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

[Kyyle23]

4 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

With as many teams as aren't located in their proper city's anymore, I do not think this is true.  Sure as heck hasn't harmed the Jets, Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Rams, Chargers, 49ers, Bills or Dolphins.  Why are the Bears different.

To be clear, I do not think it happens, though I think Indiana will be perfectly willing to throw a ton of money and resources at the Bears to make Chicago/Illinois bid up.

Indiana Bears would be a huge blow to this teams fandom, No doubt in my mind 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

With as many teams as aren't located in their proper city's anymore, I do not think this is true.  Sure as heck hasn't harmed the Jets, Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Rams, Chargers, 49ers, Bills or Dolphins.  Why are the Bears different.

To be clear, I do not think it happens, though I think Indiana will be perfectly willing to throw a ton of money and resources at the Bears to make Chicago/Illinois bid up.

New York and New Jersey are a little different than Illinois and Indiana. Those other examples aren't really the same. 

[southsider2k5]

3 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

New York and New Jersey are a little different than Illinois and Indiana. Those other examples aren't really the same. 

How?  Its almost exactly the same distance and geographic layout where the stadium goes from central location in a city, to the edge of one significant side of the population base, but still close and accessible.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

49 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

How?  Its almost exactly the same distance and geographic layout where the stadium goes from central location in a city, to the edge of one significant side of the population base, but still close and accessible.

Because we're not talking about distance, we're talking about the actual states and their make ups and demographics and politics etc. 

Moving an Illinois/Chicago team to Indiana is a much bigger change than moving to the suburbs or a NY team moving to NJ. At least in my opinion. 

[southsider2k5]

27 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Because we're not talking about distance, we're talking about the actual states and their make ups and demographics and politics etc. 

Moving an Illinois/Chicago team to Indiana is a much bigger change than moving to the suburbs or a NY team moving to NJ. At least in my opinion. 

I get Chicagoans will have a meltdown at first, but they will still go to games.  The rest of the country has proven that.

[Rowand44]

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

New York and New Jersey are a little different than Illinois and Indiana. Those other examples aren't really the same. 

The Jets and Giants also moved there in the 70's/80's so I think it's definitely different given the time structure.  The other examples aren't even close in comparison.  The Bears moving to Indiana would definitely hurt the brand. 

[77 Hitmen]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

With as many teams as aren't located in their proper city's anymore, I do not think this is true.  Sure as heck hasn't harmed the Jets, Cowboys, Giants, Commanders, Rams, Chargers, 49ers, Bills or Dolphins.  Why are the Bears different.

To be clear, I do not think it happens, though I think Indiana will be perfectly willing to throw a ton of money and resources at the Bears to make Chicago/Illinois bid up.

The Niners' new stadium is something like 50 miles and a 1 hour drive away from San Francisco and is practically in San Jose.  Seems like their brand is surviving just fine.

[southsider2k5]

4 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

The Niners' new stadium is something like 50 miles and a 1 hour drive away from San Francisco and is practically in San Jose.  Seems like their brand is surviving just fine.

I don't think the Bears are less of a brand than the niners.  By train it is almost 2 hours.

[Dick Allen]

Bears will not move to Indiana for one simple reason. They would have to do away with their song. Youre the pride and joy of Indiana does not fit.  This dispute with property taxes in Arlington Heights is a hoot. They pay $3.6 million a year right now. Nothing to them. 

[southsider2k5]

2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Bears will not move to Indiana for one simple reason. They would have to do away with their song. Youre the pride and joy of Indiana does not fit.  This dispute with property taxes in Arlington Heights is a hoot. They pay $3.6 million a year right now. Nothing to them. 

I don't think the Bears will ACTUALLY move, though I think Indiana is going to back up the brinks truck to try to make it happen, and extract some pretty ugly gains out of Illinois ot make it happen.  Indiana doesn't care about things like it's people, infrastructure, or education, but they do care about big business.  They would love nothing more than to steal the Bears, and if they can at least hurt Illinois in the process, that's a win to them.

[WhiteSox2023]

13 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Bears will not move to Indiana for one simple reason. They would have to do away with their song. Youre the pride and joy of Indiana does not fit.  This dispute with property taxes in Arlington Heights is a hoot. They pay $3.6 million a year right now. Nothing to them. 

It’s pretty close…  just one syllable too many.

“You're the pride and joy of In-di-an-a!  Indiana Bears, bear down!”

[77 Hitmen]

21 hours ago, WBWSF said:

1) There have been rumors in KC that if  anew Royals stadium doesn't get done they will likely move to Nashville.  2) The Bears front office was suppose to meet with the Indiana officials 2  days ago. (January 6) I wonder if that happened. The Bears stadium issue seems to have become very quiet.

 

18 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Just stop...please. Just stop. 😄

But...but...but weren't the rumors saying the Sox were moving to Nashville? 😉

Kansas City is one of the smallest markets in MLB.  Nashville is about the same size and booming.  They can probably support a team just as well as KC.  The thing about Nashville, though is that the city/state just spent an insane amount of money for the new Titans stadium, so public funding for a MLB park there is questionable.  On the other hand, Portland's metro area is bigger than KC's and the state of Oregon has committed $800M in public money toward an MLB stadium.  Is it probable that the Royals will move?  No.  But I don't think the idea is laughable either - especially when there's $800M in public money sitting there.  Portland is probably  going to miss out on a western expansion team to Salt Lake City, so they'd be more than happy to get an existing team to move there.  

In the end, I think they'll get a deal done with Missouri.  They were already going to offer spending 50% of the stadium costs for both the Royals AND Chiefs.  Now that the Chiefs are leaving, more of that money can be directed toward getting a deal done with the Royals.   

No matter what, I'll be very surprised if the Royals are still playing at Kauffman Stadium after 2031.  I just don't see that happening.

[WestEddy]

I don't really follow college football, but don't Purdue and Notre Dame have a sizeable Chicago fanbases? When I worked retail at a sporting goods store in the 80s, Purdue and Notre Dame merchandise was as prevalent as Illini gear. 

Edited 10 hours ago by WestEddy

[Rowand44]

41 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I don't think the Bears are less of a brand than the niners.  By train it is almost 2 hours.

As was said earlier in this thread, this isn't about distance.  Santa Clara is still in the Bay area, that's like moving the Bears to the burbs, not to Indiana.  Nobody is saying the Bears would die if they'd move to Indiana but it'd absolutely alienate some of the fan base and hurt the Chicago brand of it all.

[Lip Man 1]

2 hours ago, WBWSF said:

Indiana  Governor Braun has said the  negotiations with the Bears are going full speed ahead. He said they will do everything he can to bring the Bears stadium to Indiana.

Right...and the Royals are now moving to Nashville! 😆

[southsider2k5]

11 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I don't really follow college football, but don't Purdue and Notre Dame have a sizeable Chicago fanbases? When I worked retail at a sporting goods store in the 80s, Purdue and Notre Dame merchandise was as prevalent as Illini gear. 

IIRC, ND's biggest alumni base is in Chicago.

[southsider2k5]

4 minutes ago, Rowand44 said:

As was said earlier in this thread, this isn't about distance.  Santa Clara is still in the Bay area, that's like moving the Bears to the burbs, not to Indiana.  Nobody is saying the Bears would die if they'd move to Indiana but it'd absolutely alienate some of the fan base and hurt the Chicago brand of it all.

Eh, I think it is a hollow threat.  Chicagoans do this loud civic pride thing, but they still buy their out of state Frango Mints at Macy's and work in the Willis Tower.  The Bears is Hammond is less far out of Chicago than Arlington Heights is.  They might get bad, but it isn't going to do anything lasting to the fan base.

[Dick Allen]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

I don't think the Bears will ACTUALLY move, though I think Indiana is going to back up the brinks truck to try to make it happen, and extract some pretty ugly gains out of Illinois ot make it happen.  Indiana doesn't care about things like it's people, infrastructure, or education, but they do care about big business.  They would love nothing more than to steal the Bears, and if they can at least hurt Illinois in the process, that's a win to them.

They would gain a bit more than Illinois, as they would have 50k-70k people spending their money  many Sundays a year in IN that normally wouldn't. In IL, no difference between spending it in Chicago or Arlington Heights. It wouldn't be enough to come close to offestting the cost of building the stadium the Bears want and maintaining it, but still something.

[southsider2k5]

4 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

They would gain a bit more than Illinois, as they would have 50k-70k people spending their money  many Sundays a year in IN that normally wouldn't. In IL, no difference between spending it in Chicago or Arlington Heights. It wouldn't be enough to come close to offestting the cost of building the stadium the Bears want and maintaining it, but still something.

They would get just as many sell outs in Hammond as they would in Arlington Heights.

[NO!!MARY!!!]

4 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The Bears would be committing brand suicide by moving the team out of state.

Not even close. The Bears can go 0-for the next ten years and they will remain popular. 

[DoUEvenShift]

10 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

They would get just as many sell outs in Hammond as they would in Arlington Heights.

He's saying that Indiana would see a larger benefit than Illinois since they are going from 0 to 1 rather than 1 to 1.

[southsider2k5]

4 minutes ago, DoUEvenShift said:

He's saying that Indiana would see a larger benefit than Illinois since they are going from 0 to 1 rather than 1 to 1.

Ah got it.  That makes sense.  And Indiana is a petty state.  It's the reason they keep spending money on the succession plan knowing damned well it would never happen.  It's all for show, which is why the Bears are an attractive target.

[Y2Jimmy0]

2 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

I get Chicagoans will have a meltdown at first, but they will still go to games.  The rest of the country has proven that.

100%. It doesn't matter where the stadium is. 

2 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

Bears will not move to Indiana for one simple reason. They would have to do away with their song. Youre the pride and joy of Indiana does not fit.  This dispute with property taxes in Arlington Heights is a hoot. They pay $3.6 million a year right now. Nothing to them. 

If Illinois really has no interest in discussing Bears situation in 2026, I honestly think they move to Indiana. 

30 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

They would get just as many sell outs in Hammond as they would in Arlington Heights.

Agreed. I'd actually prefer it living in the south burbs. 

[Green Line]

2 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

Bears will not move to Indiana for one simple reason. They would have to do away with their song. Youre the pride and joy of Indiana does not fit.  This dispute with property taxes in Arlington Heights is a hoot. They pay $3.6 million a year right now. Nothing to them. 

Why would they have to do away with the song?  Is the state going to sue them?  Its going to be Illinoisians in an Indiana stadium cheering for Illinois' most popular football team.  People will continue to sing the song aside from a couple butthurt reddit bros.

The Dutch national anthem sings about honoring the King of Spain, who hasnt controlled the country for centuries.  I think Chicagoans will be fine.

[77 Hitmen]

11 minutes ago, NO!!MARY!!! said:

Not even close. The Bears can go 0-for the next ten years and they will remain popular. 

Thank you!

The Bears have spent most of the last 3 decades fielding very mediocre and frequently getting embarrassed by their arch rivals.  This is only their 7th playoff appearance in 30 years. ...and yet, fans in Chicago are as rabid about the Bears as ever (even before this year's resurgence).  

Let's get real.  While they'd much prefer ending up in Arlington Heights, having a stadium in Gary/Hammond isn't going to slow their popularity.