The Chicago Bears of Arlington Heights?

‘They’re Coming:’ Franchise Moves Closer to Leaving Its Home City of 104 Years

By Clete Campbell Windy City End Zone Staff Writer

The Chicago Bears’ stadium dreams now 100-percent reside in the Northwest Suburbs.

Official Artist Sketch of Bears' Proposed $5 Billion Arlington Heights Football Entertainment District.

The Bears have announced that the old Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights is now Ground Central for their planned $5 billion (and climbing) new domed stadium and entertainment complex. The team owns the 326-acre property, having bought it in 2021 for $197 million.

The city of Chicago has seemingly unceremoniously dropped out of the running despite mayor Brandon Johnson’s best efforts.

Arlington Heights mayor Jim Tinaglia has courted the Bears with a casino blitz of goodwill dealmaking in hopes of bringing the NFL’s oldest franchise to his village of 74,495.

"Over the last few months, we have made significant progress with the leaders in Arlington Heights and look forward to continuing to work with state and local leaders on making a transformative economic development project for the region a reality," the Bears said in a statement.

Tinaglia went ten yards further downfield, telling the Daily Herald’s Christopher Placek that the Bears are all but signed, sealed and delivered future residents of Arlington Heights.

“We can read between those lines the same way and say, ‘Arlington Heights for sure they’re coming,’” Tinaglia said. “But when Kevin or (Chairman) George (McCaskey) looks me in the eye and says, ‘Jim, we are teammates, and we’re coming your way,’ that’s when I say, ‘OK, I am ready to work with you and let’s make this all happen the best way possible.’”

But the Bears are far from taking this dream project from paper to brick and mortar. The Bears’ $5 billion financing plan is more convoluted than the state of Illinois’ plan to get out of pension debt. There are more funding holes than potholes on Lake Shore Drive.

The Bears have shifted their position, the Tribune reported Friday, and now will not request state funding for the stadium project but will still likely request public money for infrastructure (an ask which Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said a hard no to).

“I don’t know who the Bears work with on their timing, but I’d say they’ve perfected the art of bad timing,” state Sen. Robert Peters, a vocal team critic whose district includes Soldier Field, told the Tribune. “I wish they could master the art of having a good team instead of doing this.”

The team has reached a deal on its property tax rate with local school districts, who are now all in on the Bears moving to their backyard along with untold millions of tax revenue.

In a joint statement Friday afternoon, the school districts — Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 — said they welcome the Bears’ proposed stadium and entertainment district, which “has the potential to generate long-term economic growth, increase regional visibility, and create new opportunities for our students and communities. We are excited about the possibility.”

“We believe there is a path forward that supports both world-class development and strong public education, and we look forward to continuing these important conversations.”

But again, there’s no clear money map to build this Chicagoland football Disneyworld.

The proposed grand sports entertainment complex includes hotels, a fitness center, sportsbook, Bears Hall of Fame, a concert performance venue, restaurants, retailers, homes, park, and open space. Bears chairman George McCaskey has stated that private equity "may be utilized as part of our stadium construction financing plan," but that the team has yet to make a decision on that option.

But Tinaglia believes the city and the Bears are “headed in the right direction.”

Bears president Kevin Warren continues to work forward with a firm goal of having “shovels in the ground” by Dec. 31.

Back home, Johnson said the Bears’ executive management has told him “they intend to prioritize the development site located in the village of Arlington Heights.”

But skeptics inside Chicago believe this could be classic grandstanding and political maneuvering by the Bears, who, they claim, are using Arlington Heights as collateral bait to lure a lucrative stadium deal from the city that they’ve called home since 1921.

It’s the oldest trick in the public funded stadium playbook, one that’s been tried more times than the “Philly Special.”

State Rep. Kam Buckner, whose district includes Soldier Field, told the Herald the Bears pivot is “déjà vu,” and a “stadium misdirection package.”

“A hard count to bait Springfield, play-action fake to sell the lakefront dream, then a double reverse back to Arlington,” the Chicago Democrat wrote in a fiery post on X. “This isn’t a development plan, it’s a master class in stadium whiplash. And it isn’t over.”

Which brings us back to what we still don’t know. Will the Bears ever actually live in Arlington Heights?

That’s the $5 billion question yet to be answered.