Mere hours before the Bears hosted the Vikings at Soldier Field for the season opener, team president and CEO Kevin Warren sent a letter to Chicago fans. It spilled exciting news that the Bears’ new home will be in Arlington Heights, about 25 miles northwest of Soldier Field. That means it’s definitely not downtown, unlike last year’s plan.
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Entrepreneur and investor Joe Pompliano, in his latest newsletter Huddle Up, dug into the connection between the two locations and broke down exactly what went down before this recent announcement. He also pointed out that the new stadium is expected to pull in over a billion dollars in revenue before it even opens.
The story starts in 2024. President Kevin Warren came out to announce that the Bears were planning a new stadium downtown. The project was massive, and they were asking for about $2.4 billion in taxpayer money, including $1.5 billion to upgrade surrounding infrastructure and $900 million for the stadium itself.
Add debt, interest, and previous renovation costs, and the total ballooned to a whopping $7 billion. On top of that, the city would lose money from hotel taxes and an additional $55 million in revenue from concerts and non-NFL sports events at Soldier Field.
The announcement was huge, obviously, but the press conference only had about 300 people. Everything felt rushed too. Well, it turns out the Bears were playing a masterclass.
The downtown project was really just a negotiation tactic … they had already dropped $197 million to buy 326 acres in Arlington Heights. Taxes were a sticking point for that site, but after the downtown announcement, the property tax was slashed to just $3.6 million.
Now, the Arlington Heights stadium is officially happening, and it won’t need any state funding. Good news for Chicago fans … But it gets better. This project is expected to create 56,000 construction jobs and 9,000 permanent ones. Pompliano also notes that almost half of Bears season ticket holders live within 25 miles of the new site, so it actually makes things more convenient.
How will they pay for it, though? Pompliano thinks the team will sell a small stake in the Bears (less than 10%, which could net around a billion dollars), and tap the NFL’s G-4 Stadium Loan Program for $200 million (repaid from future stadium revenue).
They will also rely on three big pre-opening revenue streams: Personal Seat Licenses (season tickets for a specific seat), luxury suite sales, and stadium naming rights, which alone could bring in $20 million per year. The San Francisco 49ers generated $1.25 billion from the same strategies over a decade ago, and since Chicago is a bigger market, the Bears could do even better.
So, if everything goes smoothly, Soldier Field, the oldest stadium still used by an NFL team, will no longer be home to the Bears. And honestly, that’s for the best. The stadium opened in 1924, the Bears moved in for good in 1971, so it’s long overdue for a new home. They can buy out their lease at the current stadium next year for $84 million.
