While Indiana officials are hyping up efforts to lure the Chicago Bears across the border to build a new stadium, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that he and his staff have made “progress” in incentivizing the team to stay in Illinois.
The governor’s comments came as Pritzker’s January calendar showed he had two scheduled conversations with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell while Goodell was in Chicago on Jan. 10 for the Bears’ playoff game against the Packers.
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During the game, Goodell, along with Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren and Chairman George McCaskey, toured the team-owned Arlington Heights site as well as sites in northwest Indiana, including one near Wolf Lake in Hammond.
The first conversation between the governor and Goodell was a half-hour phone call scheduled for Jan. 9, while the second conversation was a half-hour discussion between the two on Jan. 12, according to the governor’s calendar entry. The governor’s office declined to comment Monday on the conduct or content of the conversation.
But the scheduled talks underscore that work around a Bears stadium has not stopped, even though the Bears said in December they were exploring a move to northwest Indiana after talks with Pritzker and his Democratic allies in the Illinois General Assembly stalled.
A key sticking point in Illinois is how the state would help the team, legislatively or financially, build a stadium in Chicago’s northwest suburbs. In particular, the conversation revolves around aid for infrastructure surrounding the proposed Arlington Heights stadium, property tax certainty for the team and paying off the debt for a Soldier Field renovation that was undertaken at the team’s request more than 20 years ago.
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Sources familiar with discussions between the Bears and Illinois officials said the two sides have been meeting regularly since early December to develop legislation for this spring’s legislative session in Springfield. The negotiations are consistent with improvements to public infrastructure at or around the Arlington Heights Bears stadium site and so-called major projects legislation that would make it easier for the Bears to negotiate property taxes with local governments, sources said. Additionally, the governor’s office has sought steps from the Bears to make the game more affordable, sources said.
Since the Bears announced in December that they were opening the doors to a stadium across the border, Indiana’s Republican Gov. Mike Braun has said his administration is “working hard” to attract the Bears and pushed a bill that would create a state authority to “acquire, build, equip, own, lease and finance” a stadium.
But Pritzker struck an optimistic tone Monday when describing Illinois officials’ recent relationship with the Bears at an unrelated news conference in southwestern Illinois.
“There’s been a lot of discussion, a lot of conversations going on with the Bears, and frankly, progress has definitely been made. So I’m happy about that,” he said in Belleville. There, he and other lawmakers discussed a bond program aimed at spurring economic development in Illinois communities. “But I’ll let the Bears talk about what they want to accomplish and how they want to accomplish it. Obviously I was involved in the negotiations, as was my entire team and members of the Legislature.”
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In late December, Pritzker’s office signed a new $25,000 contract with an outside lawyer to continue advising the government in its negotiations with the Bears through the end of June, the Tribune reported.
Pritzker also reiterated his stance Monday on the Bears’ pursuit of state incentives, saying he doesn’t want taxpayer dollars to pay for the stadium itself but is willing to use state funds to help the team with infrastructure funding, which often includes road improvements and other transportation-related initiatives.
“For example, we’re helping businesses build the infrastructure that they need and other things that any business growing or building new facilities in Illinois can use to put people to work,” the governor said. “You know, those are the normal incentives and that’s what I expect and we end up being the Bears, you know, depending on where it goes.”
A team consultant estimated last year that infrastructure improvements near Illinois Route 53 and improvements to nearby Metra rail lines could cost more than $850 million in public funds. What’s more, the Bears may need big-project legislation so they can negotiate property tax bills with local governments.
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Another issue facing Bears officials is the more than $500 million in public debt owed by the controversial 2003 renovation of Soldier Field, which is currently covered by city hotel taxes or, if insufficient, Chicago’s share of state income taxes. The Bears’ lease at Soldier Field expires in 2033 but can be terminated earlier via penalties, and the team said it will take three years to build a new stadium.
But even if the debt is paid off, that alone may not be enough to satisfy state lawmakers who represent large swaths of Chicago and are unwilling to incentivize the team to move outside city limits, even to Arlington Heights.
A few weeks ago in Springfield, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) sent out a survey to other House Democrats to find out where they stood on the bear issue. The results of that investigation have not yet been released.
As for whether he was serious about the Bears’ interest in moving to Indiana, Pritzker said Monday, “I never thought it was a bluff.”
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“I mean, I’ve always been concerned about making sure we can attract businesses or keep businesses here in Illinois,” he said. “So we’ve been having conversations with the Chicago Bears – I don’t know, by the way, for a year and a half or two years. Specifically, I think a lot of the things that we’ve proposed to work with the Bears on are probably things that they would be willing to do to stay in Illinois.”