Chicago Mayor against Bears’ flight

Article posted by Coliseum, June 14^th, 2023

Image: Soldier Field, John Picken, CC BY 2.0

The Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson believes the National Football League (NFL) team Chicago Bears may stay in the City, at their longtime home of Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois (US), rather than move to the suburbs.

‘NBC Sports’ stated that Johnson met with top Bears officials recently and said after the meeting that he believes there’s a way for the team to remain at Soldier Field, which is owned by the Chicago Park District.

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, US. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference North Division.

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The 61,500-capacity Soldier Field is a multipurpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1971.

Recently, the Bears suggested they could consider abandoning their plan to move to a new stadium at Arlington Heights with the franchise considering other locations. This news coming after the franchise already purchased land at the Arlington Heights site for $197.2million.

Said Johnson, “We want to make sure we keep shuffling here in the City of Chicago with the Bears. I want to make sure the ownership of the Chicago Bears, the Park District and the residents of the City of Chicago has a real seat at the table to discuss a pathway forward.”

‘NBC Sports’ further stated that the team has played in the City of Chicago since 1921 (excepting one year in Champaign (City in Illinois) when the Soldier Field was being renovated), but Soldier Field is both the oldest and the smallest stadium in the NFL, and the team wants to build its own stadium.

However, after the Bears bought the old racetrack in Arlington Heights with plans to build a stadium there, the team balked at the property tax assessment and is now reconsidering. That could be the opening to a new deal to remain in Chicago.

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