The Chicago Bears ownership has failed to get Illinois taxpayers money to build a stadium in Arlington Heights.
A question for the National Football League’s Chicago Bears franchise President and CEO Kevin Warren. Who are you fooling? Warren sent yet another letter to Bears’ ticket holders, marketing partners and fans updating them on how a possible move to suburban Arlington Heights, Illinois from Chicago is going. Well it turns out that moving to Arlington Heights is not going according to plan and another strategy may be needed. Such as speaking to politicians in northwestern Indiana about the possibility of building a stadium-village somewhere near the Illinois-Indiana border south of Chicago maybe 20 or 25 miles from downtown. This is not about jolting Illinois politicians into giving the Bears ownership hundreds of millions of dollars to help build a stadium surrounded by retail businesses, housing, office space and other recreational facilities. Not at all according to Warren. It is all about checking out what else is out there.
“Consequently, in addition to Arlington Park, we need to expand our search and critically evaluate opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including Northwest Indiana,” Warren wrote in his letter. “This is not about leverage. We spent years trying to build a new home in Cook County. We invested significant time and resources evaluating multiple sites and rationally decided on Arlington Heights. Our fans deserve a world-class stadium. Our players and coaches deserve a venue that matches the championship standard they strive for every day. With that in mind, our organization must keep every credible pathway open to deliver that future.” It is all about leverage. If Warren can get Indiana Governor Mike Braun to express interest in putting together a proposal for a Bears’ stadium-village, Warren can go back to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and say see they are interested. Are you going to change your mind and allocate funding for our project? Leverage is the name of the game in the stadium game.
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