On 1/21/2026 at 7:54 PM, 77 Hitmen said:

Time for a new team song:

 

Not Louisiana? Paris, France? New York or Rome? 

Illinois lawmakers appear to be more willing to consider legislation for a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights.  

https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/01/24/bears-illinois-arlington-heights-indiana-stadium-pritzker-rich-miller

Whether this is motion or actual movement remains to be seen. But some previously recalcitrant Chicago legislators do appear to be considering an Arlington Heights plan to prevent the team from crossing the border.

Looks like the Indiana proposal got their attention.  That's what leverage does, folks.  This doesn't mean a deal on the Bears stadium is a certainty, but at least some officials appear to be moving past the "we just want to give the Bears the middle finger so that we can tell everyone we told the rich owners to go screw themselves" stage.

This doesn't mean I think IL officials should give the Bears everything they want, but at least stop telling them to go to hell and we'll think about it in 2027....maybe....if the state solves all societal issues by then.  

Edited January 25Jan 25 by 77 Hitmen

1 hour ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Illinois lawmakers appear to be more willing to consider legislation for a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights.  

https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/01/24/bears-illinois-arlington-heights-indiana-stadium-pritzker-rich-miller

Whether this is motion or actual movement remains to be seen. But some previously recalcitrant Chicago legislators do appear to be considering an Arlington Heights plan to prevent the team from crossing the border.

Looks like the Indiana proposal got their attention.  That's what leverage does, folks.  This doesn't mean a deal on the Bears stadium is a certainty, but at least some officials appear to be moving past the "we just want to give the Bears the middle finger so that we can tell everyone we told the rich owners to go screw themselves" stage.

This doesn't mean I think IL officials should give the Bears everything they want, but at least stop telling them to go to hell and we'll think about it in 2027....maybe....if the state solves all societal issues by then.  

The ultimate say will be the voters and if they decide politicians sticking their necks out for the McCaskey family is in their best interests. Time will tell. 

"Politically, it’s imperative that the state not be seen as giving the billionaire Bears ownership a taxpayer-funded stadium. If they can give themselves enough cover, then maybe they might possibly find enough votes for this. But it’s still a straight uphill climb even after Indiana has begun putting its cards on the table."

Edited January 25Jan 25 by Lip Man 1

39 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The ultimate say will be the voters and if they decide politicians sticking their necks out for the McCaskey family is in their best interests. Time will tell. 

"Politically, it’s imperative that the state not be seen as giving the billionaire Bears ownership a taxpayer-funded stadium. If they can give themselves enough cover, then maybe they might possibly find enough votes for this. But it’s still a straight uphill climb even after Indiana has begun putting its cards on the table."

Evil billionaires complaining about other billionaires. Pritzker is probably worj more than the MvCaskey family.

10 minutes ago, ptatc said:

Evil billionaires complaining about other billionaires. Pritzker is probably worj more than the MvCaskey family.

What does this have to do with anything?

1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The ultimate say will be the voters and if they decide politicians sticking their necks out for the McCaskey family is in their best interests. Time will tell. 

"Politically, it’s imperative that the state not be seen as giving the billionaire Bears ownership a taxpayer-funded stadium. If they can give themselves enough cover, then maybe they might possibly find enough votes for this. But it’s still a straight uphill climb even after Indiana has begun putting its cards on the table."

I don't disagree with that.     But they need to stop saying it's a "taxpayer-funded stadium".  The stadium itself is being privately financed.  The Bears are putting a lot more private money toward the stadium than other teams like the Titans, Chiefs, and Commanders are.    Sure, there's still a ton of public money going into infrastructure and there's a legitimate argument as to whether that's a good use of tax payer money and they'll have to answer to the voters whatever decision they make. 

But when politicians go around to the media saying they're not going to give the Bears a "taxpayer-funded stadium", it seems to me that some elected officials are trying to turn public opinion against it. 

A new Rays stadium is estimated to cost $2.3B.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2026/01/27/tampa-rays-stadium-economic-impact-study/

On 1/25/2026 at 2:33 PM, ptatc said:

Evil billionaires complaining about other billionaires. Pritzker is probably worj more than the MvCaskey family.

Pritzker family worth 10x if not 100x more than McCaskey's.  McCaskey's are sitting on a gold mine without the ability to mine the gold but they have a nice Buckee's on the land so they are cool.

 

5 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

 

Like I said, Indiana will back up a brinks truck to get the Bears.

10 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Like I said, Indiana will back up a brinks truck to get the Bears.

I can't imagine the Bears paying  $200 million dollars in property taxes in Illinois where they  would pay no property taxes in Indiana. The Bears would lease the Indiana stadium for 35 years. I was told by  somebody that the lease is $51 million dollars yearly for 35 years. Unless Illinois does something about lowering the property taxes the Bears will go to Indiana.

4 hours ago, Harry Chappas said:

Pritzker family worth 10x if not 100x more than McCaskey's.  McCaskey's are sitting on a gold mine without the ability to mine the gold but they have a nice Buckee's on the land so they are cool.

What's Pritzker getting built by the state?

11 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

I can't imagine the Bears paying  $200 million dollars in property taxes in Illinois where they  would pay no property taxes in Indiana. The Bears would lease the Indiana stadium for 35 years. I was told by  somebody that the lease is $51 million dollars yearly for 35 years. Unless Illinois does something about lowering the property taxes the Bears will go to Indiana.

It is what it is, they'll still be the Chicago Bears. 

9 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

It is what it is, they'll still be the Chicago Bears. 

I wonder how the Indianapolis Colts feel about their state forking over billions to the pride and joy of Illinois

20 minutes ago, Quin said:

I wonder how the Indianapolis Colts feel about their state forking over billions to the pride and joy of Illinois

They DGAF as long as they keep getting hooked up.  They got an insane facility in Lucas Oil.

6 hours ago, WBWSF said:

I can't imagine the Bears paying  $200 million dollars in property taxes in Illinois where they  would pay no property taxes in Indiana. The Bears would lease the Indiana stadium for 35 years. I was told by  somebody that the lease is $51 million dollars yearly for 35 years. Unless Illinois does something about lowering the property taxes the Bears will go to Indiana.

If I'm not mistaken, it's been reported that the most any professional sports team pays in property taxes is $9M for SoFi Stadium.  It's crazy to think the Bears would agree to pay $200M in property taxes for an Arlington Park stadium when all other teams are paying a fraction of that.  One question for IL lawmakers is how much tax money would they get from that property if the Bears do indeed move to NW Indiana and the land gets developed into a bunch of townhomes and strip malls?  

I would think the bigger deal to lawmakers is the $850M tab for infrastructure costs for building the stadium.  That's a huge amount.  

Letting a profession sports team as popular as the Bears leave your state would be a colossal failure. 

7 hours ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

Letting a profession sports team as popular as the Bears leave your state would be a colossal failure. 

Former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson will turn over in his grave if the Bears move to Indiana.

36 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

Former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson will turn over in his grave if the Bears move to Indiana.

The Bears are coming to Indiana, Tra La, Tra La!!!!

Sorry, had to do it.

2 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

The Bears are coming to Indiana, Tra La, Tra La!!!!

Sorry, had to do it.

Most  people in Indiana will be very happy if the Bears stadium is built in Indiana. Putting a Super Bowl and NCAA Final 4 tournament in Indiana will bring in over 1.3 billion dollars into the local economy.

8 hours ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

Letting a profession sports team as popular as the Bears leave your state would be a colossal failure. 

I can’t blame anyone for wanting to leave Illinois. Even the Bears

31 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

I can’t blame anyone for wanting to leave Illinois. Even the Bears

I can definitely blame them if they choose Indiana

17 hours ago, southsider2k5 said:

They DGAF as long as they keep getting hooked up.  They got an insane facility in Lucas Oil.

Any chance you want to carve out the Bears from this thread as it is getting really interesting.

If the Colts have the same arrangement at Lucas Oil as proposed to the Bears they don't care about the new stadium. 

In reality unless you live in the northwest suburbs of IL this is a nonissue as there is no positive impact for where the team players.  If you live in the city, the commute is similar and if it is built by the South shore line you have the same transit potential.

This will benefit the Chicago area in that Soldier Field remains a better option for Chicagoland that would look at Arlington Heights for an event but maybe not NW Indiana.

 

 

 

43 minutes ago, Harry Chappas said:

Any chance you want to carve out the Bears from this thread as it is getting really interesting.

If the Colts have the same arrangement at Lucas Oil as proposed to the Bears they don't care about the new stadium. 

In reality unless you live in the northwest suburbs of IL this is a nonissue as there is no positive impact for where the team players.  If you live in the city, the commute is similar and if it is built by the South shore line you have the same transit potential.

This will benefit the Chicago area in that Soldier Field remains a better option for Chicagoland that would look at Arlington Heights for an event but maybe not NW Indiana.

 

 

 

This is what the Colts got.

And this is the Colts contribution

They are locked in through 2034.

So if the Colts are only seeing game day revenue there is no issue with events shifting from Indy to NW Indiana to the Colts and the NFL.  

Lucas Oil lease is up in 2038.  Would they share the new stadium with the Bears...