A deal on a stadium for the Chicago Bears in Illinois could come soon, Gov. JB Pritzker said Friday. He added that it could happen as early as the first week of December.
His remarks came after the Bears made public a meeting held earlier in the week. It was attended by team President and CEO Kevin Warren, Chairman George McCaskey, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, legislative leaders and a senior official from Pritzker’s office.
The governor stressed that the goal of the meeting was to finalize a bill that leaders could present to rank-and-file members of the state legislature before they return to Springfield, the state capital, on Nov. 17. “We want to make sure the bill is ready for them to review, and perhaps hearings will be held in the first week, after which, hopefully, in the second week, during the veto session, it will be put to a vote,” Pritzker said at a press conference Friday.
However, according to a Chicago Bears statement, Hammond, Indiana, has not yet been completely ruled out. “We continue to work with local and state leaders in Indiana on our plans to build a stadium in Hammond, where we are finalizing the details of due diligence on two sites in the Wolf Lake area,” the team’s statement said. “At the same time, we appreciate the recent engagement of Illinois officials on the bill, which allowed us to offer our comments,” it added.
The bill would require the Bears to cover the cost of building the stadium. Once construction is complete, the team would transfer ownership to a new public stadium authority, meaning the Chicago Bears would be a tenant and would not pay property taxes. The team would likely receive infrastructure funding, and sources say the talks include additional benefits for Chicago, specifically funding that would allow Soldier Field to be used for other purposes after the Bears leave.
Bears officials say they are focused solely on Arlington Heights in Illinois, but the bill would give Chicago a chance to take over that location. On Friday, the developer Related Midwest presented the huge site of the former U.S. Steel plant on the lake’s south shore as a possible location for a new stadium, in a video with commentary from former Bears linebacker Lance Briggs. “Obviously, a bill is being prepared that gives the Bears the option to choose where in Illinois to build the stadium. And then it will be up to them where it goes up,” Pritzker said.
It is, however, a race against time, because team officials are pursuing plans in Indiana and Illinois at the same time. “In the coming weeks, we expect a productive dialogue with leaders on both sides,” the Chicago Bears statement said. An agreement between the team and legislative leaders does not guarantee the bill will pass. Under veto session rules, any bill requires a supermajority to pass. That means the team will have to persuade some of its previous opponents to change their positions. The last day of the fall veto session is Dec. 3.
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Source: Polski.FM
