TheKillerNacho Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 39 minutes ago, -Hope- said: sucks that city dwellers will no longer be able to take public transit to the games. whole lot of chicagoans don’t have cars. Upon googling, there does seem to be a train that runs from Chicago to Arlington Heights already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Hope- Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 13 minutes ago, TheKillerNacho said: Upon googling, there does seem to be a train that runs from Chicago to Arlington Heights already. yea but it's metra (commuter rail), not the el. lower frequency, more expensive, not as easy to just roll up the the station and jump on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwny Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 4 hours ago, ramssuperbowl99 said: Having family in the area, from a convenience standpoint and travel flow, this would be better geographically. That said, one of the coolest parts of Chicago is that the lakefront doesn't have any private property, and Soldier Field being right by all the major museums and the trails on this huge park that you can walk or bike all the way up to Navy pier is one of the best parts of the city. Plus you have the history of the stadium. So, I get it, but let's not pretend you aren't losing something by moving the team to the northwest side. Man, why you gotta mention Navy Pier as part of the best part of Chicago. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanedorf Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 4 hours ago, ramssuperbowl99 said: That said, one of the coolest parts of Chicago is that the lakefront doesn't have any private property, and Soldier Field being right by all the major museums and the trails on this huge park that you can walk or bike all the way up to Navy pier is one of the best parts of the city. Plus you have the history of the stadium. Soldier is really a super-fantastic location for the fans - but without additional property to develop( $$) - they can't have what they really want. Its not just a new stadium- they want an entertainment district similar to what GB has with Titletown and the cheatin Pats have in New England. Those sources of revenue just aren't available at the current Soldier Field site. Money talks and there's mo' money to be made by developing the area around the stadium- a source of year round revenue for the club. If you look at the footprint of Arlington Heights race track- its quite similar to what Kroenke did in LA when he bought the Hollywood Park horse track site for SoFi and turned it into an entertainment district. The NFL owners aren't content with maxxing out stadium revenue during an NFL game, they're keen on squeezing every penny they can out of the entire area, year round. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwny Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 1 hour ago, -Hope- said: yea but it's metra (commuter rail), not the el. lower frequency, more expensive, not as easy to just roll up the the station and jump on Yeah, the Metra isn’t great in the way that the CTA is a special part of the city. The CTA connects all the stadiums in Chicago really well and it’s gonna suck to lose that connection to see the Bears easily. And you gotta think that even if the Chicago Parks District keeps Soldier Field operational, they’re going to lose some of their other events to whatever the Bears build out in Arlington Heights. I guess on the positive side, at least the UP-NW stops right at Arlington Park where this land is, so it’s not going to be a Metra ride and then a bunch of driving or something on top of that to get there. But I’d much rather not it be on the Metra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramssuperbowl99 Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 1 hour ago, pwny said: Man, why you gotta mention Navy Pier as part of the best part of Chicago. I meant the whole Grant park area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matts4313 Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Shanedorf said: Soldier is really a super-fantastic location for the fans - but without additional property to develop( $$) - they can't have what they really want. Its not just a new stadium- they want an entertainment district similar to what GB has with Titletown and the cheatin Pats have in New England. Those sources of revenue just aren't available at the current Soldier Field site. Money talks and there's mo' money to be made by developing the area around the stadium- a source of year round revenue for the club. If you look at the footprint of Arlington Heights race track- its quite similar to what Kroenke did in LA when he bought the Hollywood Park horse track site for SoFi and turned it into an entertainment district. The NFL owners aren't content with maxxing out stadium revenue during an NFL game, they're keen on squeezing every penny they can out of the entire area, year round. Why dont they do like the Cowboys then? The Star in Frisco is a thousand times better than any other team in the NFL. Just make the entertainment district where they hold practices. Edited September 29, 2021 by Matts4313 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The BILLievers Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 Wow I love this. I just bought my first house in Arlington Heights in the summer and it is walking distance (.5 miles) to the Arlington Racetrack. All my friends and family are texting me telling me my property value is going to sky rocket once the Bears build the new stadium/hotels/entertainment district (big if). But I'm 29 and feel like this would be perfect to flip the house in 6-7 years and upgrad to a bigger house. Who knows but exciting stuff. As for the logistics, I lived in Chicago for 10 years and just moved to the suburbs. Arlington Park has a metra train that goes straight from the city to the door steps of the park. It is easily accessible to all the Chicagoland suburbs. Is a HUGE piece of property that would allow the Bears to have parking/hotels/restaurants/tailgating lots etc. I do think it's "cooler" for a city when the stadium is actually in the downtown region but Solider field is leased and it's just not big enough to what the owners envision for a future stadium. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanedorf Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 From The Athletic "The team needs space and Arlington Park sits on 326 acres. Soldier Field itself is about 7. " "NFL stadiums are not simply homes for football fields anymore. It’s the surrounding property. WBEZ’s report last week about how the Bears wanted to explore building a Sportsbook near Soldier Field, only to get rebuffed by the Chicago Park District, is one example of how the team could benefit at a new property — one they own and don’t share." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigInBoys Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 Don't the Bears have a lease at soldier field for another 15 years? Going to be awhile before this thing gets built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanedorf Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 "The Chicago Tribune reports that the Bears’ lease would allow them to leave Soldier Field in 2026 and pay a penalty of only $84 million. An $84 million charge wouldn’t be particularly significant if the Bears are already budgeting to build a new stadium in the suburb of Arlington Heights. A new stadium would likely cost more than $2 billion. “The numbers associated with the Soldier Field lease are just small,” University of Chicago sports economist Allen Sanderson said.“Its just a fraction of what a new stadium will cost.” Just for fun, try some math: $84M / $2B = a puniferous amount Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAF-N72EX Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 1 minute ago, DigInBoys said: Don't the Bears have a lease at soldier field for another 15 years? Going to be awhile before this thing gets built. 1) The move isn't finalized yet. 2) The lease is up in 2033 but the McCaskey's can opt out in 2026 for $84M. Assuming 4 years of construction (like Sofi and Allegiant stadiums) the Bears could start their first game in the new stadium in 9 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAF-N72EX Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 16 hours ago, MWil23 said: Google Maps tells me that it’s 33 minutes away, which IMO isn’t a big deal. It’s clearly all about the stadium, so the Bears essentially stay in Chicago but get their stadium. To be honest, I’d bet the traffic flow situation will be better and you still have the same or at least a comparable impact on local businesses from away fans. This is what I don't get from people making a big deal about the stadium not being in Chicago. It's like people forgot Detroit played in Pontiac Michigan for 40 years (which was only a 30 minute drive--45 including traffic) and NYG and NYJ play in a completely different state (new jersey). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malfatron Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 best move the bears have made in a long time 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Buck Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 If they build a $2B stadium and find a way to have a Lou Malnatti's pizza parlor right near the stadium, Chicago will vault to among one of the greatest venues in the league! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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