NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears’ trek to the suburbs is inevitable.
There has been a whole lot of chatter regarding the team’s move to Arlington Heights. We’ve seen renderings, went to a meeting, discussed the lack of a dome, and been tracking the project all the way through. But there is new reporting on the Arlington Park project from NBC-5. And it brings a new dimension to the happenings surrounding the Bears’ pending move to the ‘burbs.
Bears Move to Arlington Heights
Reporting from Alex Maragos, Nathan Halder, and Shelby Bremer provides new details for us to peruse. NBC’s investigative team acquired messages between Arlington Heights officials and Bears employees through a Freedom of Information Act request. That’s quality, old-school, Big J, Journalism. And I have so much respect for it. Give it a full read when you can. Meanwhile, we’ll highlight some details:
“Since that day, their communications paint a picture of partnership – completely coordinated messaging and, as Bears President Ted Phillips put it, shared excitement about “bringing our vision to life.”
Now, compare that to the Bears’ public relationship with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot:
Enough said.
The Bears were anticipating the possibility of a city leak so much that thy still got beat to the punch? Huh. Really? Something feels off about this, but I can’t fully grasp it. I find it odd because the only communique regarding a move was apparently in messages between Arlington Heights officials and folks using a Bears email address. After all, approaching a city official about a possible move could’ve been grounds for breaking a lease that can’t be broken without a sizable payout before 2026. But playing a he-said, she-said game over who leaked what when feels like a waste of time.
In the end, I don’t think anything found in the emails is wholly earth-shattering. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting. Ultimately, I don’t think anything will come of it that will prevent the move to Arlington Park. But this look behind the curtain of how the sausage was made adds another layer of intrigue. I doubt this is the last we’ll hear of new details surrounding the inner workings of this deal.
