How has the Chicago Bears campaign for a new stadium in Arlington Heights been going this week, you say? Glad you asked!
- Arlington Heights residents turned out at a Village Board meeting to tear into the stadium proposal for being everything from undemocratic (“The residents of Arlington Heights should be able to vote on this matter because it directly impacts our lives in so many ways”) to misleading (“I’m just very concerned that the citizens are not fully informed about really what’s going to happen”) to a waste of money (“The Chicago Bears should stay in Chicago where they belong”).
- State Sen. Ann Gillespie, who represents Arlington Heights, introduced a state bill on Monday that would kick back all new property taxes on the former racetrack site to the Bears owners for 40 years, even as an entire new neighborhood appeared on top of it, which could amount to a lot of money going to the Bears and not toward paying for services for that new neighborhood, nobody’s saying how much yet. Gillespie did this, she said, not because she necessarily thinks it’s a good idea — “I’ve expressed my doubts about whether this is an approach … we really want to open the door to” — but because this would create a discussion that would lead to reform of similar tax increment financing plans, somehow?
- The board of education that covers Arlington Heights said it’s considering hiring a lobbyist to go to the state legislature to fight against having its tax revenues siphoned off, because “right now you’re on the outside looking in.”
- An NFL stadium landing in the middle of a small suburb would also create new police and fire service costs, though Arlington Heights police chief Nicholas Pecora said “there’s no abacus or slide ruler” to determine how much more money would be needed. (Stadium researcher Judith Grant Long, who just possibly may have used computers more powerful than an abacus or slide rule, estimated between $2 million and $5 million a year in police and fire costs, and that was a decade ago.)
More fun next week, hopefully including video of dueling lobbyists on the state capital lawn!
It really feels like the Bears don’t have much of a path forward going to the State of Illinois for any sort of tax break. Asking any state rep that represents the City of Chicago proper (which is a lot of legislators based on population) to effectively vote to allow the Bears to leave the city is a tough sell. Add in every downstate republican who takes pride in voting against a Democratic party sponsored bill, you’re left with a very small margin of error.
The usual trade off in Illinois politics is when Chicago wants to build something, you also build something downstate. But Arlington Heights doesn’t have enough pull (or votes). To get enough votes, you’d have to create some new massive “Build Illinois” project that includes money for the city, the Bears, and downstate projects. But currently there’s no political interest or need for that. I don’t see governor Pritzker playing that game. Eventually there could be interest for yet another Solider Field rebuild, which would then open up opportunities for Chicago / downstate trading. Otherwise, the Bears paying for most of this alone.
It doesn’t seem likely that the Bears are going to pay for most of this. So does Arlington Heights then just end up a stalking horse to get Chicago back in the game for a Soldier Field redo?
I guess the Bears execs can cross that bridge when they come to it, but it sure seems like they’re trying to get Chicago to bid against itself at this point.
Mayor Lightfoot does occasionally float a domed Soldier Field project. Which I think Friends of the Park would (rightfully) go to court to delay or stop. (like they did the George Lucas thing.) But she’s facing reelection, and giving money to the Bears is not a political winner with city voters. Based on everything else they’ve done over the years, it’s safe to assume the Bears are just winging it.
Given that the McCaskey’s are not that rich (their wealth is the fact George Halas bought an NFL team in 1921 for what $500?) I cannot see them paying for it.
As for the Arlington Heights site itself, I would like to see it as a true TOD, especially given that it already has a train station.
It’s not really about personal wealth — they could borrow the money if they thought they could earn it back. It’s more that it’s hard to see a billion-dollar stadium as a great investment unless you’re raking in subsidies.
(Though I guess Stan Kroenke didn’t really have a plan for earning back his money in L.A. and went ahead and did it anyway because he had Walmart money to play with, so yeah, the McCaskeys won’t be doing that.)
And that is the point, these are not great investments on their own so unless you are already extremely rich, there is no reason to make the investment on your own. You get the state or city to do it for you.
In the case of SoFi, maybe there was the additional point that there are two teams playing there.
The project around Sofi makes some sense because of the 4 mile proximity to LAX. If you have hotels that close to a major airport in a city where traffic makes getting to the airport challenging, then you have year-round use. If you have people in the hotels, then the restaurants, shops, and movie theaters have customers. If there is life to the area, then the condos have value because people will want to be there. How long it will take to be worth the $6 billion price tag is unclear, but the concept isn’t nuts.
Arlington Park is no closer to O’Hare than Wrigley Field. You can probably get there quicker because you aren’t going through the city, but that doesn’t make it close. There is no tourist base for staying in Arlington Heights except for when there is a game at the stadium. I think it is just a misread on the part of the Bears. Even under the most optimistic of estimates, a new NFL stadium will be empty 300 days per year. I don’t see what the lure is to develop extensively in that area, but it is not my money.
Also, NFL teams are extremely profitable. The extreme part came when the players share of revenue dropped from 57% to between 47-48% in 2011. The McCaskey family might not have outside business income streams yet, but the recent history of profitability along with the locked in profitability in years to come will certainly allow them to access as much capital as they could want for this project. That, or they can sell off a minority share. If the Broncos had a $4.65 billion sale price, the Bears can probably sell a portion on a $6 billion appraised value.
The Bears are hustling backwards if that is their strategy. The official statement just now from Springfield is “You gotta be kidding me?”
Also the poll numbers in the article for the city are worse than stated. (It’s not a push poll, but they accidentally weighted the demographics wrong for the mayoral election.)
So either they start construction on Arlington Heights imminently, or they’ll be dealing with a very upset Chicago in the coming years.
The Bears have no chance of getting anything through the city council before the elections at the end of the month when they lose all leverage.
—Arlington Heights state Sen. Ann Gillespie filed legislation last week that would allow companies behind such massive projects to negotiate annual payments with local taxing bodies in exchange for freezing their assessments. But the bill isn’t expected to gain much ground.
“There was a note of skepticism even in the words of the person who introduced the bill,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said earlier this week. “I am of the opinion that it’s not our obligation as the state to step in and provide major funding.”—
https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2023/2/10/23593113/chicago-bears-arlington-heights-stadium-soldier-field-poll-public-finding
If the owners of the bears had any sense they should reach out to Jeff Bezo’s, Elon Musk or some other Billionaire to purchase the Bears and they can fund the stadium without any help from local government…
Elon Musk already has a money pit to throw his fortune into.
But then the Bears owners wouldn’t be Bears owners anymore. It’s the family’s main business. They could cash out, but that’s never been brought up. Even at Soldier Field the team makes money. They just want someone to help them make more.
Yeah, the issue here really is not how to find somebody with such deep pockets that they’re eager to throw billions of dollars of their own money at a project that will never earn it back. It’s that the Bears owners are using a money-losing stadium project as an excuse to demand subsidies so it won’t be money-losing anymore.
Put more simply: The Bears owners don’t want a stadium, they want the check that comes with it.
You can’t give away something you don’t have, its not a waste of taxpayers money because you dont have the investment yet. I have been involved in over 300 site selection projects across the U.S. and globally about such tax incentive packages. Payment in lieu of tax constructs can work if all parties are transparent to the modeling of new tax base and who gets what….and agree what is fair. Look at the total direct, indirect and induced impact and educate yourself on these matters before landing on an opinion. The site right now is sitting vacant and obsolete, get it working for all and that goes for all communities in the region. Consider a revenue share deal amongst NW suburbs who will benefit if Arl Hts feels they are taking on all the services burden. Come to the table and don’t lobby, solve the problem. BTW, what is the problem again?
Oscar Madison begs to differ:
https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2017/09/18/12923/flames-ceo-says-city-recouping-its-arena-cost-via-taxes-means-us-paying-for-everything/
Everyone is missing the point. They’re moving to Arlington, no matter what politicians or residents or any of us want. You don’t invest in Architectural firms and hire a team president with extensive stadium building
experience if it were a leverage ploy. Its long overdue. Soldier field is obsolete, a utter joke of a venue for a 1 team market like Chicago..so truly one of the biggest fan bases in the country. They’re exploring any tax breaks they can. The revenues will be hand over fist from PSAs and the retail and dining in the complex. Think of what Ricketts accomplished in Wrigley. Arlington is perfect as it’s near interstate 90, rt 53 and has a train stop. Hotels will follow. Bonds and financing for the project won’t be hard. To underestimate the appetite for the NFL and dollars that follow is a mistake. This isn’t a bluff.
How often are taxpayers expected to be burdened by McCaskey? A 690 million dollar renovation occurred at Soldier Field in 2001 and, once again, the McCaskey clan is threatening an exit. Incidentally,they conducted a costly exploratory process last time they bluffed their departure.
What will Arlington Heights do when McCaskey gets tired of their new facility and moves out? It will happen.
There is no win for Arlington Heights or any other suburban community to house an stadium for a team owned by the McCaskey’s.
So then why should the State or Arlington Heights offer anything? Read this site enough, you usually see some sort of leverage play.