailgating routine. EDIT: The other thing I forgot to mention is the Bears want to be in the suburbs. Their season ticket base is primarily out there and they want to replicate the Dallas or New England model of owning all the parking & business in the area. The 78, as big as it is, wouldn't allow for the expansive parking they need.

The big difference is the Cubs have such a strong season ticket base, so the numbers are still pretty decent. They might sell 28-30k tickets on a Tuesday night in April, but there's less than 25k in the building and tons of tickets available on the secondary market for under $20. The hope would be that a new park closer to downtown would increase the corporate season ticket base to closer to what the Cubs have.

Seattle's roof is a large umbrella, it is still open air when closed. You will remain uncomfortable in April, just dry.

The Sox biggest attendance related issue is drawing people on weeknights before school is out. Hopefully, the better location improves that.

Seriously? Is baseball, and pro sports altogether, different than it was 40 years ago? Has the value of the ballclub changed? Has the age of the owner changed? Does the owner think that he'll still be owning the team in 40 years? Has the business model evolved in any way? Has the South Loop changed as a whole?

Yep, and the Rangers were strategically placed halfway between Dallas & Ft. Worth.