Chicago or Arlington Heights Bears?

On June 17, 2021 the Chicago Bears submitted a bid to purchase the Arlington Heights Race course property. On September 28th, that concept became more of a reality as the team finalized the deal and signed the purchase agreement for the property as it stood today. Bears CEO and President Ted Phillips was quoted saying that the purchase agreement was a, “critical next step in continuing our exploration of the property and its potential.” The anticipated closing date of the sale is anticipated to be in late 2022 or early 2023 as reported by Churchill Downs. This move itself is astonishing to many Bears faithfuls, as the team has resided in Soldier Field since 1971 and has hosted four NFC Championship games. Many have questioned what this deal can mean for the team, or what it could cost them as well.

Like with any move in life, so many stakeholders had to be involved in the process. One of which, being part of the team’s namesake, would be none other than the City of Chicago itself. Mayor Lightfoot, who has been the Chicago mayor since 2019, has become vocal about the Bears wants of late. She wants the team to stay in Chicago, and has asked them to, “be more forthcoming about what they want”(Lightfoot).

Why is this all significant? Well, since the team itself has had issues with being in Soldier Field all these years (they have the lowest maximum capacity in the NFL at 61,500) and when the field was renovated it was actually removed from being a historic landmark. Since the Bears don’t own the stadium itself (as most NFL teams do not as well), all of the underlying problems have seemed to add up to one major idea, that the revenue streams have just not been there for the team all these years. With their current contract, the Bears are paying about $6.6 million per year to play there according to the Chicago Sun Times.

So is it time for the Bears to move out of Chicago and take the 40 minute drive North West to Arlington Heights? This may not be a known fact set in stone for a while now, but it definitely looks to be a move that the team is more than excited to look into in the near future.

Websites mentioned:

Colleen Kane, Gregory Pratt. “Chicago Bears Sign a $197.2M Purchase Agreement for Arlington Heights Racetrack Land - Taking the next Step in a Potential Move from Soldier Field.” Chicagotribune.com, 29 Sept. 2021, https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-chicago-bears-arlington-international-purchase-agreement-20210929-ch5sisfdung2pohe2gvoyuwfe4-story.html.