White Sox/Bears Stadium Showdown

[Pakuni]

What's the NFL chipping in?

Just for comparison's sake, the league gave the Titans $220 million, Raiders $200 million and are helping the Bills contribute $690 million, though I can't find how much of that is from the team and how much is from the league.

[DegenerateDish]

League will give them a friendly loan from what I’m hearing.

[WhiteTrash]

If the Bears do this, the White Sox are screwed. JR will want what other owners get, the public paying for the stadium. Chicago/Illinois can't build the Sox a stadium with the Bears' deal as the precedent. Correct?

[dgies9156]

I have no idea how they think they're going to get Friends of the Park on board with multibillion development on the lakefront when George Lucas couldn't even get 17 acres for a museum.

It's the Bears... that's how!!!

The Chicago Bears are the most valuable sports franchise not named the Dallas Cowboys between the coasts. They have a hold on Chicago that, given their recent on-field performance, I'll never understand.

Friends of the Parks vs. the National Football League? That stadium will be up, running and the Bears have another Super Bowl before FOtP even knows what hit them.  When Friends of the Parks puts 4 million people on LaSalle Street in mid-January to celebrate a win, let me know.

The more interesting question is what happens to the raw land in Arlington Heights?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Eh. Their proposed move to Arlington Heights was met with a collective shrug by most of the fan-base. If I'm Chicago, there is no way I make a sweetheart deal here. Put the stadium out there and the downtown hotels will still have much of the visitors when big events come to town.

[jficke13]

It's the Bears... that's how!!!

The Chicago Bears are the most valuable sports franchise not named the Dallas Cowboys between the coasts. They have a hold on Chicago that, given their recent on-field performance, I'll never understand.

Friends of the Parks vs. the National Football League? That stadium will be up, running and the Bears have another Super Bowl before FOtP even knows what hit them.  When Friends of the Parks puts 4 million people on LaSalle Street in mid-January to celebrate a win, let me know.

The more interesting question is what happens to the raw land in Arlington Heights?

So hard up for success they're going to throw a parade for a Wild Card or Divisional Round win?

[Dr. Blackheart]

It's the Bears... that's how!!!

The Chicago Bears are the most valuable sports franchise not named the Dallas Cowboys between the coasts. They have a hold on Chicago that, given their recent on-field performance, I'll never understand.

Friends of the Parks vs. the National Football League? That stadium will be up, running and the Bears have another Super Bowl before FOtP even knows what hit them.  When Friends of the Parks puts 4 million people on LaSalle Street in mid-January to celebrate a win, let me know.

The more interesting question is what happens to the raw land in Arlington Heights?

I think you underestimate the legal standing that the FOP has. They already have stated they will fight for the Michael Reese site.

As for Arlington, the Bears own that site and they will still have to deal with the entities they just spurned. Good luck, Warren. You can see why the B1G schools were happy he moved on.

$2 Billion to share revenues, dates, prolonged legal battles, crappy infrastructure, and no real estate appreciation versus $1 Billion (stated Bears plan) for full control in Arlington Heights that would significantly increase the book value for the team that half the family wants to sell. Bears doing Bear things.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Which leads me to believe that the lakefront idea is just a ham-handed threat. The school districts know that if its not the Bears, someone else will develop that site. There is zero reason for them to give in to the team since it already owns the property and has to pay the tax anyway.

[Pakuni]

I think you underestimate the legal standing that the FOP has. They already have stated they will fight for the Michael Reese sight.

As for Arlington, the Bears own that site and they will still have to deal with the entities they just spurned. Good luck, Warren. You can see why the B1G schools were happy he moved on.

$2 Billion to share revenues, dates, prolonged legal battles, crappy infrastructure, and no real estate appreciation versus $1 Billion (stated Bears plan) for full control in Arlington Heights that would significantly increase the book value for the team that half the family wants to sell. Bears doing Bear things.

Yep.
Only three ways to make sense of this.
1. A clumsy negotiating ploy with the bloodsuckers.
2. They're terrified that Jerry is going to get his hands all over the ISFA money before them.
3. They really, really need public funding and see this as being more palatable to the Chicago-dominated General Assembly than moving to Arlington Heights.

All three are incredibly short-sighted. But Kevin Warren is 60 years old and will be long gone by the time the McCaskeys catch on.
The value of the Raiders has doubled ($3.1 billion to $6.2 billion) since 2020 largely because they control their own stadium and its revenues. The Bears' apparent willingness to surrender that kind of growth in hopes of saving a $10 million a year on their property taxes is the most Bears thing ever.

[Jockey]

Friends of the Parks vs. the National Football League? That stadium will be up, running and the Bears have another Super Bowl before FOtP even knows what hit them.  When Friends of the Parks the bears puts 4 million people on LaSalle Street in mid-January to celebrate a win, let me know.

Fixed.

[DegenerateDish]

I still go back to the article that the Bears website posted in December on a day in the life of Kevin Warren. Everything that has happened since then has revealed itself going back to that article.

I'm all for leverage and having options, and on the surface, Warren is either an awesome poker player, or the McCaskey's made a gigantic mistake in hiring him to run the stadium show here.

Time is not the Bears friend, for many reasons. The IFSA TIF money expiring, competing against the White Sox both for that money and in the state legislature, overall construction costs being pushed up every day that there isn't a shovel in the ground somewhere.

Virginia is 101, the second she passes away, the future of the franchise is up in the air. The future value of the franchise is worth wayyyyyy more in Arlington Heights. I think ultimately they wind up in AH, but man, they are doing everything possible to make that reality as difficult as they can.

[WhiteTrash]

Yep.
Only three ways to make sense of this.
1. A clumsy negotiating ploy with the bloodsuckers.
2. They're terrified that Jerry is going to get his hands all over the ISFA money before them.
3. They really, really need public funding and see this as being more palatable to the Chicago-dominated General Assembly than moving to Arlington Heights.

All three are incredibly short-sighted. But Kevin Warren is 60 years old and will be long gone by the time the McCaskeys catch on.
The value of the Raiders has doubled ($3.1 billion to $6.2 billion) since 2020 largely because they control their own stadium and its revenues. The Bears' apparent willingness to surrender that kind of growth in hopes of saving a $10 million a year on their property taxes is the most Bears thing ever.

Makes me wonder if the NFL will step in and nix the deal.

[RJax55]

I still go back to the article that the Bears website posted in December on a day in the life of Kevin Warren. Everything that has happened since then has revealed itself going back to that article.

I'm all for leverage and having options, and on the surface, Warren is either an awesome poker player, or the McCaskey's made a gigantic mistake in hiring him to run the stadium show here.

Time is not the Bears friend, for many reasons. The IFSA TIF money expiring, competing against the White Sox both for that money and in the state legislature, overall construction costs being pushed up every day that there isn't a shovel in the ground somewhere.

Virginia is 101, the second she passes away, the future of the franchise is up in the air. The future value of the franchise is worth wayyyyyy more in Arlington Heights. I think ultimately they wind up in AH, but man, they are doing everything possible to make that reality as difficult as they can.

Watching this play out, I get the feeling that the real big issue with the AH site is that Warren wasn't the one to do the deal. Seems ridiculous, but the ego on this guy. My feeling he wants the stadium to be his deal from start to finish and ownership is so weak, it's happening.

[Jockey]

Watching this play out, I get the feeling that the real big issue with the AH site is that Warren wasn't the one to do the deal. Seems ridiculous, but the ego on this guy. My feeling he wants the stadium to be his deal from start to finish and ownership is so weak, it's happening.

I had the same thought, but didn't post about it cuz I'm not close enough to the situation to be sure one way or the other.

[dgies9156]

I think you underestimate the legal standing that the FOP has. They already have stated they will fight for the Michael Reese site.

As for Arlington, the Bears own that site and they will still have to deal with the entities they just spurned. Good luck, Warren. You can see why the B1G schools were happy he moved on.

$2 Billion to share revenues, dates, prolonged legal battles, crappy infrastructure, and no real estate appreciation versus $1 Billion (stated Bears plan) for full control in Arlington Heights that would significantly increase the book value for the team that half the family wants to sell. Bears doing Bear things.

Brother Doc:

FOtP was dealing with a museum that relatively few folks in Chicago cared enough to get worked up about. By contrast, FOtP got rolled when He and His minions wanted to put the Obama Presidential Museum in Jackson Park.

He was only President of the United States. He is NOT the Bears.

The city wants this badly. It's a prestige thing for Chicago at a time when the Mayor and Council need things to go right. I'm not convinced yet they're going to build this on a park -- despite the musings -- and I'm more of the belief that the city may well assemble a parcel of land through eminent domain for the Bears and let them build. It create city jobs, allows for more city tax dollars and may even put more land on the tax rolls. Or, the city may lease the land to the Bears for 50 years.

As for the site in the Heights, I suspect it will be sold to some developer. It's a huge parcel of undeveloped land at a good site that will have considerable value in the years ahead.

Finally, Brother Ficke, you and I both know to what I was referring!  In all the years I lived in Chicago, I never saw anything quite like the Bears celebration. Yeah, the Cubs may have drawn more, but it wasn't below zero when they held their celebration.

 


 

[Dr. Blackheart]

Brother Doc:

FOtP was dealing with a museum that relatively few folks in Chicago cared enough to get worked up about. By contrast, FOtP got rolled when He and His minions wanted to put the Obama Presidential Museum in Jackson Park.

He was only President of the United States. He is NOT the Bears.

The city wants this badly. It's a prestige thing for Chicago at a time when the Mayor and Council need things to go right. I'm not convinced yet they're going to build this on a park -- despite the musings -- and I'm more of the belief that the city may well assemble a parcel of land through eminent domain for the Bears and let them build. It create city jobs, allows for more city tax dollars and may even put more land on the tax rolls. Or, the city may lease the land to the Bears for 50 years.

As for the site in the Heights, I suspect it will be sold to some developer. It's a huge parcel of undeveloped land at a good site that will have considerable value in the years ahead.

Finally, Brother Ficke, you and I both know to what I was referring!  In all the years I lived in Chicago, I never saw anything quite like the Bears celebration. Yeah, the Cubs may have drawn more, but it wasn't below zero when they held their celebration.

The differences with this parcel are that laws are in effect on the lakefront and the Bears being a for profit entity.

“Friends of the Parks stands firm in the role of lakefront protector as we have for many decades,” Executive Director Juanita Irizarry said in a statement. “That parcel is protected by the Illinois public trust doctrine and the City of Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance.”

That ordinance, which has been on the books since 1973 — not, as many commonly believe, since the days of Montgomery Ward — largely prohibits new building construction east of DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

[jficke13]

[...]

Finally, Brother Ficke, you and I both know to what I was referring!  In all the years I lived in Chicago, I never saw anything quite like the Bears celebration. Yeah, the Cubs may have drawn more, but it wasn't below zero when they held their celebration.

It was too good an opportunity to let slide

[DegenerateDish]

Watching this play out, I get the feeling that the real big issue with the AH site is that Warren wasn't the one to do the deal. Seems ridiculous, but the ego on this guy. My feeling he wants the stadium to be his deal from start to finish and ownership is so weak, it's happening.

Yeah, you’re definitely right. It feels like Warren came in, the McCaskey’s weren’t going to get in his way, and he started doing what he thinks is best for him personally.

If you haven’t read this article, definitely read it. It’s something else.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/day-in-the-life-bears-president-ceo-kevin-warren

[dgies9156]

Yeah, you’re definitely right. It feels like Warren came in, the McCaskey’s weren’t going to get in his way, and he started doing what he thinks is best for him personally.

If you haven’t read this article, definitely read it. It’s something else.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/day-in-the-life-bears-president-ceo-kevin-warren

Maybe it’s the way I was raised in my faith, but I was taught to be a doer, not a talker. My prayer, my reflection and even any conversations I have about God are private.

When I see someone elaborating on Bible study, spiritual growth and with whom they discuss spirituality, red flags go up.

I refuse to judge the man’s sincerity. That’s God’s job. But the depth of the man’s discussion of his faith seems like something we were warned about in the biblical discussions of the Pharisees.

[RJax55]

Yeah, you’re definitely right. It feels like Warren came in, the McCaskey’s weren’t going to get in his way, and he started doing what he thinks is best for him personally.

If you haven’t read this article, definitely read it. It’s something else.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/day-in-the-life-bears-president-ceo-kevin-warren

I've seen the article and the video. Its something. But more credence to the notion that the new stadium is as much about Warren's ego and legacy as it is for the team's future.

I believe this is due in part to George not caring as much as another owner on increasing the value of the franchise. I believe he is more preoccupied in how the family is going to keep the team after Virginia dies.

[Jockey]

Yeah, you’re definitely right. It feels like Warren came in, the McCaskey’s weren’t going to get in his way, and he started doing what he thinks is best for him personally.

If you haven’t read this article, definitely read it. It’s something else.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/day-in-the-life-bears-president-ceo-kevin-warren

As bad of a piece of schlock "journalism" as you will find. Reads like it was written by a fresh out of college $25000 a year hack intern.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Yeah, you’re definitely right. It feels like Warren came in, the McCaskey’s weren’t going to get in his way, and he started doing what he thinks is best for him personally.

If you haven’t read this article, definitely read it. It’s something else.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/day-in-the-life-bears-president-ceo-kevin-warren

In a story full of bizarre statements, this might be my favorite:

"Heading toward the Bears sideline, Warren feels the love from fans as they yell out to him: "Let's go Mr. Warren," "Bear Down," and "Mr. Warren, we love you."

Do they really think Bears' fans fall for this stuff?

[Hards Alumni]

In a story full of bizarre statements, this might be my favorite:

"Heading toward the Bears sideline, Warren feels the love from fans as they yell out to him: "Let's go Mr. Warren," "Bear Down," and "Mr. Warren, we love you."

Do they really think Bears' fans fall for this stuff?

There are plenty of people who fall for similar stuff.

[WhiteTrash]

In a story full of bizarre statements, this might be my favorite:

"Heading toward the Bears sideline, Warren feels the love from fans as they yell out to him: "Let's go Mr. Warren," "Bear Down," and "Mr. Warren, we love you."

Do they really think Bears' fans fall for this stuff?

Did Warren play at Baylor? Maybe he went to Waco for a game? 

[Jockey]

Every time I post on Scoop, I feel the love, admiration, and respect that comes back at me.

Even when walking down the street near my house, people shout out “We love you, sir”. Fortunately, God created me as a humble man who never lets this adoring admiration go to my head.