Portage (City in Indiana, US) launched a long-shot pitch to the National Football League (NFL) team Chicago Bears recently asking the team to call an audible and consider a rent-free stadium in their City.
‘CHICAGO SUN TIMES’ stated that Portage unveiled its proposal for ‘Halas Harbor’, a $5 billion project on a 300-acre site that would include a stadium that, per its hype video, would come “fully privately-financed” with “zero taxpayer burden” and “zero debt on the team”.
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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division.
The 61,500-capacity Soldier Field is a multipurpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924, the stadium has served as the home of the National Football League (NFL) team Chicago Bears since 1971 as well as the Major League Soccer (MLS) team Chicago Fire FC since 2020.
‘CHICAGO SUN TIMES’ further stated that the stadium would be provided to the Bears rent-free – it would be financed by Chicago businessman Lou Weisbach. A percentage of non-football revenue would then be used to pay off the stadium. Weisbach, who called into a press conference, termed it the “financing plan of the future”.
Shovels could be in the ground as soon as June.
The Portage Mayor Austin Bonta told newsmen that the Bears were aware of the proposal. Weisbach said he looked forward to meeting with the Bears President/head honcho Kevin Warren and the Indiana Governor Mike Braun to discuss the above.
The Bears declined to comment, though, just as they have when asked about the other Northwest Indiana sites – both in Hammond and Gary (Cities in Indiana). The Portage site along the Burns Waterway is the furthest away of the three. Mayor Bonta touted the ability to reach the stadium site via cars, trains and boats.
The Bears own 326 acres in Arlington Heights but want the ability to negotiate the property tax rates and public funding for infrastructure. Frustrated with a lack of progress they announced in December they would consider building in Indiana which created the Senate Bill 27 (multiple legislative measures) to establish a stadium authority to finance a stadium.
Portage’s pitch might have come too late – Indiana’s Legislative Session ends on February 27th.
Portage was the second Municipality to pitch the Bears in as many days. The Iowa (US State) politicians recently proposed expanding a State economic development program to incentivize building an NFL stadium to support the Bears, a non-starter at Halas Hall (the 38-acre headquarters, training and operational facility for the Chicago Bears in Lake Forest, Illinois).
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