The Chicago Bears Dream of the ‘Burbs to Make Bucks, Not Dodge Bullets – Opinion

The sports desk is located beneath decks at RedState’s Good Pirate Ship RedState. We are committed to diversity of thought. This is as opposed to the stock issue definition liberals use for “diversity,” which in practice means attempting diverse means of canceling anyone who dares step outside the approved groupthink daily mantras. Anyway, in the spirit of genuine diversity, some thoughts regarding a recent post by fellow RedStater Levon Satamian regarding the Chicago Bears determination to build and move into a new stadium out in the ‘burbs (Arlington Heights, to be precise) of Chi-Town.

First, the Bears aren’t moving from Soldier Field’s inconvenient downtown Chicago location anytime soon. Although the team signed an agreement for the purchase of the 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse horse racing venue, the transaction is still not complete. Unless the Bears want to play in the middle of the racetrack, it’s going to be several years before a stadium is built and approved on the site, although given Chicago’s recent record playing in close proximity to that stuff doubtless accumulated in large piles behind the horse stalls seems appropriate.

So, why would the Bears leave Soldier Field for this reason? Let us count the ways, none of which have anything to do with the city’s crime rate. Soldier Field has managed the rare accomplishment of losing its status as a National Historical Landmark due to a thoroughly botched “upgrade” in the 2000s. It is not large enough to hold major events, such as Super Bowl. There’s woefully insufficient parking. The stadium is a nightmare for traffic on game day. Aaron Rodgers continues to show up each year, making it worse for Bears fans. The team’s fervent hope is that a new stadium will bring increased revenue and fortunes on the field. This is a blatant lie considering how Chicago has been for so many years. Green Bay could still start Jake State Farm as quarterback, and win 40-17.

Through the Chicago Park District the City of Chicago owns Soldier Field. They have no plans to sell the property. The Bears, like every other professional sporting franchise, want full control over their home field so that they get the maximum amount of money from all events. As the Bears ownership does not have $5B laying around like Rams owner Stan Kroenke did when he built SoFi Stadium, presumably whoever presently calls the shots (most likely not actual owner Virginia Halas McCaskey, who turned 99 this past January) will endeavor to find some mixed-use developers to make the Arlington Heights site not solely the team’s financial burden to build.

Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s Mayor has a few wild ideas about upgrading Soldier Field in order to keep the Bears there. The team doesn’t want to be involved. Some of Lightfoot’s plans are estimated to cost $2.2B, a number only three or four dozen higher than the number of bullets fired throughout the Windy City every weekend.

So no, it isn’t Chicago’s crime rate that has the Bears longing to lose elsewhere. The actual crime in this case could be attributed to the price of tickets as well as the number of products the team sells every Sunday. This properly noted, if you’re a Bears fan, you hopefully know by now there will be no updated version of the Super Bowl Shuffle anytime soon.

 

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