Ted was on The Chicago Way with John Kass and Jeff Carlin to discuss the proposed $5 billion lakefront stadium project proposed by the Chicago Bears & Mayor Brandon Johnson, why Chicago is struggling compared to other metro areas across the country, why the city might or might not go the way of Detroit, and more.
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Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
How about da Bears string together some wins against the Packers before asking Illinois taxpayers to fork over $2B for a new domed stadium.
Do you all really not know how this works? The Bears have no intention of staying in Chicago, but they say they do. Then Arlington Heights has to cough up more money, which is discretely split amongst those supporting the new Bears’s stadium in Chicago.
That is one thing I miss about Blagojevich, he was crooked no doubt, but he made sure the graft was spread around so at least everyone got something out of it.
Will poor people be able to attend the games too? This seems like a massive taxpayer robbery. Except it’s robbing from the poor to give to the rich. When did Robin Hood start working for JB?
According to WGN the new stadium could cost $7,000,000,000 just so that the Bears can win maybe 4 or 5 games. But with the new QB who knows unless he gets a season ending injury in the first 4 minutes of game 1.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/report-bears-stadium-cost-taxpayers-155711605.html
And then , just guess the new ticket price to any event.
And yet Mayor Johnson is quoted in today’s Trib as being in full-bore support of new stadium project (s). Man is either stupid, or intentionally destroying Chicago by stripping tax-base while pushing for additional big taxes on property-owners.
And he supposed lives in Lombard.
And the people keep on voting for the same party, same people fearing that the world will end without them.
Even the capfax crew is dumpen on CTU/Brandons Bears stadium clown show…kinda funny (https://capitolfax.com/2024/04/26/things-that-make-you-go-hmm-8)
Everything in Chicago and Illinois is a bad deal right now
Financially any public funding of sports stadium stinks. Putting that uncomfortable fact aside for a moment, consider the absolute idiocy of putting a facility where proposed? Has anyone actually been to a game or event there? Access is terrible and a new building will not make it better.
Hmm, this article reminds me of the Pontiac Silverdome of my youth……
Let me manipulate that headline so it makes more sense “Given where Chicago is right now this new stadium proposal is a bad idea and a bad deal The Chicago Way.” Makes more sense this way
If the plan now is to tear down a war memorial for a football stadium, then why not just go ahead and tear down the Field Museum for a parking deck? Chicago progressives have always disliked the areas history.
CTU/Brandons BIG picture problem is he’s desperate for some “wins” to dangle in front of dopey voter/taxpayers who he correctly assume are complete dullards as cover for when he hands out a $$$$GIZANGO$$$$ no negotiating required contract deal to his CTU buddies. And the dopey voter/taxpayers wont think it’s so bad or even notice because he’s magically landing Bears Stadium deal with zero tax increases….It’s all more “smoke and mirrors” machine politics that assumes, as always, voter/ taxpayers are complete idiots.
It’s not their money so they don’t care. Chicago’s infrastructure is falling apart with nets and plywood under the overpasses to keep crumbling concrete from falling on cars. Now want to build a state of the art stadium before the bonds on the old one are paid off. Maybe it could be used to house the illegals during the off season.
We can use Soldier Field to house illegals in the off season.
And too bad we tore down the old Comiskey stadium….
Behind the scenes you have desperate construction trades unions lobbying for Bears stadium as well as O’Hara Terminal 2, etc as downtown construction is DEAD (ZERO tower cranes downtown). And will potentially be dead for years with skyrocketing prop taxes, high interest rates, work from home, etc. Even with national aprt building downturn other cities & states, particularly in south are kicking are ass for construction starts. You can bet construction trades unions are also behind CTU/Brandons $1.25 bil bond deal back by TIF expiring…..how many construction union trades guys actually live in the city….answer very few.
“Make no small plans when asking for taxpayer dollars”. This plan should be outright dismissed by Pritzker, Harmon, Emmannuel to stop the subject in its tracks. Let the Bears cover the existing stadium on their own dime or let them go to Arlington Heights.
I am no fan ……but I think Pritzker did say this was not at the top of his list with everything that is going on.
Me either. I just hope Pritzker is sincere in saying that rather than just posturing during the early stages of a negotiation. Rather they squash this now so the Bears can either pay to cover existing stadium or build in Arlington Hts. In what world is paying $630 to rehab a stadium and still owing most of that while spending couple billion more on a new place next door responsible use of taxpayer dollars?
100 percent correct. It is a terrible deal for the taxpayers. An unnecessarily grandiose pipedream that no one can afford, and for a poorly run franchise on top of it.
Arlington Heights is the play. The city is being used to extract concessions. Brandon Johnson has nothing to lose as this elevates him and makes him look like he’s trying to do something positive. He gets to act like a boss. Hotel, sports book, casino maybe, restaurants, bars, that parcel in the suburbs is a potential goldmine for all involved. Look at how the Rickets family has exploited the entire area around their stadium. if the city wants to give away the store and mitigate most of the financial risk of the McCaskey family, they will let them. I’m sure… Read more »
You’re absolutely right.
AH won’t happen either. Look at what the big stumbling block is at the Soldier Field site– huge infrastructure costs that nobody can afford. And in AH it is even worse. AH can’t contribute much, and the City of Chicago won’t kick in for anything there, and in addition will do everything they can to block the State from spending any money in AH. The Bears are as bad off here as they are on the playing field. They will still be playing in Soldier Field in ten years I predict.