Finally some good news in regards to a new White Sox stadium. Looks like the new Bears stadium situation should be finalized soon. Also, I read where the owners of the Tampa Bay Rays want the taxpayers to contribute over $1Billion dollars towards a new Rays stadium in Tampa.The owners said they have to know by this coming April 1, 2026. Wonder what happens if the money is not approved . Will they move the franchise?

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/03/18/mat-ishbias-shore-capital-partners-to-buy-south-loop-land-that-could-be-used-for-new-white-sox-stadium

18 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

Finally some good news in regards to a new White Sox stadium. Looks like the new Bears stadium situation should be finalized soon. Also, I read where the owners of the Tampa Bay Rays want the taxpayers to contribute over $1Billion dollars towards a new Rays stadium in Tampa.The owners said they have to know by this coming April 1, 2026. Wonder what happens if the money is not approved . Will they move the franchise?

Move them to Montreal.

3 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Has @tray weighed in on this yet?

Silt bed quality, enough room for plenty of parking, ingress and egress options, etc.?

Perhaps busy mapping out the circuitous route the dump trucks will have to take to haul away all the toxic waste to build Private Equity Field. Then he'll come here and have a meltdown over this latest news.

4 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Move them to Montreal.

My first guess would be to Orlando.

To answer @WBWSF 's question, yes I think the new owners would move the Rays if they don't get a stadium deal done. They're no way they're staying at Tropicana Field long-term.

15 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

My first guess would be to Orlando.

To answer @WBWSF 's question, yes I think the new owners would move the Rays if they don't get a stadium deal done. They're no way they're staying at Tropicana Field long-term.

Tampa Bay hasn't supported a team, Miami hasn't supported a team. Why move them to another Florida location where they won't be supported?

6 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Tampa Bay hasn't supported a team, Miami hasn't supported a team. Why move them to another Florida location where they won't be supported?

LV and Orlando would really test the viability of touristic cities being sustainable for season ticket sales...

3 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Perhaps busy mapping out the circuitous route the dump trucks will have to take to haul away all the toxic waste to build Private Equity Field. Then he'll come here and have a meltdown over this latest news.

2 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Tampa Bay hasn't supported a team, Miami hasn't supported a team. Why move them to another Florida location where they won't be supported?

Because the new owner of the Rays is from Florida and didn't buy the team to move them to Montreal. He was also previously part of a group that was trying to bring an expansion team to Orlando before he bought the Rays instead.

I should amend my post - they'd move to Orlando if the city/county provides a huge chunk of public money toward a new stadium. They aren't moving to any city unless there's a boatload of public money for a stadium waiting for them. Unless Montreal is going to put up close to $1B in public money for a new stadium, MLB is not going back there.

The only cities/states that I know of that are offering public money for a new MLB stadium are Portland ($800M) and Salt Lake City/Utah ($900M). One of those cities will likely get an expansion team.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by 77 Hitmen

Here's an article from the Athletic by Jon Greenberg:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7129164/2026/03/18/white-sox-justin-ishbia-new-stadium-amtrak-railyard/

7 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Has @tray weighed in on this yet?

Silt bed quality, enough room for plenty of parking, ingress and egress options, etc.?

Thank you for requesting my opinion as you know I am very familiar with this area of Chicago and the Chicago White Sox. My family, friends and I started going to games at the historic Comiskey Park over 50 years ago. We have long standing ties with the White Sox, the Bridgeport/ Armor Square neighborhood, and IIT. I have made my opinion very clear about abandoning the historic home of the White Sox and you are free to disagree with that.

As far as any plan by Ishbia to move the White Sox - I realize that a Billionaire can do anything. Reference a recent statement from our President "I can do whatever I want" i.e., bulldoze the West Wing of the White House, build a garish ballroom, build an imposing arch in D.C. or, in the case of Ishbia and his wife, try to swap some Sheridan Rd property with the Winnetka Park District for a southern portion of Centennial Beach in order to expand his $77 million lakefront estate. No, the power of billionaires isn't a political statement, rather, it is a reality in our country.

I would be happy to comment on the acquisition of the 42 acre parcel (The "79"?) if that is what you are asking. I would like to see the site plan before I cast any opinions about it. Preliminarily, do Shore/Ishbia have any plans to also acquire the BNSF yard which would extend the 42 acre parcel (the Metra yard) West to Canal ?

As far as your sarcasm about soil conditions, ingress/egress/ parking at the "78", it seems to me that the proposed site West of the river may not have the same issues. In fact, the proposed acquisition appears to have been motivated because of some of the issues at the 78.

14 minutes ago, tray said:

Thank you for requesting my opinion as you know I am very familiar with this area of Chicago and the Chicago White Sox. My family, friends and I started going to games at the historic Comiskey Park over 50 years ago. We have long standing ties with the White Sox, the Bridgeport/ Armor Square neighborhood, and IIT. I have made my opinion very clear about abandoning the historic home of the White Sox and you are free to disagree with that.

As far as any plan by Ishbia to move the White Sox - I realize that a Billionaire can do anything. Reference a recent statement from our President "I can do whatever I want" i.e., bulldoze the West Wing of the White House, build a garish ballroom, build an imposing arch in D.C. or, in the case of Ishbia and his wife, try to swap some Sheridan Rd property with the Winnetka Park District for a southern portion of Centennial Beach in order to expand his $77 million lakefront estate. No, the power of billionaires isn't a political statement, rather, it is a reality in our country.

I would be happy to comment on the acquisition of the 42 acre parcel (The "79"?) if that is what you are asking. I would like to see the site plan before I cast any opinions about it. Preliminarily, do Shore/Ishbia have any plans to also acquire the BNSF yard which would extend the 42 acre parcel (the Metra yard) West to Canal ?

As far as your sarcasm about soil conditions, ingress/egress/ parking at the "78", it seems to me that the proposed site West of the river may not have the same issues. In fact, the proposed acquisition appears to have been motivated because of some of the issues at the 78.

I’m not familiar with either The 78 location or this new location. I am only familiar with the areas around Ogilvie and Union Station from commuting downtown via the Metra for a job for a year. I never traveled that far south from those two areas.

And yes, I do remember that you never said it would be an impossible task/project. I believe you doubted it would happen because building in the area would be a money pit for such an undesirable location.

I assume you wouldn’t be a fan of this new location for a new Sox stadium either since it is pretty close proximity to The 78? It seems like this new location is actually smaller than The 78 — 47 acres as opposed to 62?

Edited 13 hours ago13 hr by WhiteSox2023

1 hour ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I’m not familiar with either The 78 location or this new location. I am only familiar with the areas around Ogilvie and Union Station from commuting downtown via the Metra for a job for a year. I never traveled that far south from those two areas.

And yes, I do remember that you never said it would be an impossible task/project. I believe you doubted it would happen because building in the area would be a money pit for such an undesirable location.

I assume you wouldn’t be a fan of this new location for a new Sox stadium either since it is pretty close proximity to The 78? It seems like this new location is actually smaller than The 78 — 47 acres as opposed to 62?

Thank you for this response. My thought about this acquisition is that it may in fact have been motivated by a desire to address some of the issues that would be exacerbated by having both the Fire and the White Sox stadiums on the 78. The Amtrak site is plenty large enough for the medical center plus surface parking for the stadiums. A bridge over the river would be the obvious way to connect the 78 to parking and other improvements at the Amtrak site. Another huge advantage would be eliminating the view of the railroad boneyard across the river. Apparently Mansueto either never thought of this or felt it wasn't worth the millions to purchase and develop another large parcel. As it is, he must be creaming in his pants about this.

As to your thought about the Amtrak site probably being too narrow to locate a baseball stadium, I agree. That is one reason why I was wondering if the adjacent BNSF site might be Ishbia's next target.

At this point, absent further land acquisition, the Amtrak site would provide a lot of surface parking and additional points of ingress. Also, as I mentioned, developing that land would drastically improve the aesthetic on the West bank of the river. You know, in any of the fancy architectural renderings of the Fire stadium, they always eliminated that Westerly view.

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by tray

11 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Tampa Bay hasn't supported a team, Miami hasn't supported a team. Why move them to another Florida location where they won't be supported?

A new stadium in Tampa would work for the Rays, Tropicana Field in St. Pete is way too far and hard to get to for the majority of Rays fans with the fan base being in Tampa and also in the suburbs that surround Tampa to the north, west and east. The Lightning and Bucs draw very well in Tampa and so would the Rays.

IMHO the Marlins also built their new stadium in the wrong place, it should have been built around Ft. Lauderdale, halfway between Miami and the Palm Beaches.

T

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by The Mighty Mite

9 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Here's an article from the Athletic by Jon Greenberg:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7129164/2026/03/18/white-sox-justin-ishbia-new-stadium-amtrak-railyard/

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWCzjRbj4zM/?igsh=ZTRoYWNvYzlnMzlm

FWIW, Brooks publicly stating that they're still focused on building at the 78.

The man with 5 1/2 billion dollars can make things happen if he wants to. I am glad he is the next owner in charge.

8 minutes ago, Falstaff said:

The man with 5 1/2 billion dollars can make things happen if he wants to. I am glad he is the next owner in charge.

And most importantly, the man whose fortune ISN'T tied up in owning two sports franchises and has the liquidity to other big things.

I know it's still a process and we are likely years away from breaking ground. However, this should hopefully put an end to the "moving to Nashville" speculative nonsense.

I can't wait to see new renderings if and when they become available. I also can't wait for Ishbia to officially take over this franchise.

@Sleepy Harold Here's a little more from Brooks Boyer in this NBC 5 interview. He says at 62 acres, "certainly there's room" for a Sox stadium on the 78 site and says the Amtrak site and the 78 could create an "amazing sports district". He said any talk about financing was above his pay grade.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by 77 Hitmen

I feel like south loop condo owners will be big fans of this.

Really glad this is being developed. Grateful for my dear billionaire.

1 hour ago, Falstaff said:

The man with 5 1/2 billion dollars can make things happen if he wants to. I am glad he is the next owner in charge.

And don't forget that is brother Mat is also going to be an investor in the Sox ownership group and is separately worth another $10B.

The Sox ownership arrangement will be reversed from that of the Phoenix Suns, where Mat is the majority owner with Justin is part of the Suns ownership group.

It's time for Pritzker to slash taxes on billionaires so we can steal all the billionaires from the other states. This is awesome.

3 hours ago, GreatScott82 said:

I know it's still a process and we are likely years away from breaking ground. However, this should hopefully put an end to the "moving to Nashville" speculative nonsense.

I can't wait to see new renderings if and when they become available. I also can't wait for Ishbia to officially take over this franchise.

Yeah, I'd be very interested in seeing what they envision for the Amtrak property and the southern portion of the 78. Would they put the Sox ballpark just south of the Fire stadium on the 78 and use the Amtrak land for a stadium district/parking? Or would the Sox stadium go on the west side of the river? What are the benefits or drawbacks to either option?

They mentioned Shore Capital's plans to develop some sort of medical campus with Northwestern Medicine on that site, but I don't imagine that would take up the entire 47 acres of the Amtrak property. They could very well build both that and a stadium district on that land.

Ishbia must surely realize that they aren't getting public funding for the stadium itself.

Just build on the rails for a great home field. Ishbia brings a new element to getting things done.