As the Bears continue to pursue a potential move to Arlington Heights, they’re keeping their options open and maintaining lines of communication with Chicago City Hall.
Team president Kevin Warren released a joint, two-sentence statement with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson after a second meeting between the two.
“We continued our productive discussion this week that began in early June,” they said.“We plan to have regular dialogue with each other and across our respective staffs as we work together to meet the needs of the citizens of Chicago and Bears fans.”
The joint statement highlights how the ongoing Bears saga is a delicate dance for Chicago’s new mayor, as well as its NFL franchise.
Johnson would rather keep the team within city limits than see them depart to the suburbs, though the possibility of constructing a new stadium with taxpayer dollars would be a hard sell for residents, and there are precious few potential sites. The Bears would prefer a move to Arlington Heights but don’t currently have the financial resources to make their new stadium deal feasible from their perspective, so they are keeping their options open.
For the Bears, owning a state-of-the-art stadium is a better option than keeping the Chicago Park District as their landlord. But they aren’t in a position to dismiss any potential sites or relationships as they continue to search for a new deal.
Keeping the Bears in Chicago bedeviled Johnson’s predecessor, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who floated the expensive idea of putting a dome over Soldier Field in order to keep the franchise and deflect blame if they leave town.
Now it’s Johnson’s turn to negotiate with the franchise, which spent nearly $200 million to buy land for a move but hasn’t been able to finalize the deal.
The Bears began fielding offers from other Chicago suburbs angling to host a stadium in early June.
Following a meeting with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli, the team released a statement saying its plans in Arlington Heights were “at risk” and that leadership was exploring other options.
At a privately organized June meeting for Arlington Heights residents, Warren said things hadn’t quite gone to plan in the project’s early stages.
“We’ve had a stalemate and a lack of communication and it’s a little more convoluted at this point in time than I thought it would be,” he said.
Warren was referring to the team’s stalled negotiations with a trio of local school districts whose finances stand to be adversely affected by potential property tax changes at the racecourse.
The Bears have repeatedly said they plan to ask local and state governments for property tax breaks and won’t proceed with the development without assurance of those discounts.
Arlington Heights officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
