Six years ago, former Chicago Bears team president Ted Phillips called the Chicago Park District, longtime owners of Soldier Field, about installing a sportsbook in the stadium to take advantage of the newly legalized sports betting. He felt it was a massive moneymaking opportunity. It took seven months for CPD leadership to finally respond. They stated that pursuing such an idea at the time would not be productive. When Phillips tried to follow up on the subject, he was met with silence.
That show of disrespect was what prompted the Bears to begin their pursuit of the Arlington Park property in Arlington Heights. The CPD superintendent resigned not long after that went public. When new leadership tried to re-engage the Bears in discussions, it was too late. Arlington Heights had become the focus. Five years later, the Park District finally showed its duplicity when, according to Fox 32 Chicago, it proposed a massive Soldier Field renovation plan to the state.
Wherever the Bears end up, city and state officials are laying the groundwork for a Bears-less future at Soldier Field. Fox 32 Chicago has learned that members of the Chicago Park District have been quietly pitching a plan for the 101-year-old stadium to state lawmakers and the governor’s office in recent weeks.
What we know:
The plan involves transforming the stadium into a massive concert and special event venue, and it carries an expected price tag of $630 million, according to a draft of the presentation shared with Fox 32 Chicago.
Sources say the money breaks down to $130 million in direct stadium renovations, including a new sound system and new dressing rooms, and half a billion in surrounding infrastructure to tackle traffic management and parking.
The Chicago Park District could’ve prevented all of this.
What Phillips proposed in 2020 would’ve cost around $9-10 million to construct within the stadium. That would’ve been pennies, and it would’ve made both the CPD and the Bears tons of money. Yet the people in charge let their egos get in the way of what should’ve been a no-brainer decision. The construction wouldn’t have changed the property’s surrounding landscape and wouldn’t have required massive renovations. It was an easy sell and the CPD leadership didn’t want to hear it.
Now, here they are asking for hundreds of millions of dollars not only to renovate the stadium but also the surrounding property. These were all things the Bears had been asking for going back years. Only now that they’re leaving does the Chicago Park District consider the idea. That is nothing short of a massive middle finger to an organization that had been a reliable tenant of the building since 1971. People throw blame at the state and the Bears all the time for this fiasco.
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The truth is, the CPD is who really lit the fuse.
Keep in mind, this is all public money they’re asking for.
The Chicago Park District doesn’t have a massive cash reserve to build a stadium. The Bears get hammered for wanting help with infrastructure despite a willingness to fund the stadium construction themselves. Meanwhile, the CPD is asking for $630 million of what would be taxpayer money. This isn’t meant to enhance the fan experience. It is their attempt to make more money now that the Bears are leaving. They should get the same response from Governor Pritzker and his state government that the franchise did.
All of this was so avoidable if people had come together for a calm discussion. The Bears would still be at Soldier Field, making it a must-see attraction on national television. Gambling revenue would’ve filled the pockets of the CPD, who probably wouldn’t have had to pay a dime to see the sportsbook constructed. Instead, they put the state at risk of losing one of its iconic brands to Indiana and yet still have the gaul to ask for money to renovate the building they absolutely refused to six years ago.
