Chicago Bears bought Arlington Heights track only to build in Indiana?

[FinalFourCy]

Went down a reddit post and something I hadn't thought of is how good an Indiana site would be for the Fertitta family (huge Houston Cougars donors) because of the casinos they have along the Indiana shoreline. Apparently not much to them right now other than being a huge riverboat but the potential is massive for them.

Something that we havent read/talked about much is the potential windfall Notre Dame will get from this too if there are significant improvements to that area (airport, hotels, mass transit). They'll reastically be almost as close as Northwestern travel time wise.

The Bears once threatened to play in South Bend

Those blaming Illinois are forgetting that the only reason they’re in this position is the Bears have forever been playing this game of looking for the next cheap rental.

Too cheap and poor to put down roots of their own, granted, in some ways they were just ahead of their time in the grift of pump and dump at taxpayers expense


The gambling angle is why Indiana should have been the priority Day 1, except the Bears/McCaskey bought AH and clearly want Illinois. Warren wants the personal win of saying he got a free stadium

A more wealthy, politically savvy owner would have gotten a stadium and exclusive gaming in Illinois

 

[FinalFourCy]

Yeah I could see A LOT of ND games there from a multitude of sports.

SEC playing in Atlanta, Big 12 in Jerryworld or Vegas

BIG championship in the rust belt waste site of Hammond

 

[RoseClone]

The Chicagoland area spreads into three states. Dallas, San Fran, and Miami don't. Nobody makes a fuss about the New York teams playing in New Jersey. Not seeing the big deal about it being in NW Indiana.

There was at the time.

 

[KnappShack]

There was at the time.

Isn't that why the Giants changed from the NY logo to that generic Giants on the helmet?

 

[Kinch]

I agree about the stadium grift being ridiculous.

If I had to put money on it, I bet the Bears want to be in Illinois so bad that they would be willing to accept tax certainty and a little infrastructure support to stay. But the fact that they can’t even get the tax certainty is absurd. No large business would commit to moving to a new location without tax certainty.

The fact that they started this process five or six years ago proves your point. The bears wanted to find a way to stay in Illinois.

 

[Kinch]

And another thing that rarely gets mentioned is the authority and ownership the Chicago Park District has over Soldier Field. The Bears fight with them over the years about piddly stuff and wanted Chicago to set up a special Soldier Field Authority. But Chicago refused.

 

[Cyched]

Only in Illinois where a felon ex governor can ride to the rescue

Now I want to know just how corrupt a deal between Blago and the Bears would've been.

Probably right about the Daleys.

 

[Kinch]

Now I want to know just how corrupt a deal between Blago and the Bears would've been.

Probably right about the Daleys.

What did Blago have left to give away? They have sold away the parking meters and some of the toll roads.

 

[JP4CY]

The Bears once threatened to play in South Bend

Those blaming Illinois are forgetting that the only reason they’re in this position is the Bears have forever been playing this game of looking for the next cheap rental.

Too cheap and poor to put down roots of their own, granted, in some ways they were just ahead of their time in the grift of pump and dump at taxpayers expense


The gambling angle is why Indiana should have been the priority Day 1, except the Bears/McCaskey bought AH and clearly want Illinois. Warren wants the personal win of saying he got a free stadium

A more wealthy, politically savvy owner would have gotten a stadium and exclusive gaming in Illinois

I always wondered if AH site was also a way to spend money before the old bird dies.
I have no idea if that helps Inheritance reasons.

 

[KidSilverhair]

So the Bears want to trade the gameday TV images of the Chicago skyline for … an oil refinery?

 

[jdoggivjc]

I'm going to get to see the Gary Bears in my lifetime

 

[FinalFourCy]

The fact that they started this process five or six years ago proves your point. The bears wanted to find a way to stay in Illinois.

The Bears have been doing this for many decades. Find a way? The way is known.

It points to Bears wanting too cheap of way towards staying in Illinois

And given they bought AH for $190 million without certainty, it points to the Bears thinking that they’d get a big discount, confusing fans for voters

They’re trying to flame this as some disastrous dysfunction by Illinois on order to get leverage, but most fans don’t care if they’re in an Illinois suburb vs Indiana suburb. Most taxpayers don’t care if Indiana picks up the tab on subsidizing Bears ownership to keep them in metro

It’s fans of political parties that really care, trying to manufacture a political loss for other “team”

 

[Kinch]

View attachment 171323

So the Bears want to trade the gameday TV images of the Chicago skyline for … an oil refinery?

Which is why the White Sox wants something like this

 

[BleedCycloneRed]

When the relocation is finalized and the city won't let them use Chicago in their name, they will become the Hammond Eggs.

 

[FinalFourCy]

What did Blago have left to give away? They have sold away the parking meters and some of the toll roads.

Space was the main issue in keeping them downtown- no room for Bears to develop a destination around stadium

Previous politicians would have allowed Bears to build on northerly Island and SF space to Lakeside center, about 200+ acres , tapping it into the existing McCormick pull and Museum campus.

Or worked out trade between Sox and Bears. White Sox by the lake, Bears developing new south side neighborhood

 

[RedlineSi]

The rest of us in the NFC North will be mocking the Bears for decades if this happens….just be prepared.

 

[Kinch]

Chicago Mayor Admits Walking Out of Bears-Packers Game While Team Trailed Before Caleb Williams’ Comeback

The Chicago Bears no longer seem committed to staying in Chicago, as the Bears are proceeding with plans to build a stadium in Hammond, Indiana. But the big issue is that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to keep the team in Illinois.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[jdoggivjc]

The rest of us in the NFC North will be mocking the Bears for decades if this happens….just be prepared.

I've already started

 

[CloneJD]

The rest of us in the NFC North will be mocking the Bears for decades if this happens….just be prepared.

You just ran out JJ McCarthy as QB1 in 2025. Let’s keep the mocking where it’s deserved.

 

[nfrine]

View attachment 171323

So the Bears want to trade the gameday TV images of the Chicago skyline for … an oil refinery?

Been it that refinery and one of the steel mills in the area as part of my job years ago. It was a nasty area.