(The Center Square) – The Chicago Bears may be using a different strategy to secure public funding for a new stadium.
The team has been stymied in getting taxpayer funds for a new stadium, but now the CEO says he is open to sharing a facility with other teams in town.
The new stadium proposal is projected to cost $3.2 billion. Of that, around $2 billion would come from the Bears. The team would also seek public funding through 40-year bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.
Bears CEO Kevin Warren told members of the Economic Club of Chicago that he’s now ready to partner with the White Sox or other teams that are also looking for public funding for new stadiums to get a deal done.
“We have a great working relationship with them,” Warren said. “We have great respect for the Reinsdorf family, and we’re definitely going to work together to see what we can work out.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in July that it was highly unlikely state lawmakers and the team will reach a deal on a taxpayer-funded stadium this year.
“Taxpayer dollars are precious and so the question really is what benefit financially are they bringing fiscally to the state, the city and the county,” said Pritzker.
In July, Pritzker met privately with Warren to discuss their stadium plan. The governor called the meeting “cordial.”
Warren said Arlington Heights is still being considered as a site for a new stadium, but that the property tax situation needs to be addressed. The team bought the old Arlington Race course and owns 326 acres of land.
As of last year, the Bears were offering $4.3 million and Arlington Heights officials were seeking nearly $8 million a year.
“What I think we need to do is stop looking at what we don’t have in Chicago,” said Warren. “Let’s put our assets on the table and figure out what we do have, how we can come together and make this city even stronger than it already is, make it a better place and create an incredible revenue stream for Chicago and allow us to be the greatest city on the planet.”
