Bears Take Their Stadium Push To Chicago’s Business Community

While the Bears’ most viable stadium option may ultimately lie in the Chicago suburbs, they continue to aggressively push for their dream home along the banks of Lake Michigan.

The state of Illinois did not consider public funding for the proposal during the spring session of the legislature — the team is looking for about $2.4 billion in public funding for the $4.7 billion project, including upgrades to infrastructure — but Bears president Kevin Warren still believes he can build support in the community.

Warren stressed the potential value of a domed, downtown stadium while speaking to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce this week. He alluded to the “power of the NFL” to showcase a city through television.

“When we play on national television, the entire world is looking at Chicago,” Warren told business leaders. “They’re looking at our people. They’re looking at our businesses. They’re looking at how we work together. They’re making determinations and decisions that this is a place that they should travel to, that they should move their business to, where they should go work, (where) they should relocate.”

Chamber president Jack Lavin is a backer of the plan that calls for the Bears to provide $2.3 billion of the financing, including a $300 million grant from the NFL. He downplayed the indifference the team received from the legislature, saying the recently adjourned session of the legislature was about the Bears “introducing the concept” of their proposal more than seeking actual action on funding.

Governor J.B. Pritzker, who has called public funding for stadiums a “non-starter” for the state, did not mention the stadium when he addressed the chamber. Neither did Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson, who is pushing for the team to remain in the city rather than move to a location the team owns in the Village of Arlington Heights.

“There’s a lot more discussions to go and we stand ready to work with our city and state government to try and work together,” Lavin told reporters afterward. “I think there’s an education process that still needs to go on for people to understand what does this investment mean and what is the return on investment to the economy, to everyday people in Chicago.”

Warren is trying to leverage the Bears’ addition of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and a roster upgrade into a feeling that it would be a mistake for the city of Chicago to let the team build its stadium elsewhere.

“We have a unique time here with the Chicago Bears to not only build a great football team, to build a great organization, but to build a world-class stadium that will only empower everyone in this room,” Warren said in his keynote speech.

Warren later deferred comment when asked by reporters if the team needed to increase the size of the private commitment from the team or its supporters. The issue doesn’t appear likely to be resolved any time soon.