The Chicago Bears have big plans for the new stadium they want to build to replace their old home base, Soldier Field. Of course, they don’t plan to pay for it all themselves.
The team unveiled plans Wednesday for a $4.6 billion project to build a new gated stadium on the shore of Lake Michigan. The team plans to commit $2.025 billion to make this happen, leaving Illinois taxpayers on the hook for the remaining $2.6 billion.
For perspective, that works out to $183 per Illinois resident.
The Bears and the city of Chicago are presenting the project in three separate phases. Phase I is the stadium itself, which will cost $3.2 billion to build. Phase II consists of infrastructure improvements (public transportation, parking garages, parks) for the stadium and surrounding campus, which will cost $510 million. Phase III is for “optional infrastructure to enhance the campus, improve circulation and maximize public economic benefits,” totaling $665 million.
The Bears’ $2 billion contribution to the stadium portion still leaves them $1.2 billion short. The rest will come from an already established 2% hotel tax, which will cover $900 million. The remaining $300 million will come from an NFL loan or from a yet-to-be-identified source.
While the financial aspects for Phase I were fully explained, the financing for Phase II and Phase III was much less clear. The Bears did not say they would cover the money needed to complete the final two phases. The burden of paying for that would fall squarely on the shoulders of taxpayers, whose money will be used to improve an area for the Bears’ exclusive use and profit.
And they will benefit. One view shows a huge row of luxury boxes stacked on top of each other, a row that runs across both sides of the stadium.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was not at the stadium announcement Wednesday, but he did provide a quote about the project. Mark him as ‘not a big fan’.
An hour before it’s unveiled, Governor Pritzker pours cold water on the Bears’ new stadium plan:
“I remain skeptical and question whether this is a good deal… there are many priorities and I’m not sure this is one of the highest priorities for taxpayers” @WGNNews
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) April 24, 2024
A $4.6 billion stadium would be the second most expensive stadium in sports history, behind only SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, which is estimated to cost $5 billion billion. That project was fully funded by Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
These plans come after the Bears already spent $197 million to purchase the Arlington International Racecourse property in Arlington Heights, Illinois. They are now apparently planning to abandon those plans, with the team reportedly unable to reach an agreement on property taxes with local schools in Arlington Heights.
The Bears’ nearly 100-year lease on Soldier Field runs through 2033.
The Chicago White Sox would also like $2 billion
The Bears are pursuing their public funding in parallel with the Chicago White Sox, who have already unveiled plans for a stadium just outside Chicago’s South Loop area.
The price tag was initially reported as $1 billion, but a subsequent interview by team owner Jerry Reinsdorf revealed the price tag to be closer to $2 billion. He heavily hinted that Illinois refusing to cover the money would jeopardize the team’s future in Chicago. The Bears and White Sox also recently discussed a financial partnership.
Wait until you hear how much Illinois still owes for the latest Bears and White Sox stadium projects
The Bears and White Sox already had some financial ties, as they both received their most recent major rounds of stadium financing through the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA).
A 2% hotel tax has been used to pay for bonds that covered renovations to Soldier Field and Guaranteed Rate Field, but the debt exceeds that revenue. According to the Tribune, taxpayers still owe $629 million to renovate stadiums that both teams are now trying to vacate, while asking Illinois to pay billions to help them do so.
Some of the proposed loans would reportedly be used to roll over that debt, with a plan to pay it off over 40 years.
One sports economist the Tribune spoke with, JC Bradbury, was skeptical of the plan, to say the least:
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” Bradbury said. “The Bears will not leave one of the most iconic football markets in the country. Tell the Bears to to pay for their own damn stadium, and if they don’t like it, to jump into Lake Michigan.
