Bears Unveil $5B Stadium Plan, Pritzker Says It's Not a Priority

When the Chicago Bears unveiled their plans this week to build a new lakefront stadium in a project that will cost as much as $5B—for which they would need nearly $1B in public funding—Gov. J.B. Pritzker didn’t attend the announcement.

The Illinois governor was at an unrelated press conference when team officials presented a dazzling video of a new $3.2B stadium with a translucent roof, a glass wall offering views of downtown Chicago and a hotel.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was at the video presentation, called the project to replace century-old Soldier Field a “crown jewel” that will reinvigorate Chicago. The mayor promised that “no new taxes” would be needed to build the new sports palace.

While they aren’t asking for new taxes, the Bears—who have pledged to contribute $2B in private funding for the new stadium—are seeking $900M in public funding in the form of a bond from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA), a state agency. The team also is proposing to use revenue from the city’s existing hotel tax.

Here’s what the governor said when he was asked about the project:

“I’m highly skeptical of the proposal that’s been made and I believe strongly that this is not a high priority for legislators, and certainly not for me when I compare it to all the other things,” Pritzker said, according to a report in Capitol News.

When asked about public funding for a new domed NFL sports palace in Chicago, Pritzker noted that voters in Kansas City recently rejected an initiative that would have funded a new MLB stadium for the Royals and a refurbishment of the stadium that is home to the Chiefs, the Super Bowl champions.

“The problem is that the offer that they’ve made just isn’t one that I think the taxpayers are interested in getting engaged in,” Pritzker said, regarding the Bears proposal, adding: “We’ve seen this fail over and over across the United States.”

The governor noted that the Bears are one of three pro sports teams in Chicago seeking funding for stadium projects, including the White Sox, whose owner recently asked legislators to pony up $1B for a new MLB stadium that would be the centerpiece of a $7B mixed-use development.

“This is one team that is offering to take all of the tax revenue for their stadium and there apparently is nothing left over for the other two teams,” Pritzker said, referring to the Bears.

The lukewarm reception from the Illinois governor for the sports project in Chicago comes a month after Virginia’s state legislature nixed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to fund a sports and entertainment district in Alexandria that would have included a new arena for DC’s NHL and NBA franchises.