As the Bears ditched Waukegan and other suburban locales for a new $4.6 billion “translucent” domed stadium proposed for Chicago’s lakefront, didn’t we all know they would ask taxpayers to ante up? If you didn’t, I’ve got a former racetrack site to sell you.
Soon, the Bears-White Sox cabal will come a calling to the Chicago City Council and Illinois General Assembly with hands out. Lawmakers eventually will cave to the bold plans by the Bears and Sox for new playgrounds. This is as the teams owned by multi-millionaires perform subpar in fine sports homes owned by taxpayers.
Though Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he is not inclined to spend public money on a private business and that there are more pressing needs across the Land of Lincoln, the governor and lawmakers certainly will jump into the stadium pot. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson already has.
Can’t imagine what Downstaters, like those in Little Egypt, think of the Bears’ grand plan considering they are closer to the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Stadium (202 miles from Carbondale, home of the Southern Illinois University Salukis; 332 miles to Chicago’s lakefront). These are the same folks who cheered the Rams before they relocated back to Los Angeles, and heartily support the baseball Cardinals.
The bottom line is the Bears’ plan is to throw in $2.3 billion, which includes some financing through the National Football League, according to last week’s Chicago Tribune account of the expensive proposal. The scheme needs an additional $2.3 billion in public financing.
That includes refinancing outstanding debt, about $700 million, issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority for previous work which paid for the new improvements at Soldier Field and the construction of the new Guaranteed Rate Field/Comiskey Park. In addition, some $1 billion in taxpayer money would be used for infrastructure construction.
If the Bears (and certainly the White Sox are next) want pieces of what we pay in annual income taxes to build new amusement parks, perhaps they should turn to the way the Green Bay Packers, nemesis of Bears fans everywhere, do things: Let us become “fan owners.”
The Packers are the only NFL club, and only professional franchise, which is a publicly owned corporation, according to the team’s history. Instead of being owned by a family, the team’s “stock” is held publicly. When they need money, they sell “stock.”
As of 2022, they had some 537,460 stockholders, according to Packer lore. At the last stock sale in 2021, shares were sold for $300 each, with many rabid Packers fans snapping them up to financially support the smallest market of any pro sport.
Surely, the Bears won’t want to share. Yet, being “stockholders” would give fans “ownership.”
With a piece of the action, they would have a continuing interest and enthusiasm, even during stints of lagging on-field performance. Of course, Bears’ fans can only hope new quarterback Caleb Williams, whom the team drafted Thursday, will make the future bright.
For policymakers who will be studying and eventually voting on the public aspect of the Bears project, they may want to investigate what is happening in Florida on a smaller scale. That’s where the Tampa Bay Rays want to build a new baseball park in St. Petersburg.
Florida Tax Watch, a nonprofit government watchdog group in the Sunshine State, recently took a gander at plans for a new field there. According to the report, St. Petersburg and Pinellas County are being asked to pay about half of the estimated $1.3 billion cost for a new Tropicana Field, with the Rays picking up the rest of the tab.
The study found the projected 30-year economic impact includes $11.9 billion in total output. That includes up to 17,782 jobs and $2.4 billion in new tax revenues.
While not drawing conclusions whether the deal is in the best interest of taxpayers, the group’s report does outline questions to ponder: Total public costs; best use of public funds given other community needs; fairness of any cost-sharing agreement; potential revenue sharing; and clawback (recovery of disbursed funds) provisions. Florida Tax Watch also points out that research has shown that the economic benefits of publicly subsidized sports facilities are often overstated and insufficient to justify large subsidies.
That being said, expect those pushing for the new Bears’ lair to point out the thousands of jobs that will be forthcoming, tax revenue and prestige for the region, a facility for multiple uses and more. Just keep your eyes and ears open and your hands on your checkbooks.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
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