Chicago Bears address

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Is Arlington Heights seen as a good location to the Bears Fans? As only a tourist to Chicago - Soldier Field seems like it's in a perfect spot.

Soldier Field is the smallest capacity stadium in the NFL. It seats 61,000. It is also owned by the Chicago Park District, so they don't even own it and thus can't add a sportsbook. Location wise, yes, being in the city down on the lakefront is cool but Arlington Heights has much more to offer. An enclosed modern stadium will allow them to have events there year round. Concerts and other entertainment. A Super Bowl, a Final Four, Wrestlemania, a Big Ten Championship, so forth.

A Metra train line runs right to the space. The flow of traffic would be significantly better than where Soldier Field is, but an infrastructure investment would be needed for that. Development around the site could include restaurants, bars, hotels, etc.

It is by far the best location they have available to them. It's about as nice of a suburban area as you'll get and they already bought the land. It's perfect for a new stadium and a surrounding entertainment district.

 

[zelezo vlk]

In addition to the PROs Jigga mentioned, I'll add that the Park District has been pretty notoriously bad at maintaining the field until recently. We all remember how bare Notre Dame Stadium was by the end of the season but it was worse in Soldier Field in the same time in the calendar. I also recall the Park District allowing Kanye to dang near destroy the field for a concert before the season even started back in 2011. Outright owning and controlling their stadium is preferable to being the chief tenant.

 

[slick7410]

Soldier Field is the smallest capacity stadium in the NFL. It seats 61,000. It is also owned by the Chicago Park District, so they don't even own it and thus can't add a sportsbook. Location wise, yes, being in the city down on the lakefront is cool but Arlington Heights has much more to offer. An enclosed modern stadium will allow them to have events there year round. Concerts and other entertainment. A Super Bowl, a Final Four, Wrestlemania, a Big Ten Championship, so forth.

A Metra train line runs right to the space. The flow of traffic would be significantly better than where Soldier Field is, but an infrastructure investment would be needed for that. Development around the site could include restaurants, bars, hotels, etc.

It is by far the best location they have available to them. It's about as nice of a suburban area as you'll get and they already bought the land. It's perfect for a new stadium and a surrounding entertainment district.

That makes a lot of sense - thanks for the education.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

In addition to the PROs Jigga mentioned, I'll add that the Park District has been pretty notoriously bad at maintaining the field until recently. We all remember how bare Notre Dame Stadium was by the end of the season but it was worse in Soldier Field in the same time in the calendar. I also recall the Park District allowing Kanye to dang near destroy the field for a concert before the season even started back in 2011. Outright owning and controlling their stadium is preferable to being the chief tenant.

Correct. The grass had to be replaced, in season, multiple times. Being right on the Lake wreaked havoc on the grass. It was terrible more often than not. Even going further back to the 90s, prior to the renovation, there was a Grateful Dead concert that tore the field to shit.

This past season, same deal. Over five days from August 28 through September 1, Soldier Field hosted five massive concerts. It started with Oasis, then My Chemical Romance, The Lumineers, and two System of a Down shows followed.

Just build a massive indoor state of the art facility in Arlington Heights with turf and be done. Pay your own money to build it and pay your fucking taxes, get the infrastructure that will benefit everyone paid for with tax payer money and win a goddamned Super Bowl.

 

[ACamp1900]

Talks about moving to Indiana?!? The Packers would never,…

 

[MacIrish75]

I actually live 8min from that Wolf Lake. Pretty stellar place. It’s got a gas station. A dollar general. A VFW. A pizza place. An elementary school. An ice cream place. A hospital museum. Great place for a stadium!

 

[Irish#1]

I assumed Wolf Lake was somewhat close to Chicago, but that’s NE Indiana. I’m guessing they would expect to draw from Fort Wayne, but that makes this look even more ridiculous IMO.

 

[DillonHall]

I assumed Wolf Lake was somewhat close to Chicago, but that’s NE Indiana. I’m guessing they would expect to draw from Fort Wayne, but that makes this look even more ridiculous IMO.

That's inaccurate. Wolf Lake is literally on the border and part of it is in Illinois

 

[Me2SouthBend]

If they move out of Chicago and surrounding area, what’s the new logo look like? I’m thinking it’d be weird w that same script and colors but w a capital I instead of the C.

 

[AvesEvo]

Soldier Field is the smallest capacity stadium in the NFL. It seats 61,000. It is also owned by the Chicago Park District, so they don't even own it and thus can't add a sportsbook. Location wise, yes, being in the city down on the lakefront is cool but Arlington Heights has much more to offer. An enclosed modern stadium will allow them to have events there year round. Concerts and other entertainment. A Super Bowl, a Final Four, Wrestlemania, a Big Ten Championship, so forth.

I really think that a team who builds an enclosed stadium in an area with a weather advantage doesn't have being a winning football team as their number one priority.

 

[calvegas04]

They should move to Hawaii

 

[DillonHall]

I really think that a team who builds an enclosed stadium in an area with a weather advantage doesn't have being a winning football team as their number one priority.

How often do you go to a football game when it's 10 degrees? It'd be a much better fan experience. Plus, an enclosed stadium might be louder which would provide a home field advantage

 

[AvesEvo]

How often do you go to a football game when it's 10 degrees? It'd be a much better fan experience. Plus, an enclosed stadium might be louder which would provide a home field advantage

But aren't the two loudest KC and Seattle, which are open? IMO, a roofed stadium eliminates a natural home field advantage and so would only be done if the priority is something other than winning.

 

[NDPhilly]

High taxes / bad business climate / incompetent mayor & governor have consequences.

 

[DillonHall]

But aren't the two loudest KC and Seattle, which are open? IMO, a roofed stadium eliminates a natural home field advantage and so would only be done if the priority is something other than winning.

Obviously lots of factors go into how loud a specific stadium is, but in general, enclosed stadiums are louder. If you put a roof over Arrowhead, it'd be even louder

It'd be much better for the fan experience too. People have literally died from the cold after going to a football game. Beyond that, why wouldn't people in the Chicago area want a brand new facility that could host concerts and other events year-round? Or maybe even big sporting events like the Super Bowl?

You're right - winning isn't the top priority, but how is that a problem? These are business decisions. The goals should be to optimize revenue while providing a good entertainment venue for people in the area (since they're paying for a big chunk of it). The Chiefs aren't moving across the state line to improve their chances of winning.

 

[DillonHall]

I still don't think the Bears have the balls to move to Indiana, but finally they're playing dirty to get what they want

 

[FU BK]

I actually live 8min from that Wolf Lake. Pretty stellar place. It’s got a gas station. A dollar general. A VFW. A pizza place. An elementary school. An ice cream place. A hospital museum. Great place for a stadium!

Had some Marlows on the way home from fishing Saturday. Wasn’t too bad, ive had worse

 

[Irish#1]

That's inaccurate. Wolf Lake is literally on the border and part of it is in Illinois

Must have typed it wrong. That’s what I thought, then I googled it and the map shows it near FW which made no sense to me. Googled again and it shows your location.

 

[AvesEvo]

You're right - winning isn't the top priority, but how is that a problem? These are business decisions. The goals should be to optimize revenue while providing a good entertainment venue for people in the area (since they're paying for a big chunk of it). The Chiefs aren't moving across the state line to improve their chances of winning.

I agree revenue is the motivation, but a lot of fans don't care about revenue or entertainment, they want to win.

I have no idea what the numbers are, but I wonder how the revenue of concerts and the like, compare to things like increased merchandise sales from having a premier team.

 

[DillonHall]

I agree revenue is the motivation, but a lot of fans don't care about revenue or entertainment, they want to win.

I have no idea what the numbers are, but I wonder how the revenue of concerts and the like, compare to things like increased merchandise sales from having a premier team.

There are almost 10 million people in the Chicago area and the majority don’t care that much if the Bears win or not. They either don’t follow football, aren’t dedicated fans, or root for other teams. Yet they’re going to ask millions of people to pay higher taxes. That stadium, which gets used only 8-10 days a year for Bears games, better bring other benefits to the area than just wins for the Bears, and an enclosed stadium allows for that year-round

 

[Bantry19]

How often do you go to a football game when it's 10 degrees? It'd be a much better fan experience. Plus, an enclosed stadium might be louder which would provide a home field advantage

Disagree. Attended both Packers games and Rams game at Soldier Field. All were very cold, especially Packers regular season game. These were some of the best atmospheres I’ve ever experienced at football games. Winning cures all.

Properly bundle up and you can stay comfortable. Of course having only the sickos willing to endure the elements contributes to the wild atmosphere.

Wish they could figure out a way to stay at Soldier Field. If only they didn’t screw up the renovation.

 

[Chicago Domer]

I remember when Soldier Field had a capacity of over 100,000. The annual Catholic league champion vs Public league champion game (Prep Biwl) would at times fill the stadium.

 

[KMac151993]

What are the odds at this point that they just stay put and kick the can down the road?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I really think that a team who builds an enclosed stadium in an area with a weather advantage doesn't have being a winning football team as their number one priority.

The "weather advantage" is two months a year tops. Assuming they make the playoffs.

An indoor team from Los Angeles eliminated them in their open air stadium last month.

Seriously. Who cares.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

High taxes / bad business climate / incompetent mayor & governor have consequences.

So do handouts for NFL owners.

 

[rtrn2glory]

I remember when Soldier Field had a capacity of over 100,000. The annual Catholic league champion vs Public league champion game (Prep Biwl) would at times fill the stadium.

How long has it been since that game was played? that sounds like an intriguing idea. Does Illinois separate private vs public schools in their post-season? Thanks

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

What are the odds at this point that they just stay put and kick the can down the road?

Unlikely.

 

[pumpdog20]

The "weather advantage" is two months a year tops. Assuming they make the playoffs.

An indoor team from Los Angeles eliminated them in their open air stadium last month.

Seriously. Who cares.

Plus if it's that big of a deal, they could put in a retractable roof and have the so called cold weather advantage still.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Plus if it's that big of a deal, they could put in a retractable roof and have the so called cold weather advantage still.

I think retractable roofs make sense for baseball stadiums so you can avoid rainouts. If you're building a football stadium, you're either indoors or outdoors.

I don't feel a deep rooted sense of having to see the team play outside in cold weather, and I've lived here my entire life. It really doesn't matter to me. The worst weather they'll play in is in January, and that's playoff time. So it assumes they're in and they're hosting games. The Bears played indoors 40 years ago and won a Super Bowl. They played outdoors in a Super Bowl 20 years ago, it rained, they lost to the Colts. Who play indoors 8 times a year in their home stadium. Again, it really doesn't matter to me one way or another what this new stadium subjects the fans and players to in terms of elements. The decision makers who are doing all of this political jousting are all going to be in heated skyboxes anyway.

 

[Punky]

How long has it been since that game was played? that sounds like an intriguing idea. Does Illinois separate private vs public schools in their post-season? Thanks

It was a big deal back before Chicago schools (both private and parochial) were included in the state playoffs. They still play it, but it's teams that have been bounced from the playoffs, and it's lost a quite a bit of it's former luster.

Chicago Prep Bowl