DA
BEARS
MOVING TO A NEW
HABITAT By: Matt Lauterbach Staff Writer Soldier Field is the oldest stadium in the NFL and has been one of the most renowned in league history. The stadium has hosted home games for the Chicago Bears since 1971 and was even a National Historic Landmark for a time. After years of the Bears organization threatening to leave Soldier Field, the move appears to be more real than ever as the Bears are eyeing to make the suburb of Arlington Heights their new home. The Bears made a bid for the open land in June 2021 so they could explore the idea of building a new stadium. On September 29, the Bears announced that they signed a $197.2 million purchase agreement to buy the 326-acre property which is occupied by the now closed Arlington International Racecourse. This is the latest move, in what hasn’t been the easiest of relationships, between the organization and the city of Chicago. The organization has floated around with the idea of leaving Soldier Field several times over the last 50 years. Things didn’t get any easier after the renovation of Soldier Field in 2002, which decreased the teams seating capacity to 61,500. This capacity is the lowest in the NFL and therefore created less revenue opportunities for the team.
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Should the Bears move to Arlington Heights? The move would be seen as giving the organization more to work with, since they would officially own their own stadium. Athlon’s Sports writer, Gabe Salgado, states “Having their own stadium would allow [the Bears] to set their own seating capacity, they could also put a retractable roof or dome on the venue if they desire, meaning the in-game experience should be more enjoyable whether it’s in August or during the winter." Salgado goes on to further explain, "A roof along with greater seating capacity could put the Bears in better position to host a Super Bowl down the line." Some people agree with that decision, such as University of St. Francis (USF) senior, Chris Kelly, who shared “I guess it’s good in the sense you can build a bigger stadium and it’s more local to citizens. The only thing is you leave the history behind of going to Soldier Field." Others, such as USF professor Brien McHugh, aren’t big supporters of the potential move, but understand the reasoning behind it. “I would not like to see it happen, but I understand it’s a trend in cities across the US to build
