Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday he has done everything he can to lobby lawmakers to come up with state money to keep the Bears in Chicago, even as the team now looks toward Arlington Heights instead.
Following Tribune reporting last week that the team is pivoting its focus back to Arlington Heights and away from the city’s lakefront, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that “there’s a long way to go still” — but hinted that he won’t be an active player in this next round of talks with state lawmakers.
Asked whether he plans to lobby Springfield’s Chicago delegation against any legislation the Bears may seek for a new stadium development in the suburbs, the mayor said “That’s a decision that they’ll have to make.”
“I’ve done everything that I possibly could do,” Johnson said at his weekly City Hall news conference. “I’ve done my part. You know, at this point, if the state of Illinois wants to keep the Bears in the city of Chicago … the ball is on (their) side of the field.”
The Bears confirmed to the Tribune on Friday its shift toward an Arlington Heights stadium, which would depend on a legislative package in Springfield to allow for negotiated financing of large-scale developments.
It was the latest twist in the NFL franchise’s years-long saga over whether they will indeed leave the city whose name is on their jerseys, where for the past year the mayor has advocated for a new lakefront stadium to keep them here — to some displeasure from his progressive base.
Two weeks ago, Bears executive leadership spoke with Johnson on the shift back to Arlington Heights, a conversation Johnson said Tuesday included “the Bears not getting the support that they needed from the state of Illinois.”
Spurning its namesake city would both bruise Chicago’s ego and be a political hit for Johnson, but the Bears’ latest saber rattling does provide a potential opening for state lawmakers who represent the city to play hardball, given that the road to passing an Arlington Heights-focused package in Springfield will also be challenging.
Gov. JB Pritzker and key lawmakers have repeatedly shown no enthusiasm for putting taxpayer money toward a stadium, though the Bears said they will not seek state funding for the northwest suburban development. Rather, the team would likely need “megaproject” legislation that would allow them to negotiate with local governments over property tax bills, along with possible state funding for infrastructure.
For decades, the will-they-won’t-they dance coming from Halas Hall over leaving the city has been a thorny question for Chicago mayors. Johnson, for his part, has staked a considerable amount of political capital on keeping the team in the city by lobbying for a $5 billion domed stadium project on the lakefront, just south of Soldier Field, that would be half-funded by taxpayer dollars.
Pritzker and state leaders have thrown cold water on that idea, but Johnson has still proudly championed the lakefront option until recent weeks. Now, the mayor is saying it’s up to the Bears and Springfield leaders to figure it out, though he stands by his endorsement of a domed stadium near Soldier Field.
“The Bears do have a level of responsibility to make the case in Springfield,” Johnson told reporters. “And the state of Illinois has a responsibility and a role to play. … But my door will never close to this. I want the Bears to stay in Chicago.”
Then there is the Soldier Field problem. The team’s lease with the Chicago Park District, which owns Soldier Field, runs through 2033, but the agreement includes a provision allowing the team to pay a penalty if it leaves early, a price tag that would decrease each year until the deal expires.
Left unanswered still is how to address the $525 million in outstanding public debt from the controversial 2003 stadium renovation, a tab currently covered by the city’s hotel tax and, when that falls short, by its share of state income tax dollars. That could be a make-or-break issue for some Chicago lawmakers.
Asked whether he would be open to any deal allowing the Bears to break their Soldier Field lease, the mayor said “it hasn’t come up.”
