DOWNTOWN — The Bears want to build a new state-of-the-art domed stadium and they’re hoping taxpayers will help with the $4.6 billion tab.
The Chicago Tribune reported late Tuesday that the team would spend $3.2 billion to build the stadium, along with $1.4 billion in proposed infrastructure improvements. The Bears would cover half — $2.3 billion — with the help of the NFL. Public financing would handle the rest, said anonymous sources who spoke to the Trib.
The team would have to refinance its debt connected to other stadium projects for the Bears and White Sox, and taxpayers would be expected to pay for the proposed infrastructure improvements along with another $1 billion to build the new stadium, according to the Trib.
The Bears still need the Illinois General Assembly to approve new bonding for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which carries the debt for the aforementioned stadium projects, according to the Trib.
The new stadium would be south of Soldier Field.
Crains reported Wednesday the Bears’ portion would come from marketing revenue raised from the new stadium, including corporate naming rights and two NFL loans. The team would also rely on the sale of personal seat licenses (PSLs) to fans hoping to become season-ticket holders.
The terms of the deal would need to be included in the team’s leasing agreement with the Chicago Park District, according to Crain’s.
The values of PSLs that helped raise over $50 million toward the $690 million Soldier Field renovation would disappear upon the team’s move to the new stadium, and PSL rates at a new Bears stadium would be some of the most expensive seats in the house, with estimated costs upwards of a $100,000 apiece, Crain’s reported.
The pivot back to the lakefront marks a significant change for the Bears, who have threatened for years to leave the city for suburban Arlington Heights.
The team finalized the purchase last year of Arlington International Racecourse from Churchill Downs for $197 million. Team officials said they’d develop the 326-acre site into a $5 billion entertainment district anchored by a domed stadium.
At the time, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot had pitched the team on a glass-domed renovation of Soldier Field, largely considered a Hail Mary proposal.
Solider Field — save for its historical colonnades and war memorial — would likely be torn down under the team’s current proposal, the Sun-Times previously reported.
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