NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears moving to Arlington Heights was once seen as a foregone conclusion.
It is anything but that as of right now.
Greg Hinz of the Crain’s Chicago Business reports on the team’s shift from moving to a new stadium at the site of the old Arlington Park to a return to Chicago’s lakefront. And, yeah, it’s a doozy of a read
So much for Arlington Heights being No. 1 on the priority line.
New Bears President Kevin Warren’s vision vs. Ted Phillips’ plan
HInz’s reporting is behind a paywall (a reminder that it’s OK to pay people for their work) so I won’t get too far deep into the nitty gritty. But the gist is that the perceived tax value on the land is a reason for the shift. However, a bigger game-changer is the change in upper management that has happened since the Bears bought the land.
This snippet stopped me in my tracks:
“But the big reason for the shift to a city focus has been a change at the top of the Bears organization, with Kevin Warren succeeding Ted Phillips as team president.
Like team ownership and other Bears Brass, Phillips had a suburban focus. After all, the team headquarters is in leafy Lake Forest. Warren came from the Big 10, and before that built a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings — in downtown Minneapolis. He lives in Chicago. He’s praised the city’s glories in recent comments to the media, and the Bears’ own website features a day-in-the-life profile of him in which, while driving from his downtown apartment to Soldier Field, he waxes about his “love for a “beautiful” city.
Articles like that don’t just happen to appear on company websites. They tell you something about where a company is headed.”
CHECK IT OUT: Kevin Warren Won’t Rule Out the Bears Staying in Chicago
On the field, the team goes from having a new coach inherit a previous regime’s mess in a regular toxic cycle of doom. Off the field, it looks like they’re doing the same thing. But instead of a coach inheriting a messy QB situation, it is a president inheriting the outgoing president’s mess. If ever there is a constant in life, it’s the Bears being the Bears — am I right?
I’m floored. My read on the situation is that new President Kevin Warren wasn’t vibing with the deal that his predecessor, Ted Phillips, signed. Maybe it is because of the tax deal … or Warren’s preference for the city as opposed to Phillips’ fondness for suburbia … or something else that the new president deems to make it not as ideal for the team. Whatever it is, there has been a notable shift from being focused on a move to the burbs to a look at returning to Chicago that goes beyond a negotiation-101 leverage play.
What happened to Arlington Heights as the Bears sole focus?
If it wasn’t the Bears, I’d be surprised. However, I am not surprised to read about the team going from Arlington Heights being the singular focus to the situation we’re in now. After all, this is the Bears we’re talking about and things going sideways for this franchise is nothing new around here. I’m not surprised. Not in the least. And you shouldn’t be either.
It should’ve been big, bright red flag when the team made it known that other municipalities were in the mix to be the next home of the Bears. The Bears going from Arlington Heights being the spot to regular news dumps of other municipalities are interested was a sign that shouldn’t have been ignored. Remember how Bears President Kevin Warren addressed the situation in September?
And when the tax stuff popped up, it was a reminder that this wasn’t going to go smoothly for the Bears. Although, if you’ve followed the Bears (and studied the City of Chicago, Cook County, and State of Illinois political scene) for as long as I have, then you knew it never was going to be smooth sailing.
MORE: What if the Chicago Bears New Stadium is Next to Soldier Field?
Wise minds know there are no guarantees when you put the Bears, Cook County, City of Chicago, and the State of Illinois in one room. In isolation, each of those entities is chaotic and unpredictable. Put them together, they’re a powder keg of calamity. Hence, we have this situation at our feet.
The Bears have gone from having Arlington Heights lined up for a move to circling back to Chicago as a primary possibility. What a difference a year makes.
But at least those meetings with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (who extended the olive branch when he was Mayor-elect) weren’t all for nothing.
Stay tuned. I think things will only get weirder from here.
