Any thoughts on the Bears leaving Soldier Field?
 

It's been out there for a couple weeks now, but we haven't really talked about it.

I guess the team bought an old horse track or something in Arlington Heights and tried to be secretive about it. Local media caught wind and the response was, "It's good to keep our options open"

The mayor gave a pretty good response, "Maybe you should worry more about beating the Packers than getting out of your Soldier Field lease."

People have brought up a pretty good point. Soldier Field is iconic, but it's a tiny ass stadium, and its glory as a historic stadium kind of got shit on when they renovated it into a mutant spaceship years ago. Getting a nice big indoor place like the Vikings' new digs would allow them to host Final Fours and all that jazz, too.

And at the same time, the economics are pretty clear that tax payer-funded stadiums aren't good community investments at all. They don't stimulate shit for economic growth compared to the cost of building them.

If the Bears build themselves a stadium rather than extorting the city to do it for them, then I am all in favor of such a move. Professional sports teams should never be allowed to force cities to build their facilities for them.

"The Bears are locked into their Soldier Field lease until 2033. If they bail before then, the team will be on the hook to the Park District for $5 million a year for the remainder of the agreement."

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/...he%20agreement.

Shit happens when you don’t draft Mahomes.

Soldier Field is a dump... it seems to be in a nice area, but the actual stadium is terrible (the renovations they did about 20 years ago were an epic fail).

That's chump change.

Don't care.
Locals might care, but watching on TV, all football fields pretty much look the same and they aren't "part of the game." It's not like baseball with distinctive stadiums/fields like Fenway and Wrigley (which are both kind of dumps).

I laughed at the beating the packers bit. Well played.

Solider field is a dump

The Bears have sucked balls non-stop since 1986.

REX GROSSMAN. SUPER BOWL!!!!!! AAAAHHHHHH

I was at the Bears last home game at the original Soldier Field.

Playoff game CHI vs PHI...Hugh Douglas suplexed Jim Miller on his ass and was taken out of the game, Bears lost.

Crains and construction workers were all ready to go...once game was over they immediately started renovations once people cleared out of the stadium.

Ain't happening. It would be like the Chiefs moving to The Legends sans the iconic lake location, current public transportation option, and actual shit to do near the stadium.

If any team could surely use a stadium with a roof it's Chicago.

Chicago is a top 5 major American city and the Bears franchise is iconic. They absolutely deserve a shiny new billion dollar stadium.

I don't hate the Bears but I don't necessarily like them, either, mainly because Bear-Packers and Bears-Vikings games were broadcast in KC every year during the 70's and 80's while playing the most boring football of all time.

Every freakin' weekend we'd get one, maybe two games on Sundays: Chiefs and whomever they were playing on the road (because they rarely sold enough tickets to beat the Blackout Rule) and the Bears, because Chicago is only like 500 miles away.

The Bears haven't been relevant really since the mid-80's and that was such a brief time period of greatness that all of their shitty seasons have been mostly forgotten. But until the McCaskey family sells the team (which has been rumored this year), they'll suck ass because the owner is 190 years old.

Iconic for what? The 1985 season?

LMAO

No one outside of Chicago would even notice if the Bears franchise was wiped from existence.

They're circling the drain with their current ownership.

Only gripe they may have is Soldier Field is the smallest stadium in the NFL in one of the biggest markets. They could probably pack in a few thousand more Ditka wanna-be's regardless of their record.

You got that right! I STILL can't believe they passed on Mahomes and Watson for Trubisky. :doh!:

I'm with the Bears on this one.

They play in the third smallest stadium in the NFL, and it's a shit hole.

No reason why Chicago doesn't have something like MetLife in New York.

I think what the mayor said, while funny and true, was a huge mistake. COVID has changed the world in which we live. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a crazy liberal city that's going to shut down over the next health scare.

Soldier Field is terrible. There are about 5-6 stadiums that need to be blown up and replaced.
Fed Ex Field for the Redskins is one of them. It's a rust bucket and dump in the middle of the ghetto

That is what I was going to ask. Maybe then it is time for them to bail. Unless the move somewhere for three years, destroy soldier field, and rebuild it.

They deserve that billion dollar stadium all day long just so long as it is private financing.

I personally believe the Bears are about to be really good. Managed to make the playoffs with Mitch and now they got a really accurate rookie.


And Soldier Field sucks

When Virginia kicks the bucket, the team will be up for sale. Get a new stadium and that price tag will go up even more.

I think they tried to do what Lambeau and Arrowhead did in terms of keeping the iconic stadium framework, while doing major renovations inside of the stadium but it was an epic failure.

They either have to try that strategy again and hope for better results or do a total teardown.

Maybe they could get the Chargers to join them in Chicago and pay for half of it?

:hmmm:

Landing a UFO on top of a coliseum wasn't the best choice towards preserving the icon

Las Vegas was happy to contribute $$ towards a new indoor stadium. I'm sure Chicago won't mind doing that as well. Think of all the events they could hold in a new indoor stadium.

Chicago or Las Vegas what's the difference people like to travel there.

LOL please be sarcasm.

This city is beyond broke, like junk bond rating broke. Like mass exodus broke.

I don’t know why people get emotionally attached to stadiums.


Level that ****er and build a great new stadium.

Agreed. It’s time for Mahomes to get the Chiefs a shiny new stadium with retractable roof.


https://www.chiefsplanet.com/bb/showthread.php?t=333581

Yes...it's on the waterfront near all the other cool places in chicago (for a tourist anyway)

Chicago is a top 5 city?

Top 5 in what? Crime? High taxes and costs of living? People leaving the city?

Chicago ****ing sucks man. My entire mom's side of the family lives up north side right off Sheridan and Lake Shore Dr area. Just a little north of Wrigley. After about 2 days I'm ready to gtfo.

**** that place.

You mean dump change? Dump the lease and change!


On a side note, I wish I had that chump change!

As of last week, your mom's side of the family lives right off Sheridan and Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

Chicago is awesome... probably won't ever live there due to the weather and typical big city problems, but there's a ton of great things to do, beer to drink, shows to catch.

Never been to CoMo's mom's place though, sounds like it's a shithole and should pass on it.

That is a very long street sign.

Its Chicago. Who cares. I spent too much time there. Maybe in wrong parts because of work.

Stole my pt

Butkus would pile drive your ass for this

No indoor stadium. Part of the Bears legacy is the weather...

Objectively, 5 million a year is chump change to an NFL team, probably even the McCaskeys.

Some teams spend twice that much just on fines from the NFL for their work place environment.

That’s what they said about the Vikings too.

Yep, when we retired from the area 7 years ago it felt like we had escaped prison. Not sure how Frazod deals with it.

And they lost their edge and haven't been very good since...

They should leave it...

And going to Arlington Heights? Nice, and with multiple routes in would help with the congestion factor that downtown has.

I'd be out of this one who sucks the penis in a hot minute if I had the means to do it.

Been there. Shitty stadium and even worse fans. **** them both.

Chicago is a crime-ridden shithole, can't blame them for wanting to get out of there.

The Ginger Bears, even Giantsbane wouldn't claim to have sleep there.

I've been to numerous games at Soldier Field over the years. Other than being an abomination to look at from the outside, it's not that bad. Biggest problem is getting there and getting back. Parking sucks balls; there are no close lots except for VIP types. Of course, when I go, I almost always sit in my season ticketholder FIL's excellent seats, which are on the 40 yard line about three rows up in the upper level. The nosebleed seats are ghastly. The grade is steep as hell - you practically need a sherpa to guide you to the top. I had seats about halfway up once - I didn't move from the seat until the game was over. Even the young and fit were huffing and puffing going up that incline. I very much preferred general seating before the space ship renovation, even though the amenities sucked.

Personally I'd applaud the move to the Arlington Heights and a new, spacious stadium. God knows my FIL would love that, since he lives in a bordering suburb. But I'll believe it when I see it. IMO it's just posturing.

I've only been to a handful of pro stadiums - obviously Arrowhead, Soldier Field, Lambeau and whatever the dome in St. Louis is called these days. Of the four, Lambeau is far and away the worst. It's like a glorified, ancient high school stadium; tiny, decrepit and featuring bench seats with assigned spots far too close together. I was there for a preseason game and talking to the people around me about it. They said that if I thought it was bad in August, try December, when everybody is wearing five layers of clothing. Ugh. You couldn't pay me to watch another game in that shithole.

We are blessed to have Arrowhead.

I didn't know the Bears played at Wrigley Field until 1971 when they moved into Soldier Field. I always knew Soldier Field had been around since the 1920s so I guess I just figured the Bears always played there. Interesting. The Chiefs have played in Arrowhead since 1972. The Bears went one season playing in a different stadium due to renovations at Soldier Field, so if the Chiefs have played every single season since 72 at Arrowhead, the Chiefs and Bears have both played the same number of seasons at their current stadium.

I'll never understand the monumentally atrocious decision to keep the colonnades and then go with modern architecture for the renovations. Dumbest looking stadium in the NFL.

Yes, it was sarcasm.

Chicago can barely pay back its lotto winners.

There's always Gary, IN...

Hey they just got a new casino!

I moved from southern Indiana to NW IN, about an hour from Chicago. Had never been there in my life and never had any thoughts of going. In laws took me a couple times before we moved up here. River tour around downtown, Navy Pier, and museums. I’ve been there I think twice since moving here. Took kids to Shed Aquarium. The aquarium and that area there is fairly nice. Museum of science and industry was really neat.
But with that being said, we’ve been there enough for my lifetime. I hate driving thru there and all the damn toll roads to get there. Only time we go to Chicago now is to the airport!

I went to Soldier Field for Mahomes first year of starting, preseason game. We got our ass kicked by Chase Daniel. I thought the stadium was ok

I have a customer that has season tickets, I tried to get him to sell me tickets to Chiefs/Bears game the year we won the SB. He wouldn’t do it, he wanted to see Mahomes play! And Mahomes slaughtered them! I believe that was the game Mahomes counted to 10 on his fingers.

Perhaps the mayor's time would be better spent on cleaning up the killing field that is her city

Sometime you gotta respect Deberg’s troll game.

I went to a Bears game at Wrigley Field.

Crazy how things have changed.

Back in those days, baseball was king & football teams had to make do in baseball stadiums.

I'm OK with them moving if the team pays for it. It's not like closing down Wrigley. Soldier Field isn't Arrowhead. I'd fight that one tooth and nail.

I've been to every Chiefs game played at Soldier Field since 1996. The Mahomes preseason game was definitely a letdown. Made me wonder if his performance the prior week was a fluke.

Clearly I was mistaken. :D

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Then a few years ago, Northwestern and someone played a game at wrigley and they had to stop and switch ends, because there was not enough room past the end zone.

Cluster.

My grandma had season tix to the Bears since the early 60's. She was friends with Halas' wife.

My mom and uncle used to go to games there all the time as kids.

The old soldier field used to sit next to Jim Beluschi. Then when the alien spaceship invaded in 2001 her tix were moved up to the media deck and sat in front of the away team coaches/press box. Sat in front of Gun and Solari, Mitch and Lenny during that 2007 season where Bowe jumped in front of TonyG and snagged away that TD iirc. A buddy i went to the game with used to intern at KMBC9 under Lenny when he was still there doing sports and so we got to sit in the press box for a little and shoot the shit...only Chiefs fans in the section since everyone else there were STH so we stuck out. Fun times.

Bears bought the Arlington Park land parcel.

https://www.chicagobears.com/news/st...arlington-park

I didn’t know that the Bears had the smallest stadium in the league. That doesn’t seem right for one of the league’s largest markets.

Was reading around a bit to see how the Bears fans feel and holy ****ing shit do they hate Nagy something fierce.

Nagy is the walking dead there. He’s most likely gone if he loses to Detroit on Sunday

Bears fans were sending apology tweets to Mitch Trubisky after Sunday's loss, saying they now know it was Nagy all along LMAO

Too bad the company that sells gehas didn’t buy the rights to Soldier Field instead.

Yeah.

It's been awhile since I've seen a game there, but I remember that it's not really set up for a fan experience like tailgating. I wonder if they expanded that aspect if they would draw more people in and justify having a 75-80K stadium? The Bears are NFL royalty due to their longevity if nothing else, they should have fans flooding in there every home game.

Anyone familiar with Soldier Field knows that the stadium itself is a dump. Location is nice but there isn't much room to expand or improve the facilities and I hear the accessibility of the stadium leaves a lot to be desired.

Build a new stadium for da Bears.

Any thoughts on the Bears leaving Soldier Field?
 

If he’s a bad coach, he’s a bad coach. But I think they’re under the impression that he’s some Adam Gase mother****er, and that’s just not quite true.

It can get a lot worse than Matt Nagy. John Fox, for example. Or Dick Jauron. Or whatever sad sack pieces of crap they’ve employed over the years

https://media1.tenor.com/images/ed16...itemid=4981184

The Bears had one, count it, ONE net passing yard?? How is that even possible in 2021? And the 48 yard pass interference they got against the Browns was more yardage than the rest of their offensive gains for the game?

Man, 2012 Brian Daboll thinks that sucks shit. Lol, wow. And the Bears' defense sacked Mayfield 5 times to boot! Nagy's ass is feeling a bit warm today....

Mayor beetlejuice is gonna be pissed

Smart of them to leave the City. They will have a much easier time building a stadium and other revenue makers outside of that city. I mean look at the BS the Cubs had to endure to renovate Wrigley Field.

Best thing that has ever happened to the Bears IMO.

The whole thing is a mess. Bears v. Chicago is sort of like the battle of Stalingrad - there are no good guys.

Bears ownership and management is awful. Between insanely trading up to get Trubisky, acquiring Mack, and then getting fleeced trading up to get Fields, Pace has squandered high draft picks like a drunken sailor at a titty bar, and it will be a couple of years until they're out from under that mess. Along the way they've run the team into the ground, alienated the fan base, and broken Nagy. And on the other side you've got the odious Mayor Beetlejuice and the city, which want to bleed the franchise and every other money-making entity dry.

I don't blame them for wanting to move, but every step of the process will be fought, litigated and certainly bungled by the Bears, Chicago, Arlington Heights, Cook County and the State of Illinois. It could be years before they even break ground on a new stadium.

This will be a disaster for everybody except the lawyers.

They should. He's awful.