February 11, 20242 yr 1 hour ago, ptatc said: Doesn't JR own the UC? Why would he be OK with events at the UC but not at GRF? The conversion of the field from baseball to concert is a tremendous, expensive ordeal that requires the calendar to line up perfectly to give the requisite run up and teardown time. And even if it's done properly, the field isn't going to be 100% for a while. Even just the booking and management of that type of event is substantial, and it's difficult to justify the staff for that if you're only doing a few events a year. There is, of course, the offseason, but who wants to go to an outdoor concert in the winter in Chicago? The gold standard for mixed-use event venues is Little Caesars Arena in Detroit (well, actually probably Madison Square Garden but obviously that's a different situation), and it works because of how much cooperation exists on the back-end, enabling scale. The Red Wings and Pistons share the arena for their respective seasons, and the concert lineup fills in the gaps the rest of the year. I don't know how many events it is, but I believe it's the busiest arena in the country overall. This is achieved because of the entity 313 Presents, which is a joint venture between Ilitch Sports & Entertainment (Red Wings/Tigers) and the Pistons. 313 Presents owns and/or operates close to a dozen venues in the area, of which Little Caesars Arena is just the flagship, giving them a fairly unprecedented level of control of nearly the entire mainstream entertainment business in the metro. This enables it to carry a huge full-time staff and to benefit from very little competition in terms of other entities that can attract talent. This is the same entity that books concerts at Comerica Park, and, despite all of the scale and advantage, Comerica Park hosts between 1 and 5 concerts a year. Outdoor fields in cold places are just tough to use like that. A new Sox field would need to be a dome or retractable, and it would have to compete with so many other venues in the city.
February 11, 20242 yr 12 minutes ago, Quin said: But for some reason, we have the #SaveTheParkingLots movement going on Damn the Man, Save the Empire. Or something like that.
February 11, 20242 yr 37 minutes ago, Tnetennba said: At some point partying in a parking lot just becomes sad. Especially since they are in mortal danger... of getting towed or being stuck after the gates are locked. After the gates are locked, you an still get out by driving down the sidewalk. I heard that from a friend anyway not that I've any experience with it ?
February 11, 20242 yr 9 minutes ago, Eminor3rd said: The conversion of the field from baseball to concert is a tremendous, expensive ordeal that requires the calendar to line up perfectly to give the requisite run up and teardown time. And even if it's done properly, the field isn't going to be 100% for a while. Even just the booking and management of that type of event is substantial, and it's difficult to justify the staff for that if you're only doing a few events a year. There is, of course, the offseason, but who wants to go to an outdoor concert in the winter in Chicago? The gold standard for mixed-use event venues is Little Caesars Arena in Detroit (well, actually probably Madison Square Garden but obviously that's a different situation), and it works because of how much cooperation exists on the back-end, enabling scale. The Red Wings and Pistons share the arena for their respective seasons, and the concert lineup fills in the gaps the rest of the year. I don't know how many events it is, but I believe it's the busiest arena in the country overall. This is achieved because of the entity 313 Presents, which is a joint venture between Ilitch Sports & Entertainment (Red Wings/Tigers) and the Pistons. 313 Presents owns and/or operates close to a dozen venues in the area, of which Little Caesars Arena is just the flagship, giving them a fairly unprecedented level of control of nearly the entire mainstream entertainment business in the metro. This enables it to carry a huge full-time staff and to benefit from very little competition in terms of other entities that can attract talent. This is the same entity that books concerts at Comerica Park, and, despite all of the scale and advantage, Comerica Park hosts between 1 and 5 concerts a year. Outdoor fields in cold places are just tough to use like that. A new Sox field would need to be a dome or retractable, and it would have to compete with so many other venues in the city. I've seen Springsteen at GRF. Maybe it is just a hassle but I wouldn't blame that on JR.
February 11, 20242 yr 3 minutes ago, ptatc said: I've seen Springsteen at GRF. Maybe it is just a hassle but I wouldn't blame that on JR. Nor I. Like I said, you can do a few a year (and they do), but I don't see any way to make it feel like a year-round thing as currently constructed.
February 11, 20242 yr 5 minutes ago, ptatc said: After the gates are locked, you an still get out by driving down the sidewalk. I heard that from a friend anyway not that I've any experience with it ? Lot B maybe. The others look pretty locked up whenever I go by.
February 12, 20242 yr All the people on the side of “No Taxpayer Funding” who is paying for the Mayor to attend the Grammys and this genius with VIP Tix to the super bowl ? newsflash - better off with your “taxes” to a stadium than the government. https://x.com/chicagocontrar1/status/1756841466863751546?s=46
February 12, 20242 yr 5 minutes ago, DFAthewave69420 said: newsflash - better off with your “taxes” to a stadium than the government. I….what?
February 12, 20242 yr 7 hours ago, Tnetennba said: Lot B maybe. The others look pretty locked up whenever I go by. Lot A is where I park. Most have an entrance to a sidewalk that a car will fit through.
February 12, 20242 yr I would put my feelings as 85% positive if this were to happen. The other 15 is because we wouldn’t be as much of a south side team anymore. But overall, exciting.
February 12, 20242 yr 3 hours ago, DFAthewave69420 said: All the people on the side of “No Taxpayer Funding” who is paying for the Mayor to attend the Grammys and this genius with VIP Tix to the super bowl ? newsflash - better off with your “taxes” to a stadium than the government. https://x.com/chicagocontrar1/status/1756841466863751546?s=46 The IFSA doles out hundreds of tickets to grifters like the two you referenced all season to Sox and Bears games.
February 12, 20242 yr Author On 2/8/2024 at 9:05 PM, DoUEvenShift said: I saw this writeup and thought it was worth sharing. Lots of stuff I didn't know about Related Reality, what has already been secured in terms of funding, and most importantly why it makes sense financially for the Sox to do this. I opened this in a new tab and finally set aside some time to read this during the Super Bowl. There have been a lot of posts in this thread, but none of them have included anywhere NEAR this amount of quality information and research. I don't know who wrote it, but kudos to them for the work they put in. Honestly, it almost has to be someone who works for the city, the county, the state, the White Sox, Related Reality, or someone being paid by them.
February 12, 20242 yr I think the whole thing gets serious when the parties decide to talk about how it gets paid for. I know many are saying this will be an economic home run for the city, but really? People will just be spending money there that they would have been spending in another neighborhood. That's what just about every study of a publicly funded stadium has ever shown. There are 2 entities that get rich on it, Related and the White Sox.
February 12, 20242 yr 3 minutes ago, Dick Allen said: I think the whole thing gets serious when the parties decide to talk about how it gets paid for. I know many are saying this will be an economic home run for the city, but really? People will just be spending money there that they would have been spending in another neighborhood. That's what just about every study of a publicly funded stadium has ever shown. There are 2 entities that get rich on it, Related and the White Sox. If the White Sox and that realty company spent the money to produce renderings and designs already, my guess is that they're early in the process of deciding this right now. We are seeing a little bit of financial posturing in the press, each side is going to want to make sure that they get every last cent, but we are also seeing them avoid any declarative "Take it or leave it" kinda statements. I have to guess that's exactly what they are doing right now. And yes, high density development being created in this area would be very different from just having spending shifted from one neighborhood to another. It would support development of the surrounding neighborhoods as well as generating revenue on its own. Hopefully it also frees up the space in Bridgeport for appropriate redevelopment as well. This should be obvious by the fact that "There are other buildings in the designs for the property that they showed".
February 12, 20242 yr 2 hours ago, Balta1701 said: If the White Sox and that realty company spent the money to produce renderings and designs already, my guess is that they're early in the process of deciding this right now. We are seeing a little bit of financial posturing in the press, each side is going to want to make sure that they get every last cent, but we are also seeing them avoid any declarative "Take it or leave it" kinda statements. I have to guess that's exactly what they are doing right now. And yes, high density development being created in this area would be very different from just having spending shifted from one neighborhood to another. It would support development of the surrounding neighborhoods as well as generating revenue on its own. Hopefully it also frees up the space in Bridgeport for appropriate redevelopment as well. This should be obvious by the fact that "There are other buildings in the designs for the property that they showed". I think "economic home run" is always too far, but "good idea" would be to consolidate more people closer to the loop to help ease some of this drain of commercial real estate. It at least feels like a good idea to continue to surround the loop with the clubs (river north), premier restaurants (west loop), and now a nearby stadium/riverfront/restaurant area, rather than keep it so spread out. Especially for a neighborhood that hasn't shown much desire to move off of heavily residential.
February 12, 20242 yr Not sure if this should be considered a legit concern or not: https://www.southsidesox.com/2024/2/12/24067566/bikers-safety-concerns-mount-after-potential-new-chicago-white-sox-ballpark-images-are-released
February 12, 20242 yr 25 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said: Not sure if this should be considered a legit concern or not: https://www.southsidesox.com/2024/2/12/24067566/bikers-safety-concerns-mount-after-potential-new-chicago-white-sox-ballpark-images-are-released I’m all for biking and protected bike lanes.Shouldnt be too much of a cost. I will say though, the asshole car drivers don’t necessarily outnumber the idiot bike riders in Chicago. There are problems on both sides.
February 12, 20242 yr this one is paywalled for me but there's presumably the business version discussed here.
February 13, 20242 yr 1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said: Not sure if this should be considered a legit concern or not: https://www.southsidesox.com/2024/2/12/24067566/bikers-safety-concerns-mount-after-potential-new-chicago-white-sox-ballpark-images-are-released This is pathetic
February 13, 20242 yr 2 hours ago, bmags said: This is pathetic This is quite frankly one of the dumbest articles I have ever seen on a Sox blog. Good grief.
February 13, 20242 yr 4 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said: Not sure if this should be considered a legit concern or not: https://www.southsidesox.com/2024/2/12/24067566/bikers-safety-concerns-mount-after-potential-new-chicago-white-sox-ballpark-images-are-released That site is a clown show. They’ve run 4 articles on the new stadium - all of them negative. Sure, there are concerns, but they’re in the very early stages of this thing.
February 13, 20242 yr 4 hours ago, Balta1701 said: this one is paywalled for me but there's presumably the business version discussed here. Great article, thanks!
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