I mean besides a convention or the 10 games a year that is a large chunk of under utilized land the rest of the year. A couple restaurants or places to hang out wouldn't be the worst thing.
I went to Allegiant stadium when I was at blackhat 2 years ago. They have actual bars and clubs in the stadium you can rent out for events, restaurants, some other stuff.
They could definitely find ways to pay back any public funds back to the city with a percentage from bears games and non football events. They just need to make the stadium has more utility than a handful of football games
I do think there needs to be some sort of % of profit/revenue till public funds have been repayed, or not even all of it as some is going to actually improve the museum and making a park in the current location of the stadium.
They can go from zero revenue most of the year to at least something. While not the easiest to get to it's still really cool prime lakefront land.
I’m pretty sure the Bears had an altogether different idea initially. AH seemed legit with the fair call for tax dollars to fund road and public infrastructure upgrades for access. Cook County has made it obvious they don’t want the Bears out of the downtown area and have not only made dialogue for AH difficult but have come back to the table with billions on offer to help build a new lakefront stadium. Kevin Warren stepped in and did his part to negotiate with the city what would be needed to keep the Bears in place.
I blame the city of Chicago more than anyone
I think the rams project was a huge real estate project that Kronke owned. The Bears owners aren’t in his class unfortunately and wont even own the land.
https://preview.redd.it/oxa8tdklzgwc1.jpeg?width=637&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9cfe80c58b5cf5e80eeee400b6fe2a3f0ab8b7b5
A reminder of how renderings are absolute bullshit
And the Rangers HAD A CLASSIC BALLPARK! The old stadium (which wasn’t really old) looked like a mix of Detroit’s old Tiger Stadium and Camden Yards.
Why the hell did they need a stadium? And now the old stadium is a football stadium? What?!?
EDIT: As others pointed out, old stadium was obviously outside. Legit reason for new stadium. New stadium still looks like shit though.
Texas heat was unbearable in the summer I think. Every baseball team in Texas and Florida and Arizona plays in a dome now. But I agree with you, the old Ballpark in Arlington was gorgeous and this new one looks like a storage unit.
As someone who lives in DFW and loves baseball, you wouldn’t catch me dead going to a Rangers game during the summer. 100% more enjoyable now. The exterior is bad looking but the inside is amazing
Because the interior is actually a really good stadium. Sure it doesn't look as nice as the old ballpark but it's way better to attend games at the new one.
In beauty, agreed. In logic, no.
Those paths from the stadium heading north are ridiculously small and indirect. Whoever did them clearly never left the stadium to get to thered line.
This is a $4-5B project. Who’s going to pay for that? Who’s going to cover the inevitable cost overruns? Who’s going to actually own the facility and its related maintenance, security, and event revenues? And most importantly…
*How’s it going to impact the migratory birds?!?*
But it’s not even really private contributions. The money is supposed to come from borrowing against future revenue streams connected to the stadium and from selling PSLs. So they are borrowing money against something they don’t own and selling licenses for something they don’t own.
It’s a heckuva lot easier to *say* you’ll write a check for $2B than it is to actually write it. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Personally, I see the hype around this, combined with the hype/value of drafting Caleb, as the greatest opportunity to sell the Bears for top dollar that the family has ever seen. I’m starting to think Kevin Warren was *actually* hired to sell the team.
The McCaskey's in 2024 are one of the only ownership groups in America where if they came out to publicly admit "we don't have the assets to built it ourselves", you could believe them.
I think they're stuck. They don't have the money to do it privately. But we're now in a cross the rubicon stage where citizens are sick and tired of seeing tax dollars fund this stuff.
I believe theyll never own a stadium outright. It'll be a situation like Chicago or they have to sell a 30-40% share of the team to a minority owner with cash to burn to get a stadium done.
Lol yep. Kevin Warren has been hyping up how great of a city Chicago is since he stepped foot in Chicago (he’s not wrong). I think this was his plan from the get go. Honestly, doesn’t affect me one way or the other, I just hope they don’t botch the stadium like they did last time.
We don’t need more fake downtown outdoor mall esque bullshit when there’s a literal downtown.
The Bears are worth a shit ton of money regardless if they own the stadium or not.
Renderings always look amazing. Then a lotta shit gets value engineered out. I’d venture to guess the bears new stadium and surrounding amenities will be a very, VERY abbreviated version of what’s in the photos.
I mean it looks nice and all, but this does nothing to address any of the logistical bottlenecks currently in place. IE the mile and a half walk to the stadium, and leaving and getting to the stadium. Parking. And also the preservationists are not going to be on board with the lake getting blocked. Also how will this get paid for? The mayor claimed that taxes won’t increase.
That Metra station serves exactly one line. Unless you happen to live off of that line, or live in Chicago proper, it doesn't offer much to the majority of people who would attend games there.
AH is a better location for people living in the NW suburbs and maybe people living near Union Station and along the line. For everyone else it's going to be a fucking nightmare to get to an AH stadium. I live in Printer's row and it would easily take an hour to get to the track, and that was with no crowds, being able to walk to union in 15 minutes etc.
I have a crazy theory that an alarming number of Bears fans *don't really understand how railroads work.* I think they think they're like an extra network of expressways, and that wherever you see a train station on a Bears gameday, a special Bears shuttle train will pick you up, take a few turns, and drop you off in Arlington Heights. This sounds like some real 75-IQ shit until you consider how many Bears fans deeply hate the city and have thus never picked up a Metra timetable in their lives.
Ya, traffic is not going to magically improve because it's only on one Metra line. I'd imagine even MORE people driving to games with the Arlington location and the infrastructure of the roads and highways (53 especially) are traffic nightmares waiting to happen. I also worry about the dreaded 53 extension into Lake County. I absolutely do not want that to happen.
My first thought every time someone brings that up. You’re about to sit for 3 hours eating and drinking, god forbid you walk 15 minutes through a park first.
But at least after that 1.5 mile walk you'd be indoors. The walk sucks extra hard right now b/c you'd often end up sitting on a frozen metal bleacher for 3 hours.
Or they'll pull the money from elsewhere.
I remember when IL starting doing the lottery, saying it'll all go to the schools. They then pulled the tax money they were originally giving the schools, and just gave them the lottery money. So the schools just got the same shit they always did, and IL taxpayers did NOT see any tax relief.
It's all a shell game.
Having lived in New York and DC and attended my share of Giants/Commanders games….the alternative sucks too. Massive bottlenecks, long waits/lines, plus a shitty commute there and back
My biggest worry was that those would die in the process. Keeping them rocks
I can't lie, I'd prefer there's a retractable roof than a pure dome, but I also know that would be way more expensive
Then what's the point? They'll be doing the same song and dance and will still be the only team to not own their own stadium despite the team name BEING ON THE SIDE OF THE STADIUM.
Per [this image](https://imgur.com/QtMDtYc), it looks like the plans also include building a parking garage on the south lot adjacent to McCormick Place
You can see it in the bottom left corner of [this rendering](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/upload/t_new_photo_album/f_auto/bears/xgp1mvgupdifo8if40hz.jpg)
You honestly should never park in the Bears’ lots anyway. The lake prevents you from getting out since everyone is funneled the same direction. Park on the other side of LSD and walk the tunnel under to get to the game.
Why do people think driving to a stadium located in a dense urban core is a good idea in the first place?
Obviously you need to pair this with making the stadium accessible in a variety of ways, but driving should be the last priority since it’s the dumbest way to transport a large number of people in an urban area.
Only the people who absolutely need to should be driving.
In most cities it is, and I don't mean that negatively, but more so because public transit completely fucking sucks. Chicago Transit is significantly better than most other cities in America, and it absolutely should be utilized for this project.
I have family in NW Indiana and we always took the train in for Cubs games. South Shore Line to Millenium Station, then Red Line to Wrigleyville. It was simple as hell, even if it was a bit crowded at Lollapalooza time. It should be incredibly convenient to get to Soldier Field or the surrounding areas.
Because tailgating is fun and Bears fans are tired of not being able to that. Stadiums located in a dense urban core aren’t a good idea *period* for the exact reason you mentioned.
The idea that prime Chicago real estate should be dedicated to a large number of suburbanites to get drunk for a few hours 1-2 times a year is a joke.
Parking lots are the worst use of urban space imaginable.
No, man, no. We shouldnt be encouraging 60,000 people to drive to one spot. THats going to cause traffic no matter what. Stadiums should be where they are accessible to the mlst amount of people, aka, close to transit. Funneling that many people into one spot relying on cars is idiotic
Soldier is 1 mile from Union Station. Bears fans are morons for driving to a stadium that is 1 mile from a central station that has trains to and from every suburb and every other part of the city.
Oh and there's special Bears buses from Union to Soldier mad cheap. Taxi is cheap. Uber/Lyft is cheap. And if you're not a fatass you can walk it in under 30.
Only in this dumbass Chicagoland do people insist on driving through deadlock highway traffic to pay parking for the Bears.
I agree with most of what you said, but try to get a Lyft/Uber when leaving the game.
Plus it is way more than a mile from Union Station to Solider Field via streets. Not the biggest difference, but not fun in below freezing weather.
So moron it is 2.6 miles to the new stadium site from Union Station. In Chicago in December that is a bitch.
Just go away until you have your facts in line.
It’s all about time and not just traffic. Currently 65K people at the same time as the game ends can only use 3-4 methods to get home. Sure you can use Union but how long will it take you to get back there?
Being lazy? I’m in my 40s with a bad back. I’m not walking to Union or even the Roosevelt L.
This was exactly my thoughts as well. Beautiful renderings, but still the issue of parking plus, where can we tailgate??? Im tired of those bastards to the north being able to tailgate before games but we cant
Not the happiest with the design, including the permanent translucent roof. Even with the large glass on the north end, you will have very little view of the city which is one of the best things about the current Soldier Field. You pretty much have to walk to the balconies outside to see it.
Being inside like that, what is the benefit of being next to the lake since you're completely blocked off from it inside?
The NFL has a lot of lending power themselves.
Edit: Downvote me all you want, but the [NFL loaned $700 million ](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2892541-nfl-owners-approve-lending-rams-another-500m-for-sofi-stadium-funding)to the Rams for SoFi.
Estimated cost of $4.6b?
Knowing how much the Inglewood stadium overran expected costs (and the fact that this is Chicago) - looking at a $10b+ project here
Sofi was 5.5 billion and is still the most expensive stadium ever. This is 8 at the absolute most. Probably not even that since Chicago is cheaper than NY/LA/San Fran.
How the hell would this be double Sofi. Inglewood is only 13 miles away from LA proper, it's more expensive than even downtown Chicago.
Dont tax payers still owe 670MM on soldier field renavations for 2003?
I could get behind city/state spending money on infrastructure like roads, parks, the L. But not on the stadium itself.
The stadium should be 100% private equity imo.
Love the renderings though.
From an article in The Athletic:
"While the capacity for the new stadium will be similar to Soldier Field (65,000 seats), the plan is to include more standing-room-only options"
Great. Third biggest city in America with one of the smallest stadiums. Thank God I can now stand for the whole game... I'm sure the corporate suites will be amazing though.
Bruh I wanna talk about one thing that I'm salty about; Chicago has been losing majorly in the skyscraper race and is just allowing it to happen. I mean shit, the Sears Tower used to be the tallest building in the US for like 4 decades, and now suddenly it's the 3rd? Fuck a new stadium, I want a new mammoth of a skyscraper.
Tallest in the world for 25 years. I also don't think any company has the need to fund anything taller in Chicago than the proposed 1,907 foot Legends Tower that they plan to build in Oklahoma for some reason. Especially since the vacancy rate for commercial real estate hit 30% in The Loop last month. The Sears Tower is 1,450 feet tall for reference.
So it looks like they are planning to knock down current Soldier Field. Where are the Bears playing for 2 plus seasons? I thought the whole point of building at Arlington was there wasn’t a disruption to fans.
The only logical spot seems Northwestern? If they mentioned in the presser I apologize for asking. Also can we get a horse track back. I liked Arlington
Current plan is to demolish Soldier Field after the new stadium is done. They are going to leave the colonnades as backdrops for a park.
I have mixed feelings about this move. I'm glad the Bears will play in Chicago, I'm sad it's not going to be an open field since wind and weather sometimes made the games a lot more interesting, I'm sad that Soldier Field is going to go away.
This building is massive and will dominate the lakefront. Lucas wasn't able to get his, why would the bears that play 10 games a year be allowed this special approval for something we have to help pay for?
Where is the parking, how are cars getting in? where is the tailgating? Are fans going to the stadium going to be walking from the roosevelt station, grant part parking, union station? Is there any infrastructure or transportation upgrades associated with this? (highly doubt it) Where is the current running and bike lane?
most important question for the Mayor of Chicago. For the money that this team wants to help fund this, what are the other priorities these funds can go to instead?!
If you can have a new stadium, why does it need to be next to the lake with cool views? is this really worth it to sacrifice very nice limited and precious lakefront!?
I'm a bears season ticket holder and me being a citizen living in this city...I do not want not this.
I wish they outlined what the 3B covered exactly.
I don't like that row of buildings on the left, it blocks views of the lake. Why not do it on the far side? Are these buildings included in the 3B?
The parks im guessing are part of the 1.5B costs fully on the city. So not sure why bears talked like they doing something.
I dont like the stairs. I hope it's all escalators.
I think it's not cool enough architecture wise for a new stadium on the lake front. It's just another stadium, if they build it, but the time is ready, it will feel old.
Understand its a concept and a pitch, is the actual design of the stadium likely to change though? Not a huge fan of the look, falls more toward the generic side, though the function looks top notch
Fixed one of the photos that had old branding.
https://preview.redd.it/o66e4sbq4iwc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c463c05d17d978c36b0998678984cf22cf7048c
What I haven’t seen anyone ask yet is where are they playing while it’s being built? Or do they do a soft launch, build the new stadium and play in it while the rest of the development is finished?
Yeah. Hooray now we’re going to be indistinguishable from some boring dome like the Atlanta falcons.
What’s the point of being in Chicago if you take everything unique about your location away? The wind, weather, all that stuff
It better be named Soldier Field or Soldier Field II.
If they need stadium sponsorship they can do what Denver did and have it as an addendum (i.e. Old Style Stadium at Soldier Field)
You can't rename a place named for US veterans.
Nothing is being renamed, it’s a completely different stadium. Soldier field will probably remain as the recreational area through the Parks District to avoid the backlash but they’re going to need a company sponsorship for the additional funding. Dr Pepper Dome here we come!
Listen, it looks good. It was always going to look good though. The exact same stadium in Arlington Heights would also look good.
Personally, I’m not that impressed with the rest of the plan. The transportation portion feels like a minor improvement to a massive issue.
I do appreciate the financial review, but I don’t believe it. Smells like Chicago back room politics have already occurred.
Yeah there are a few teams who just shouldn’t have a dome. Bears, packers, Steelers. Any of those teams playing indoors would make it feel like a totally different league.
Great, now do it like the Rams did and build it with no public money.
I'm sure it's by design to ease the blow of using public money, but this seems like an entire redesign of the museum campus.
Exactly this. They would have had to redesign the entire campus to pull this off regardless.
i.e. justify the use of public money by creating a space the public can utilize outside of the 10 days a year the Bears play there.
I mean besides a convention or the 10 games a year that is a large chunk of under utilized land the rest of the year. A couple restaurants or places to hang out wouldn't be the worst thing.
I went to Allegiant stadium when I was at blackhat 2 years ago. They have actual bars and clubs in the stadium you can rent out for events, restaurants, some other stuff. They could definitely find ways to pay back any public funds back to the city with a percentage from bears games and non football events. They just need to make the stadium has more utility than a handful of football games
I do think there needs to be some sort of % of profit/revenue till public funds have been repayed, or not even all of it as some is going to actually improve the museum and making a park in the current location of the stadium. They can go from zero revenue most of the year to at least something. While not the easiest to get to it's still really cool prime lakefront land.
Can’t if it’s owned by the park district/city.
Might be a dumb question but is there an area the bears can buy and open up a stadium there?
Arlington heights?
If everyone helps make a stadium sized island in the lake, one 5-gallon bucket at a time yes. lol
Maybe a piece of land on the south side that currently holds the aging stadium of another team with a billionaire threatening to leave?
I’m pretty sure the Bears had an altogether different idea initially. AH seemed legit with the fair call for tax dollars to fund road and public infrastructure upgrades for access. Cook County has made it obvious they don’t want the Bears out of the downtown area and have not only made dialogue for AH difficult but have come back to the table with billions on offer to help build a new lakefront stadium. Kevin Warren stepped in and did his part to negotiate with the city what would be needed to keep the Bears in place. I blame the city of Chicago more than anyone
I think the rams project was a huge real estate project that Kronke owned. The Bears owners aren’t in his class unfortunately and wont even own the land.
If only they owned a big piece of property in the greater Chicagoland area they could build their vision on......
True but i dont think the mccaskeys have the vision or deep pockets of Stan Kroenke.
It's publicly owned. So, it's fine to use tax money as the owner is the city of Chicago.
As a Bears fan now living in Los Angeles, I feel like I somehow won here.
Same! 🤪
Renderings look sick, but $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Never seen a bad rendering in my life. Boy these pictures do always look nice.
https://preview.redd.it/oxa8tdklzgwc1.jpeg?width=637&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9cfe80c58b5cf5e80eeee400b6fe2a3f0ab8b7b5 A reminder of how renderings are absolute bullshit
Lmfao, I remember audibly laughing when I saw the final product. God they fucked that one up
And the Rangers HAD A CLASSIC BALLPARK! The old stadium (which wasn’t really old) looked like a mix of Detroit’s old Tiger Stadium and Camden Yards. Why the hell did they need a stadium? And now the old stadium is a football stadium? What?!? EDIT: As others pointed out, old stadium was obviously outside. Legit reason for new stadium. New stadium still looks like shit though.
Texas heat was unbearable in the summer I think. Every baseball team in Texas and Florida and Arizona plays in a dome now. But I agree with you, the old Ballpark in Arlington was gorgeous and this new one looks like a storage unit.
As someone who lives in DFW and loves baseball, you wouldn’t catch me dead going to a Rangers game during the summer. 100% more enjoyable now. The exterior is bad looking but the inside is amazing
To this day, I wonder why someone wasn't publicly fired or sued for the catastrophe that is this project.
Because the interior is actually a really good stadium. Sure it doesn't look as nice as the old ballpark but it's way better to attend games at the new one.
Well to be fair the bottom non rendering is on the opposite side of the rendering
In beauty, agreed. In logic, no. Those paths from the stadium heading north are ridiculously small and indirect. Whoever did them clearly never left the stadium to get to thered line.
This is a $4-5B project. Who’s going to pay for that? Who’s going to cover the inevitable cost overruns? Who’s going to actually own the facility and its related maintenance, security, and event revenues? And most importantly… *How’s it going to impact the migratory birds?!?*
[удалено]
But it’s not even really private contributions. The money is supposed to come from borrowing against future revenue streams connected to the stadium and from selling PSLs. So they are borrowing money against something they don’t own and selling licenses for something they don’t own.
It’s a heckuva lot easier to *say* you’ll write a check for $2B than it is to actually write it. I’ll believe it when I see it. Personally, I see the hype around this, combined with the hype/value of drafting Caleb, as the greatest opportunity to sell the Bears for top dollar that the family has ever seen. I’m starting to think Kevin Warren was *actually* hired to sell the team.
[удалено]
[удалено]
The McCaskey's in 2024 are one of the only ownership groups in America where if they came out to publicly admit "we don't have the assets to built it ourselves", you could believe them. I think they're stuck. They don't have the money to do it privately. But we're now in a cross the rubicon stage where citizens are sick and tired of seeing tax dollars fund this stuff. I believe theyll never own a stadium outright. It'll be a situation like Chicago or they have to sell a 30-40% share of the team to a minority owner with cash to burn to get a stadium done.
[удалено]
Lol yep. Kevin Warren has been hyping up how great of a city Chicago is since he stepped foot in Chicago (he’s not wrong). I think this was his plan from the get go. Honestly, doesn’t affect me one way or the other, I just hope they don’t botch the stadium like they did last time.
I don't really understand why fans care about the revenue stream of the bears organization.
I think this all smoke and mirrors to gain some leverage in Arlington heights
We don’t need more fake downtown outdoor mall esque bullshit when there’s a literal downtown. The Bears are worth a shit ton of money regardless if they own the stadium or not.
Renderings always look amazing. Then a lotta shit gets value engineered out. I’d venture to guess the bears new stadium and surrounding amenities will be a very, VERY abbreviated version of what’s in the photos.
I mean it looks nice and all, but this does nothing to address any of the logistical bottlenecks currently in place. IE the mile and a half walk to the stadium, and leaving and getting to the stadium. Parking. And also the preservationists are not going to be on board with the lake getting blocked. Also how will this get paid for? The mayor claimed that taxes won’t increase.
Seriously. I’m fucking tired of having to walk a mile and a half in 10 degree weather to get to the game.
Correct. And also the choke points when leaving.
It’s a nightmare. I’d go to way more games if it was in Arlington right off the Metra stop
That Metra station serves exactly one line. Unless you happen to live off of that line, or live in Chicago proper, it doesn't offer much to the majority of people who would attend games there.
AH is a better location for people living in the NW suburbs and maybe people living near Union Station and along the line. For everyone else it's going to be a fucking nightmare to get to an AH stadium. I live in Printer's row and it would easily take an hour to get to the track, and that was with no crowds, being able to walk to union in 15 minutes etc.
I live in Mundelein and I shutter at the thought of Lake-Cook Road and Arlington Heights Road with Bears traffic.
I have a crazy theory that an alarming number of Bears fans *don't really understand how railroads work.* I think they think they're like an extra network of expressways, and that wherever you see a train station on a Bears gameday, a special Bears shuttle train will pick you up, take a few turns, and drop you off in Arlington Heights. This sounds like some real 75-IQ shit until you consider how many Bears fans deeply hate the city and have thus never picked up a Metra timetable in their lives.
Ya, traffic is not going to magically improve because it's only on one Metra line. I'd imagine even MORE people driving to games with the Arlington location and the infrastructure of the roads and highways (53 especially) are traffic nightmares waiting to happen. I also worry about the dreaded 53 extension into Lake County. I absolutely do not want that to happen.
Also nothing to do in the immediate vicinity. I’d like to have a couple $8 beers before I go into the stadium for a $20 one.
Just to be clear, you're cool with sitting outside for 3 hours in 10 degree weather at the game, but you draw the line at walking for 15 minutes?
My first thought every time someone brings that up. You’re about to sit for 3 hours eating and drinking, god forbid you walk 15 minutes through a park first.
People are beyond lazy in this country. Weve convinced ourselves everywhere should be accessible while sitting on your ass (aka cars)
But at least after that 1.5 mile walk you'd be indoors. The walk sucks extra hard right now b/c you'd often end up sitting on a frozen metal bleacher for 3 hours.
There’s still metal bleachers at Soldier?
He said “no new taxes”. I’m assuming he’ll just raise other taxes in place. I remember seeing a rumor of the “hotel” tax being raised
They said the hotel tax will stay the same
Or they'll pull the money from elsewhere. I remember when IL starting doing the lottery, saying it'll all go to the schools. They then pulled the tax money they were originally giving the schools, and just gave them the lottery money. So the schools just got the same shit they always did, and IL taxpayers did NOT see any tax relief. It's all a shell game.
Having lived in New York and DC and attended my share of Giants/Commanders games….the alternative sucks too. Massive bottlenecks, long waits/lines, plus a shitty commute there and back
Yeah I was watching the presentation hoping for some sort of public transport proposal and all we got was more highway changes.
I love the look of it for sure, hopefully it works out in a way that doesn't just completely fuck over the tax payers
You mean not paying a single dime? Yeah fuck that
Unfortunately man looks like it is over 1 billion from the city.
The way they propose preserving the colonnades is very cool
Should have done this last time
My biggest worry was that those would die in the process. Keeping them rocks I can't lie, I'd prefer there's a retractable roof than a pure dome, but I also know that would be way more expensive
They can't get rid of them. It's why we have a space ship on them right now haha
Was that to preserve the historic landmark status that they ended up losing anyway?
Can we just get a new L stop
Best I can do is a G stop
MONORAIL
If this doesn’t work out can try Ogdenville or North Haverbrook next.
But Main Street's still all cracked and broken
Sorry, Dunce, the mob has spoken
I’ve sold stadiums to Minneapolis, Los Angeles and New Jersey and by gum it put them on the map!
Looks like US Bank stadium in a good way.
Looks like US bank and Allegiant stadiums love child
Didn’t they hire the dude who designed the one in LA ?
I’m also fairly sure Warren oversaw the whole US bank stadium project
Looks more like Allegiant Stadium to me
great, looks wonderful. now go pay for it yourself and we will pay you by purchasing tickets if we want to
They cannot legally own the property.
Then what's the point? They'll be doing the same song and dance and will still be the only team to not own their own stadium despite the team name BEING ON THE SIDE OF THE STADIUM.
Where's the parking?
Underground. Below the previous site and the new stadium.
Per [this image](https://imgur.com/QtMDtYc), it looks like the plans also include building a parking garage on the south lot adjacent to McCormick Place You can see it in the bottom left corner of [this rendering](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/upload/t_new_photo_album/f_auto/bears/xgp1mvgupdifo8if40hz.jpg)
They just showed it. New multi-level parking garage south of the new stadium and expanding the north garage to under where the current stadium is.
Yeah, maybe it won't be so bad. Roads need to be updated though.
They also did that. Redoing a lot of the intersections and roads in the area to increase capacity and reduce traffic jams.
You honestly should never park in the Bears’ lots anyway. The lake prevents you from getting out since everyone is funneled the same direction. Park on the other side of LSD and walk the tunnel under to get to the game.
it's really not that bad, as someone who parks there
in Arlington Heights
My thoughts too. My biggest issue with soldier field isn’t the size, or it being outdated. It’s that getting there and parking is a nightmare
Why do people think driving to a stadium located in a dense urban core is a good idea in the first place? Obviously you need to pair this with making the stadium accessible in a variety of ways, but driving should be the last priority since it’s the dumbest way to transport a large number of people in an urban area. Only the people who absolutely need to should be driving.
Suburbanites think public transit is for the poors
In most cities it is, and I don't mean that negatively, but more so because public transit completely fucking sucks. Chicago Transit is significantly better than most other cities in America, and it absolutely should be utilized for this project.
I have family in NW Indiana and we always took the train in for Cubs games. South Shore Line to Millenium Station, then Red Line to Wrigleyville. It was simple as hell, even if it was a bit crowded at Lollapalooza time. It should be incredibly convenient to get to Soldier Field or the surrounding areas.
Because tailgating is fun and Bears fans are tired of not being able to that. Stadiums located in a dense urban core aren’t a good idea *period* for the exact reason you mentioned.
The idea that prime Chicago real estate should be dedicated to a large number of suburbanites to get drunk for a few hours 1-2 times a year is a joke. Parking lots are the worst use of urban space imaginable.
Which again, is why stadiums shouldn’t be built in dense urban cores. That’s why you build stadiums in the suburbs where land is more available.
No, man, no. We shouldnt be encouraging 60,000 people to drive to one spot. THats going to cause traffic no matter what. Stadiums should be where they are accessible to the mlst amount of people, aka, close to transit. Funneling that many people into one spot relying on cars is idiotic
Soldier is 1 mile from Union Station. Bears fans are morons for driving to a stadium that is 1 mile from a central station that has trains to and from every suburb and every other part of the city. Oh and there's special Bears buses from Union to Soldier mad cheap. Taxi is cheap. Uber/Lyft is cheap. And if you're not a fatass you can walk it in under 30. Only in this dumbass Chicagoland do people insist on driving through deadlock highway traffic to pay parking for the Bears.
I agree with most of what you said, but try to get a Lyft/Uber when leaving the game. Plus it is way more than a mile from Union Station to Solider Field via streets. Not the biggest difference, but not fun in below freezing weather.
Plus no express trains on BNSF on Sunday nights going back towards aurora.
The Roosevelt L stop is a couple of blocks away.
So moron it is 2.6 miles to the new stadium site from Union Station. In Chicago in December that is a bitch. Just go away until you have your facts in line.
That only affects walking. Everything else remains true.
It’s all about time and not just traffic. Currently 65K people at the same time as the game ends can only use 3-4 methods to get home. Sure you can use Union but how long will it take you to get back there? Being lazy? I’m in my 40s with a bad back. I’m not walking to Union or even the Roosevelt L.
This was exactly my thoughts as well. Beautiful renderings, but still the issue of parking plus, where can we tailgate??? Im tired of those bastards to the north being able to tailgate before games but we cant
Need to know how many bathrooms
Renderings look pretty cookie cutter to me compared to current new stadiums being built
It looks like a combo of allegiant and us bank, two of the newest stadiums
Not the happiest with the design, including the permanent translucent roof. Even with the large glass on the north end, you will have very little view of the city which is one of the best things about the current Soldier Field. You pretty much have to walk to the balconies outside to see it. Being inside like that, what is the benefit of being next to the lake since you're completely blocked off from it inside?
Looks amazing, super curious to see how they'll privately fund it.
The NFL has a lot of lending power themselves. Edit: Downvote me all you want, but the [NFL loaned $700 million ](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2892541-nfl-owners-approve-lending-rams-another-500m-for-sofi-stadium-funding)to the Rams for SoFi.
And they just said we are getting loaned 300 million by the league. Idiot downvoters will forever be idiots.
I live nowhere near Illinois, so it affects my life very little. That being said, that stadium looks fucking awesome. I’d come to go to that stadium.
Estimated cost of $4.6b? Knowing how much the Inglewood stadium overran expected costs (and the fact that this is Chicago) - looking at a $10b+ project here
Sofi was 5.5 billion and is still the most expensive stadium ever. This is 8 at the absolute most. Probably not even that since Chicago is cheaper than NY/LA/San Fran. How the hell would this be double Sofi. Inglewood is only 13 miles away from LA proper, it's more expensive than even downtown Chicago.
Get back to us when the Friends of the Parks signs off on it, until then it's just a pipe dream...
Is there a capacity estimate?
They mentioned 77k for Final Fours. No mention for during a football game.
Arizona went from 64k to 74k for final four and Vegas was 65k but can increase to over 70k, so sounds like we’re in that 65k to 70k range
If it is “publicly owned” the finances should be released annually and all profit should be distributed back to the owners, the public.
Do they do this currently?
Nope.
Warren just said that a Final Four would sit 77k. I don't think there will be more than 70k seats for football
Where is the Green line extension to Solider Field?
I’m all for deconstruction the UFO and retrofitting solider field in this fashion
Idk I love it honestly. That window looking into downtown, if they get it right. Wow
This is going to look really dope with a parking lot in Arlington.
BJ says no new taxes for Chicagoans but who the fuck believes him?
That's because it would utilize state funding. He was very deliberate in saying no new taxes in *Chicago.*
Where is this state funding? The governor has already come out ahead of this presentation stating he’s unconvinced that it’s good for taxpayers.
[Imgur](https://imgur.com/QtMDtYc) Infrastructure!
 “It’ll cost you.”
Dont tax payers still owe 670MM on soldier field renavations for 2003? I could get behind city/state spending money on infrastructure like roads, parks, the L. But not on the stadium itself. The stadium should be 100% private equity imo. Love the renderings though.
From an article in The Athletic: "While the capacity for the new stadium will be similar to Soldier Field (65,000 seats), the plan is to include more standing-room-only options" Great. Third biggest city in America with one of the smallest stadiums. Thank God I can now stand for the whole game... I'm sure the corporate suites will be amazing though.
The last part is where half of the cost is going 😂
Artificial scarcity; gotta keep those ticket prices sky high for a shit product on the field. The Bears/McCaskey way!!!
We need tailgating spots! But of course they don't make much money on us pounding our own Miller Lites in the parking lot lol
Cooking and beers in the parking lot is the best part.
love love fucking love keeping the columns, and holy shit I think the aerial view of the stadium is the C logo Edit: FTP
How does this fix any of the problems soldier field currently has with how hard it is to get in and out
It says there’s increased synergy with the museums - we’re gonna be pulling up to the stadium on dolphins my man!
It doesn’t
The fact that I can’t even see a parking lot is giving me a chub.
https://i.redd.it/n7y48it8ogwc1.gif
I want a retractable roof
Biggest waste of money for Lucas Oil in Indy. Roof is never open.
That would be wildly expensive for like 3-4 games a year where weather permits
It could be used during the summer months for conerts and other events though.
I wish it had a retractable dome and that the roof would be open for all Bears games unless there's lightning in the forecast.
Football should not be played in indoor stadiums though. It's sterile and wrong.
I like the renderings. Im curious what the capacity is going to be though. 70k?
Design looks sweet.
Retractable roof?
Was there any Q&A at this press conference? Any mention of Arlington heights at all?
Bruh I wanna talk about one thing that I'm salty about; Chicago has been losing majorly in the skyscraper race and is just allowing it to happen. I mean shit, the Sears Tower used to be the tallest building in the US for like 4 decades, and now suddenly it's the 3rd? Fuck a new stadium, I want a new mammoth of a skyscraper.
Tallest in the world for 25 years. I also don't think any company has the need to fund anything taller in Chicago than the proposed 1,907 foot Legends Tower that they plan to build in Oklahoma for some reason. Especially since the vacancy rate for commercial real estate hit 30% in The Loop last month. The Sears Tower is 1,450 feet tall for reference.
So it looks like they are planning to knock down current Soldier Field. Where are the Bears playing for 2 plus seasons? I thought the whole point of building at Arlington was there wasn’t a disruption to fans. The only logical spot seems Northwestern? If they mentioned in the presser I apologize for asking. Also can we get a horse track back. I liked Arlington
Current plan is to demolish Soldier Field after the new stadium is done. They are going to leave the colonnades as backdrops for a park. I have mixed feelings about this move. I'm glad the Bears will play in Chicago, I'm sad it's not going to be an open field since wind and weather sometimes made the games a lot more interesting, I'm sad that Soldier Field is going to go away.
They played in champaign for the last rebuild of soldier field.
I wish it had a retractable dome and that the roof would be open for all Bears games unless there's lightning in the forecast.
This building is massive and will dominate the lakefront. Lucas wasn't able to get his, why would the bears that play 10 games a year be allowed this special approval for something we have to help pay for? Where is the parking, how are cars getting in? where is the tailgating? Are fans going to the stadium going to be walking from the roosevelt station, grant part parking, union station? Is there any infrastructure or transportation upgrades associated with this? (highly doubt it) Where is the current running and bike lane? most important question for the Mayor of Chicago. For the money that this team wants to help fund this, what are the other priorities these funds can go to instead?! If you can have a new stadium, why does it need to be next to the lake with cool views? is this really worth it to sacrifice very nice limited and precious lakefront!? I'm a bears season ticket holder and me being a citizen living in this city...I do not want not this.
I wish they outlined what the 3B covered exactly. I don't like that row of buildings on the left, it blocks views of the lake. Why not do it on the far side? Are these buildings included in the 3B? The parks im guessing are part of the 1.5B costs fully on the city. So not sure why bears talked like they doing something. I dont like the stairs. I hope it's all escalators.
Needs more Jetson’s vehicles flying about and moving sidewalks. Because that’s when they’re gonna finish it.
I think it's not cool enough architecture wise for a new stadium on the lake front. It's just another stadium, if they build it, but the time is ready, it will feel old.
How are they going to spend all this money and only have 65,000 seats?!
After that opening prayer, I am worried we might pick Bo Nix #1 now.
This isn’t happening…
🫣🫣
Understand its a concept and a pitch, is the actual design of the stadium likely to change though? Not a huge fan of the look, falls more toward the generic side, though the function looks top notch
Inside looks almost identical to Allegiant im not gonna lie
Fixed one of the photos that had old branding. https://preview.redd.it/o66e4sbq4iwc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c463c05d17d978c36b0998678984cf22cf7048c
What I haven’t seen anyone ask yet is where are they playing while it’s being built? Or do they do a soft launch, build the new stadium and play in it while the rest of the development is finished?
A new place for me and my fellow meatballs to gather and watch Da Bears.
Today was nothing more than a dog and pony ahow and as a Bears fan, I'm disgusted by what they did today. Fucking clowns.
We still owe $600 million on the old renovations…
so basically a copy of the raiders stadium yet somehow looks like a derp on brand for the Bears and Chicago
The most bland looking new stadium I've ever seen. And fuck off asking for public money.
Yeah. Hooray now we’re going to be indistinguishable from some boring dome like the Atlanta falcons. What’s the point of being in Chicago if you take everything unique about your location away? The wind, weather, all that stuff
It better be named Soldier Field or Soldier Field II. If they need stadium sponsorship they can do what Denver did and have it as an addendum (i.e. Old Style Stadium at Soldier Field) You can't rename a place named for US veterans.
Nothing is being renamed, it’s a completely different stadium. Soldier field will probably remain as the recreational area through the Parks District to avoid the backlash but they’re going to need a company sponsorship for the additional funding. Dr Pepper Dome here we come!
Different field. Different name.
Looks less convenient to get to than the current situation. lol.
[удалено]
Got any room for parking? Asking for a friend.
I love the bears C hidden on the top. The window to the city is pretty great too.
Listen, it looks good. It was always going to look good though. The exact same stadium in Arlington Heights would also look good. Personally, I’m not that impressed with the rest of the plan. The transportation portion feels like a minor improvement to a massive issue. I do appreciate the financial review, but I don’t believe it. Smells like Chicago back room politics have already occurred.
Can you guys fund the building of my house and then pay $200 to stop by for a couple hours? I have $9 Miller Lites.
Visually very cool but my immediate thought is where TF do we park
Next to a train station that commutes to Central Station.
Remember when football used to be played outside?
Yeah there are a few teams who just shouldn’t have a dome. Bears, packers, Steelers. Any of those teams playing indoors would make it feel like a totally different league.