I'll see your Gary and raise you East St. Louis, Illinois.
Chicago Bears bought Arlington Heights track only to build in Indiana?
- Thread starter JP4CY
- Start date
I haven’t been to East St. Louis but I’ll put it on my bucket list! Maybe the Cardinals can move there.
Bulls playing in one of the dicier parts of Chicago and the Bears are just like hold my beer! Next up, Cubs moving to West Chicago.
Spent one night in Gary in the late 90's when our ISU metals class took a trip to tour US Steel. Sketch AF then, and it hasn't gotten better.
What's gonna be worse is that, unlike Soldier Field where fans come to the stadium from all directions, the vast majority of fans will be coming to the NW Indiana from the same direction (the NW).
Illinois governor taken by surprise by Bears' statement on stadium in Indiana
The Bears appear to be playing Indiana and Illinois against each other as they attempt to get state taxpayers' help in building a new stadium.
www.nbcsports.com
I get it, the guy doesn't want his political image dinged as he gears up for a presidential run, but the whining about it is even worse. Illinois didn't lose the Bears over a delay yesterday. They lost them by playing games with them over 30 years begging the Bears to call their bluff.Illinois governor taken by surprise by Bears' statement on stadium in Indiana
The Bears appear to be playing Indiana and Illinois against each other as they attempt to get state taxpayers' help in building a new stadium.
Reports say that Indiana taxpayers will be paying more than 2 BILLION of their dollars to put a stadium on the Indiana-Illinois border, literally RIGHT NEXT to the city of Chicago. That money could be used by Indiana taxpayers for schools, police, or just to reduce their existing property or other taxes. Instead, the state of Indiana is apparently going to funnel it directly into the pockets of a billionaire NFL owner. As a Chicago taxpayer, I say THANK YOU. 90%+ of out of town visitors to this stadium will be staying and eating in downtown Chicago. 90%+ of Bears players and staff will continue to be Illinois residents, paying Illinois taxes. Again, THANK YOU Indiana taxpayers for supporting Chicago. I didn’t know you were such big fans of our city,
Kinda. Game day checks get taxed in the state they are in, so all that sweet, sweet player income tax will go to Indiana.
Punish cities that don't want to invest in keeping their teams. I know in a perfect world the owner pays for everything but they don't. You want a team you help pay for for the infrastructure that helps support it. Just like any other thing. When you live in the real world you see why the Browns left Cleveland, the Rams left St. Louis, or the Oilers left Houston. Thankfully Kansas love the Chiefs more than the people of Missouri do. I'm not sure there has ever been a bigger swing and a miss in this situation than the people of Jackson County calling the Hunt family's bluff. Thankfully the people in KS love the Chiefs more than the people in Missouri. I get the feeling the Chiefs leaning may actually be the best thing that ever happened to the Royals.
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This is my biggest problem with all of this, especially when you look at NW Indiana and what it has become. "Sorry, don't have money for schools." "Oh wait, all of a sudden we have $2B so a rich guy can have a shiny new toy." If there weren't constant cuts to education and other public services, spend all you want on fun toys. That's not the case here.
Then what happens in 10 years when you realize that $2B didn't get you jack squat and the Bears start poking for more money for improvements/more tax breaks/new stadium or they'll pack up and leave for the new city offering them more shiny bling?
That's one reason I liked the Arlington Heights location. AH is a fairly affluent town. Sure, there is still state money, but anything AH gave wouldn't have bothered me too much, because life is pretty good there. NW Indiana spends $2B on something a lot of their residents won't be able to afford to use.
True, but I am willing to bet most Bears fans hate Soldier Field the building and Soldier Field the location. There is a difference between Royals/Chiefs leaving an area and stadiums most fans are ok with versus a stadium and location most don't like.
