What if the Bears Move to Arlington Heights?

[Pixote]

I thought I read someone post about the Bears putting in a bid to buy the Arlington International Racecourse as a possible location to build a new stadium but I don't see it. I'm sure most if not all of you are aware of the story.

There are some fans upset saying that they don't want the Bears renamed the Arlington Heights Bears.????

I don't understand where they are coming from. The Dallas Cowboys Stadium is located in Arlington, Texas, and they remain the DALLAS Cowboys, not the Arlington Cowboys. I'm sure there are other examples.

I see no reason to believe the Bears would change their name. Agree?

 

 

[BearFan PHX]

agree. they will be the chicago bears just as the jets are the new york jets, they even play in a different state, and so do the giants.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Been awhile since I’ve been in the area but isn’t Arlington Heights pretty much a suburb of Chicago?  I know where my grandparents used to live, in Woodstock, used to be way outside the city limits.  Not so much anymore.  

[Pixote]

5 hours ago, BearFan NYC said:

agree. they will be the chicago bears just as the jets are the new york jets, they even play in a different state, and so do the giants.

That's right, perfect examples. The Jets and Giants share a stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. I should have remembered that. I once sold event tickets online. Sports tickets were big commissions. I gave it up because I couldn't stand Ticketmaster, who I promoted, scalping fans. 

[Pixote]

4 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Been awhile since I’ve been in the area but isn’t Arlington Heights pretty much a suburb of Chicago?  I know where my grandparents used to live, in Woodstock, used to be way outside the city limits.  Not so much anymore.  

Pretty much, hell, it's only a 15 minute drive from O'Hare Airport. You can also access it by bus or train from Chicago. Quite frankly, with the traffic congestion around Soldier Field, it will probably be easier to travel to Arlington Heights even if you live in Chicago.

[Mongo3451]

I personally hope they move.  The nostalgia would be missed, but that's all.  I hate the experience of walking 20 minutes to get into the stadium and being smashed into the smallest seats they could find.  The Arlington property has room for parking, a dedicated train from the Chicago, room for hotels, restaurants and bars.  A new experience would be refreshing.  And they'd still be the Chicago Bears.

[BearFan PHX]

35 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

I personally hope they move.  The nostalgia would be missed, but that's all.  I hate the experience of walking 20 minutes to get into the stadium and being smashed into the smallest seats they could find.  The Arlington property has room for parking, a dedicated train from the Chicago, room for hotels, restaurants and bars.  A new experience would be refreshing.  And they'd still be the Chicago Bears.

I totally agree. The only thing that i would be against is a closed stadium. To me the Bears need to play in the elements. Other than that, as long as they are somewhere near Chicago, Im good.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

3 hours ago, BearFan NYC said:

I totally agree. The only thing that i would be against is a closed stadium. To me the Bears need to play in the elements. Other than that, as long as they are somewhere near Chicago, Im good.

I am not opposed to a retractable roof.

If Arlington Heights happens, it won't be until 2033. 

[Bill]

26 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

I am not opposed to a retractable roof.

If Arlington Heights happens, it won't be until 2033. 

Well maybe not.  We could offer Quinn to Chicago for the rest of the lease.  Almost a clean swap.

[BearFan PHX]

25 minutes ago, Bill said:

Well maybe not.  We could offer Quinn to Chicago for the rest of the lease.  Almost a clean swap.

hahahaha

[Stinger226]

Its a no brainer. Easier to get to , put in a retractable roof, weather wont be a problem anymore. I was a season ticket holder for 3 yrs and it was a bad experience going to a game because the traffic sucked so bad. Close to Ohara- Rosemount- Schaumburg.  PLUS they will set it up to have tailgating as a much better experience. You wont have to walk 3 miles to get to the stadium.

[BearFan PHX]

I agree that a retractable roof will make a better fan experience in December, but it hurts my heart to think of it. I want the bears to always have that winter advantage. I think tradition sort of demands that it be an open air stadium. Or if they want to use it for more than football, fine a retractable roof, but they should leave it open for football. That's Bear football.

[Stinger226]

6 minutes ago, BearFan NYC said:

I agree that a retractable roof will make a better fan experience in December, but it hurts my heart to think of it. I want the bears to always have that winter advantage. I think tradition sort of demands that it be an open air stadium. Or if they want to use it for more than football, fine a retractable roof, but they should leave it open for football. That's Bear football.

If the weather is moderate, no doubt. I was there for a lot of below Zero weather games, it cant be fun to be hit in that weather.

[BearFan PHX]

8 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

If the weather is moderate, no doubt. I was there for a lot of below Zero weather games, it cant be fun to be hit in that weather.

no Im sure its awful, and the team that digs down deeper gets an advantage. Sort of like why the navy seals attack at night.

[Bill]

I don't understand the Bears weather mantra.  Best I can get since 85 when It seemed to become a rallying cry.  They are no better better than 500 at home games in the playoffs.  Most likely even less. I won't get into the reg. season record that is not much better.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

If the weather is moderate, no doubt. I was there for a lot of below Zero weather games, it cant be fun to be hit in that weather.

I was at the Atlanta game when Grossman replaced Orton, that was one of the coldest.  Also went to a Houston game when David Carr whipped the Bears in the cold.

[BearFan2000]

My Dad and I went to the Monday nighter in 2014 where they retired Ditka's number and his coaches sweater lol.  That was the coldest football game I'd ever been to.  We were three rows from the top.  The stands were practically empty till close to kickoff as most people were in the only heated area of the stadium.  The restrooms.  By the time we got to our seats we were getting pretty numb.  We took the South Shore from either Carrol Ave or Michigan City.  

The way I look at it is it's smart to consider your options and explore them.  A bid doesn't = a purchase agreement or final purchase.  If they win the bid and do purchase the land, then they still have options, if the want to at some point move to Arlington then that's on the table, if the later decide they'd rather stay at Soldier Field then they could turn around and put the property up for sale themselves.  Flexibility is always a good thing.  I'm sure if they did move they'd strongly consider building a stadium that could host a SB, and perhaps that's part of the reasoning in making a bid.  As I'm not from Chicago I can't really comment on which is better for the fans, though the vibe I'm getting is Arlington could be a better gameday experience.  While part of me (the nostalgic side) thinks no they should always be at Soldier Field for the tradition and so on but if the game day experience is better, stadium is easier to get to, better parking, etc. I can get past the nostalgia of Soldier Field.  Us Chicago fans love our nostalgia.  Wrigley, the old Madhouse on Madison (prior to the united center), and so on.  These buildings become part of the team in a way, but sometimes change is good.  Who's to say if they move to Arlington the new stadium can't have some features that will feel familiar.  Either way it'd always be the Chicago Bears.

[Connorbear]

On 6/20/2021 at 3:17 PM, ASHKUM BEAR said:

I am not opposed to a retractable roof.

If Arlington Heights happens, it won't be until 2033. 

Dan Pompei said in an article this weekend it would cost 8 million a year to break the lease. Given the construction cost of the new facility would be around 3-4 billion (also per Pompei), 8 million a year for maybe 6-7 years is a drop in the bucket. 

As a season ticket holder since 2002, I am absolutely behind this move. I love watching games in Soldier. I hate the rest of the experience. The bathrooms and concourses are bad, and getting to and from the stadium is a nightmare. A rectractable-roof, state-of-the-art facility would bring at least one Super Bowl and many other large events we currently cannot host now. 

Peace

[Stinger226]

If they were in play to start the plan to move, it would at least 5 yrs before that could happen anyways, so for a 4 billion dollar project, as Connor stated, that is a drop in the bucket. They would make that up in the first yr of existence because of new revenue. Another thing to consider, is with the aging owners of the team. The democrats are going to change the tax laws so if Virginia dies, they will have to come up with millions of dollars to pay the inheritance tax. That will force them to sell the team. So they might as well stay ahead of that and get some proven revenue streams to help with the tax problem that will come in the near future. Everybody always feels nostalgic when talking about changes but modern Bears are traditional a losing team. One trip to the SB since 1985 , screw tradition. Lets move forward and find new heroes and hopefully Fields becomes that guy. I became a bears fan watching Dick Butkus. He couldnt play in the modern era of football because he hurt people  in every game and would be banned from the league. 

[Connorbear]

5 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

If they were in play to start the plan to move, it would at least 5 yrs before that could happen anyways, so for a 4 billion dollar project, as Connor stated, that is a drop in the bucket. They would make that up in the first yr of existence because of new revenue. Another thing to consider, is with the aging owners of the team. The democrats are going to change the tax laws so if Virginia dies, they will have to come up with millions of dollars to pay the inheritance tax. That will force them to sell the team. So they might as well stay ahead of that and get some proven revenue streams to help with the tax problem that will come in the near future. Everybody always feels nostalgic when talking about changes but modern Bears are traditional a losing team. One trip to the SB since 1985 , screw tradition. Lets move forward and find new heroes and hopefully Fields becomes that guy. I became a bears fan watching Dick Butkus. He couldnt play in the modern era of football because he hurt people  in every game and would be banned from the league. 

Agreed. It's time to move forward. 

Peace

[lemonej]

The tradition and the nostalgia for me left when they design what looks like a space ship of a stadium and dropped it inside the iconic Soldier field columns. When ever I see film of the 85 Bears in action there is always a crowd shot of the columns. That was Soldier Field. With a seating capacity 61,500 there is no way they can make enough revenue to continue to compete with all the teams that continue to build state of the art stadiums.

I say if they receive the bid that they buyout the city lease and move ASAP! The Bears will never get what they want from the City.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 hour ago, lemonej said:

The tradition and the nostalgia for me left when they design what looks like a space ship of a stadium and dropped it inside the iconic Soldier field columns. When ever I see film of the 85 Bears in action there is always a crowd shot of the columns. That was Soldier Field. With a seating capacity 61,500 there is no way they can make enough revenue to continue to compete with all the teams that continue to build state of the art stadiums.

I say if they receive the bid that they buyout the city lease and move ASAP! The Bears will never get what they want from the City.

I love the location and view where Soldier Field is, but Chicago deserves a top 2-3 stadium.  If the McCaskeys can bring that by moving, then so be it.  Just think Soldier Field is on a mere 7 acres.  The Arlington Heights location is for 365 acres.  Not only space for all the parking, but other developments.  I hope the city gets creative with a better design and offer, but highly doubt it.

[ChileBear]

What a non issue. They aren't moving to a new state, just to a better, larger venue in a suburb of Chitown.  Gosh, when they moved from Wrigley did every one think the world was ending? I'd love to see my Bears in a modern state-of-the art stadium like so many of the other teams. 

 

[Mongo3451]

48 minutes ago, ChileBear said:

What a non issue. They aren't moving to a new state, just to a better, larger venue in a suburb of Chitown.  Gosh, when they moved from Wrigley did every one think the world was ending? I'd love to see my Bears in a modern state-of-the art stadium like so many of the other teams. 

 

I'm all for nostalgia, but damn there are too many negatives about the current venue.  We could literally have a stadium that holds 100k fans, hotels, restaurants, bars and parking.  It would be awesome!

[Bill]

2 hours ago, ChileBear said:

What a non issue. They aren't moving to a new state, just to a better, larger venue in a suburb of Chitown.  Gosh, when they moved from Wrigley did every one think the world was ending? I'd love to see my Bears in a modern state-of-the art stadium like so many of the other teams. 

 

I don't remember, I was overseas.  But a nice story about the change.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/a-change-from-wrigley-to-soldier-field-17831297