Is “The 78” Dead? Or even more alive? Fire announce plans for SSS

[Lip Man 1]

Asked whether the Bears leaving Illinois would mark a failure of the state’s ability to negotiate, Pritzker said, “There’s a limit to what the taxpayers of Illinois are going to spend on a stadium or on infrastructure.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/20/pritzker-bears-stadium-not-chicago/

[Lip Man 1]

23 minutes ago, GreatScott82 said:

Who will be in charge of the next White Sox stadium decision?

Justin Ishbia theoretically cannot take over control until 2029. The White Sox lease at Rate Field expires after the 2029 season.

On average, it takes 30–36 months to build a stadium.

It would seem unwise for Ishbia to allow Jerry Reinsdorf to make a long-term stadium decision that will define the franchise’s future, especially if ownership control is expected to change shortly thereafter. Can Ishbia exert meaningful influence over this process now? Time is of the essence.

I also find it odd that we have not seen an updated rendering or a revised location strategy since the initial presentation at The 78 in early 2024.

Can we reasonably expect a formal stadium site announcement and new renderings during the 2026 season? Given the construction timeline and lease expiration, the clock is clearly ticking

With labor unrest in MLB and the Bears situation my guess is the Sox stadium issue is far down the list of priorities for the organization as well as the city/state at this point. 

I suspect nothing tangible has taken place. 

My guess is they stay at Rate Field until Ishbia takes over with a short term extension and then he'll take over any future stadium issues. 

[tray]

Ingress/egress for vehicles at the Fire Stadium site is quite restricted, at least as depicted on the site plan approved by the Chicago Plan Commission. The main access is from Roosevelt directly into a parking garage connected to the stadium. No ingress across the Metra tracks onto Clark, only a single Southbound right turn only lane for egress. (you can't cross Clark street there). The Wells street access from the North is a single narrow lane thorough a congested area. From the South, the Wells/Wentworth connector might be the best way to access the site, if as presented in this approved plan, they follow through with the surface parking lot plan.  

Google maps:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/W7V839RC5ErfqRcE7

 

Edited Saturday at 04:57 PM by tray

[77 Hitmen]

4 hours ago, GreatScott82 said:

Who will be in charge of the next White Sox stadium decision?

Justin Ishbia theoretically cannot take over control until 2029. The White Sox lease at Rate Field expires after the 2029 season.

On average, it takes 30–36 months to build a stadium.

It would seem unwise for Ishbia to allow Jerry Reinsdorf to make a long-term stadium decision that will define the franchise’s future, especially if ownership control is expected to change shortly thereafter. Can Ishbia exert meaningful influence over this process now? Time is of the essence.

I also find it odd that we have not seen an updated rendering or a revised location strategy since the initial presentation at The 78 in early 2024.

Can we reasonably expect a formal stadium site announcement and new renderings during the 2026 season? Given the construction timeline and lease expiration, the clock is clearly ticking

Great questions.   Ishbia was likely brought in when he was to give the team an infusion of cash needed for a new stadium, but nobody knows for sure about that.     Was it just a coincidence that they announced the ownership transfer just days after the Fire announced their new stadium at the 78?  Is it a coincidence that the ownership transfer window starts the same year the current ballpark lease expires?  I have no idea.

If a new stadium is built, it'll be the Ishbias putting up most, if not all, the money for it.  Yet, as you stated, he can't take control of the team until 2029 at the earliest.  Construction of a new ballpark could be well underway by then.  If I were the Ishbia brothers, I'd want final say on ballpark design and to keep Reinsdorf as far away from that as possible given how badly he screwed up New Comiskey.  The new owners will be the ones who will have to deal with any stadium design mistakes for decades to come.   

Earlier,  @Sleepy Harold said that last fall, Brooks Boyer said to expect a stadium decision to be made in 12-18 months.   So, if true, perhaps we'll hear something next offseason?  I can't imagine they'd drag it out much longer than that unless they are planning to sign a long-term lease and stay at Rate Field for the foreseeable future.

 

Edited Saturday at 08:45 PM by 77 Hitmen

[77 Hitmen]

6 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

With labor unrest in MLB and the Bears situation my guess is the Sox stadium issue is far down the list of priorities for the organization as well as the city/state at this point. 

I suspect nothing tangible has taken place. 

My guess is they stay at Rate Field until Ishbia takes over with a short term extension and then he'll take over any future stadium issues. 

The Bears situation is going to be settled one way or another within a few weeks.  IL will either given them the mega projects bill or they'll sign an agreement with Indiana and that'll be that.  

Also, if the Sox intend to build a new stadium, it's crystal clear to everyone that it'll have to be privately funded aside from infrastructure costs.  So, I don't think there will be a need to go beg the IL General Assembly for public money for a new stadium.  Mansueto didn't need to wait around for the state to give him money as he's funding his new soccer stadium privately.  Given that the combined net worth of the Ishbia brothers is at least $15B, a privately funded Sox ballpark is not out of the question.

If the Sox really do want to move to the 78, I don't think they can just wait around until 2029 to get going on the project because the remaining parcel of land will likely be developed by then with the Fire stadium jump starting work on the site.  If they're just going to stay at 35th St and perhaps build a new park at the site of Old Comiskey, the timing isn't as critical.  

I don't think the looming CBA expiration will cause them to stop them from going forward with a stadium plan.  The Rays aren't pausing their stadium efforts due to labor uncertainty as their lease at the Trop ends in 2029 and it doesn't look like the Royals are pausing their efforts either as they fully intend to leave Kaufmann when their lease is up after the 2030 season.  The longer the Sox wait, the more expensive construction gets as costs have really shot up the last few years.  

.....and yes, a short-term extension of their Rate Field lease is certainly an option if a new ballpark isn't going to be ready for another year or two after that.   

Edited Saturday at 10:50 PM by 77 Hitmen

[GreatScott82]

There is a one-year lease extension club option through 2030, which seems increasingly likely the longer the Sox delay making a stadium decision.

 

After looking at the Parcel 78 map that Tray posted, it doesn’t appear there is much remaining space for a baseball stadium to be built there. Wasn’t the original intention to also develop an entertainment village around the ballpark? If the Sox have to share that parcel with the Fire, it would significantly limit many of those possibilities.

 

Building a new park on the site of the original Comiskey Park would be very cool. However, what happens to the current stadium? Since the state owns it, I doubt they would support demolishing it unless Ishbia offered a substantial payout to the State of Illinois? Has something like that ever happened before? 

[kba]

58 minutes ago, GreatScott82 said:

After looking at the Parcel 78 map that Tray posted, it doesn’t appear there is much remaining space for a baseball stadium to be built there. Wasn’t the original intention to also develop an entertainment village around the ballpark? If the Sox have to share that parcel with the Fire, it would significantly limit many of those possibilities.

There will still be space for a ballpark, but I'm not sure how extensive the "ballpark village" could be.  

 

 

[Dick Allen]

17 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said:

The Bears situation is going to be settled one way or another within a few weeks.  IL will either given them the mega projects bill or they'll sign an agreement with Indiana and that'll be that.  

Also, if the Sox intend to build a new stadium, it's crystal clear to everyone that it'll have to be privately funded aside from infrastructure costs.  So, I don't think there will be a need to go beg the IL General Assembly for public money for a new stadium.  Mansueto didn't need to wait around for the state to give him money as he's funding his new soccer stadium privately.  Given that the combined net worth of the Ishbia brothers is at least $15B, a privately funded Sox ballpark is not out of the question.

If the Sox really do want to move to the 78, I don't think they can just wait around until 2029 to get going on the project because the remaining parcel of land will likely be developed by then with the Fire stadium jump starting work on the site.  If they're just going to stay at 35th St and perhaps build a new park at the site of Old Comiskey, the timing isn't as critical.  

I don't think the looming CBA expiration will cause them to stop them from going forward with a stadium plan.  The Rays aren't pausing their stadium efforts due to labor uncertainty as their lease at the Trop ends in 2029 and it doesn't look like the Royals are pausing their efforts either as they fully intend to leave Kaufmann when their lease is up after the 2030 season.  The longer the Sox wait, the more expensive construction gets as costs have really shot up the last few years.  

.....and yes, a short-term extension of their Rate Field lease is certainly an option if a new ballpark isn't going to be ready for another year or two after that.   

Why doesn't JR turn to Indiana? Wolf Lake isnt very far from their fanbase and Indiana has no MLB team. Maybe they will build him a stadium.

[77 Hitmen]

16 hours ago, GreatScott82 said:

There is a one-year lease extension club option through 2030, which seems increasingly likely the longer the Sox delay making a stadium decision.

 

After looking at the Parcel 78 map that Tray posted, it doesn’t appear there is much remaining space for a baseball stadium to be built there. Wasn’t the original intention to also develop an entertainment village around the ballpark? If the Sox have to share that parcel with the Fire, it would significantly limit many of those possibilities.

 

Building a new park on the site of the original Comiskey Park would be very cool. However, what happens to the current stadium? Since the state owns it, I doubt they would support demolishing it unless Ishbia offered a substantial payout to the State of Illinois? Has something like that ever happened before? 

 

15 hours ago, kba said:

There will still be space for a ballpark, but I'm not sure how extensive the "ballpark village" could be.  

 

 

FWIW, a few months ago (and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to find a link for this), Chuck Garfien initially said that the Fire stadium means the Sox are out of the picture at the 78, but in a later discussion, he said he had been told there is room for both a Fire and Sox stadium at the site.  This suggests to me that perhaps someone on the team corrected him because they're still considering the site.  

There's definitely enough room for a baseball stadium, but yeah, I don't know how much room that leaves for some sort of entertainment district.  According to Mr. Google, the St. Louis ballpark village is about 10 acres.  I've never been there, but I believe that includes things apartments, office space, and a hotel.  With its location in the South Loop, they probably don't need to dedicate a ton of space for on the 78 for a housing, office space, or a hotel.  

As far as what would happen to Rate Field if the Sox build a new ballpark on the north side of 35 St?  That's ISFA's problem.  The Sox don't own Rate Field and aren't bound to the place once their lease expires.  Even the debt for the stadium is relatively small ($50M) and could conceivably be paid off by the time the current lease is up.

[77 Hitmen]

2 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

Why doesn't JR turn to Indiana? Wolf Lake isnt very far from their fanbase and Indiana has no MLB team. Maybe they will build him a stadium.

I guess the question for the team is why would moving to a ballpark at Wolf Lake would be better at drawing a sufficient number of fans than the current location.   For whatever reason, enough people don't want to bother taking the Red Line a few stops south to see the Sox now.  Are enough fans who don't already live in NW Indiana going to bother going down to Hammond to see the Sox play 81 times a year?  It's right off of I-90, but are they going to drive there and pay $25 in tolls round trip on the Skyway and Toll Road to see the Sox play?

[southsider2k5]

6 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I guess the question for the team is why would moving to a ballpark at Wolf Lake would be better at drawing a sufficient number of fans than the current location.   For whatever reason, enough people don't want to bother taking the Red Line a few stops south to see the Sox now.  Are enough fans who don't already live in NW Indiana going to bother going down to Hammond to see the Sox play 81 times a year?  It's right off of I-90, but are they going to drive there and pay $25 in tolls round trip on the Skyway and Toll Road to see the Sox play?

They could also take 94 or the South Shore.  Also plenty of side streets and highways like 12/20

[77 Hitmen]

27 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

They could also take 94 or the South Shore.  Also plenty of side streets and highways like 12/20

That sure beats paying the exorbitant tolls.  I'd still wonder how well they'd do drawing enough fans there such that it's a better location than 35th St.   At least it's on the right side of town as far as fan bases goes vs. Arlington Heights, but it doesn't sound like an improvement over the current location to me.

MLB is arguably the most difficult of the 4 major sports for drawing enough fans.  Twice as many home dates as the NBA and NHL with the expectation these days that teams average at least 25k per game - which would put them just barely over 2M for the season - to avoid concerns about attendance problems.   And of course an NFL team only has about 10 games per year mostly on Sundays.  The Bears will sell out every game no matter where they build their stadium.

Edited Sunday at 04:36 PM by 77 Hitmen

[Ducksnort]

1 hour ago, 77 Hitmen said:

I guess the question for the team is why would moving to a ballpark at Wolf Lake would be better at drawing a sufficient number of fans than the current location.   For whatever reason, enough people don't want to bother taking the Red Line a few stops south to see the Sox now.  Are enough fans who don't already live in NW Indiana going to bother going down to Hammond to see the Sox play 81 times a year?  It's right off of I-90, but are they going to drive there and pay $25 in tolls round trip on the Skyway and Toll Road to see the Sox play?

I can tell you the reasons.

[The Mighty Mite]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

They could also take 94 or the South Shore.  Also plenty of side streets and highways like 12/20

If the Sox move to Indiana they might as well move to Nashville. 
How many fans would attend games that live north of Madison Ave?

[southsider2k5]

16 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

If the Sox move to Indiana they might as well move to Nashville. 
How many fans would attend games that live north of Madison Ave?

Are there that many now?  Honestly they should be in the 78 above all else.  I will worry about Indiana when something credible happens  

[WBWSF]

The only suburb that I can think of who would build a new stadium for the White Sox would be Rosemont. I don't know if  White Sox fans would drive to that northwest suburb.

[Dick Allen]

26 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

The only suburb that I can think of who would build a new stadium for the White Sox would be Rosemont. I don't know if  White Sox fans would drive to that northwest suburb.

The White Sox need to add a lot of new fans, and also reactivate the many they have turned off. New ownership will help a lot. I dont think the stadium not being located south is a deal breaker.  By the time they play there, they will be at least another one or 2 city connect concepts down the road. I was half joking about moving to NW Indiana, but it makes some sense for them if when the Bears ultimately commit to Arlington Heights,  maybe Indiana makes a run at them. Their stadium is half the price.

 

[Lip Man 1]

39 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

The White Sox need to add a lot of new fans, and also reactivate the many they have turned off. New ownership will help a lot. I dont think the stadium not being located south is a deal breaker.  By the time they play there, they will be at least another one or 2 city connect concepts down the road. I was half joking about moving to NW Indiana, but it makes some sense for them if when the Bears ultimately commit to Arlington Heights,  maybe Indiana makes a run at them. Their stadium is half the price.

 

Bolded part is very true

[tray]

1 hour ago, WBWSF said:

The only suburb that I can think of who would build a new stadium for the White Sox would be Rosemont. I don't know if  White Sox fans would drive to that northwest suburb.

I would think Tinley Park, in the heart of the White Sox South side fan base, might be better than a NW suburb. The 280 acre former Tinley Park Mental health property currently owned by the Village of Tinley Park would be one option. Needs some demo and environmental clean-up but Tinley only paid $1 for it.

https://www.tinleypark.org/government/current_projects/state_campus_property.php

Perhaps a deal for the Credit One theater property beginning in 2030 might also be brokered. 

Both locations right off I-80 and easily accessible to most Southsiders. 

Then the former Nascar race track property on Laraway in Joliet.  

Or better yet, just build it at the site of the White Sox historic home on 35th, site of two World Series championships and hopefully another. "Go ... you ... White Sox"  (Andy the Clown).

 

[ptatc]

8 minutes ago, tray said:

I would think Tinley Park, in the heart of the White Sox South side fan base, might be better than a NW suburb. The 280 acre former Tinley Park Mental health property currently owned by the Village of Tinley Park would be one option. Needs some demo and environmental clean-up but Tinley only paid $1 for it.

https://www.tinleypark.org/government/current_projects/state_campus_property.php

Perhaps a deal for the Credit One theater property beginning in 2030 might also be brokered. 

Both locations right off I-80 and easily accessible to most Southsiders. 

Then the former Nascar race track property on Laraway in Joliet.  

Or better yet, just build it at the site of the White Sox historic home on 35th, site of two World Series championships and hopefully another. "Go ... you ... White Sox"  (Andy the Clown).

 

Last I heard the old MHI in Tinley was bought by Top Golf

[tray]

22 minutes ago, ptatc said:

Last I heard the old MHI in Tinley was bought by Top Golf

They would be happy to sell it I am sure based on all of the buildings that still need demo (and haven't been) at whatever paltry amount they paid for it. A lot of work and huge costs ahead for whatever entity develops that. Boarded up buildings that should have been taken down when that facility closed decades ago. 

[southsider2k5]

1 hour ago, Dick Allen said:

The White Sox need to add a lot of new fans, and also reactivate the many they have turned off. New ownership will help a lot. I dont think the stadium not being located south is a deal breaker.  By the time they play there, they will be at least another one or 2 city connect concepts down the road. I was half joking about moving to NW Indiana, but it makes some sense for them if when the Bears ultimately commit to Arlington Heights,  maybe Indiana makes a run at them. Their stadium is half the price.

 

They aren't getting fans to Bridgeport for anything but championship teams.

[southsider2k5]

2 hours ago, WBWSF said:

The only suburb that I can think of who would build a new stadium for the White Sox would be Rosemont. I don't know if  White Sox fans would drive to that northwest suburb.

Especially if the Bears ultimately stay in Illinois, they will 100% throw billions at the White Sox.  We all know how much Uncle Jerry loves other people's money.  Keep in mind this is a team that hasn't been in the top half of the AL in attendance in a non-COVID season since Gordon Beckham was a starter.  I know the "fans won't drive" thing is going to be repeated ad naseum like soil samples and ingresses, but "fan's aren't driving" now to see the Sox in Bridgeport unless they think they are seeing a playoff team.  If you throw out the COVID years, the sox have been higher than 10th in the AL in attendance once since 2013.  That is fucking terrible for an original AL team.  Not sure what we are supposed to be scared of here, but low attendance is already here.

[tray]

"I know the "fans won't drive" thing is going to be repeated ad naseum like soil samples and ingresses"

Environmental testing and soil borings confirmed the issues that some anticipated.  Stop repeating the old arguments that you lost.

Oh sure, ingress and egress is no problem at the Chicago Fire site. Maybe build another stadium on the surface parking lot shown in the approved plan.  No, that ship has sailed.  And why even suggest  that when  Rate Field is right off the expressway and the White Sox 35th street train stop  and is the White Sox historic home for  over 120 years? 

Why do you keep banging on Bridgeport? I doubt you know much about it. The area to the West of Rate to Halsted has  really gentrified over the past several years. You would have to drive or walk through there to get it. Did you go to the Ramova for Sox Fest? No.  But you know all about Bridgeport. 

And I doubt you have driven down to the Chicago Fire site based on your oversized opinions on this site (want to compare the amount of your posts to mine? Talk about ad nauseam.)

[WhiteSox2023]

2 hours ago, ptatc said:

Last I heard the old MHI in Tinley was bought by Top Golf

It’s separate, but they are right next to each other.  The city is building a sports complex at the old MHI spot.  The Top Golf will be right by it.

Edited Sunday at 09:29 PM by WhiteSox2023