37 Da Bears Moving To A New Habitat

DABEARS

MOVING TO A NEW TO A NEW HABITAT 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. 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

Robert Quinn #94, Roquan Smith #58, Khalil Mack #52 and Bilal Nichols #98 celebrate a sack

entertaining sports venues for their teams and they feel Soldier Field doesn’t offer that,” said McHugh.

The move, however, has drawn a negative response from others on campus such as USF senior, Nick Howard, who says “I think it would hurt them because you are already in a big market in Chicago and I don’t think Arlington will be as big of a market, and it will take a long time to regain the fanbase the Bears already have in Chicago.”

One of the most prominent figures against the Bears moving is Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, who’s been on rocky terms with the Bears ownership. Lightfoot tweeted that her administration “Remains committed to continuing the work to keep the team in Chicago. As I have said numerous times, our door in City Hall remains open.” According to the Washington Posts Matt Bonesteel, Lightfoot claims that the Bears canceled a meeting with city officials on September 28. In response, Lightfoot shared with the Chicago Tribune “We have attempted to understand what their interests are for months, and they have not shared them”.

However, Lightfoot feels confident that there is something that will keep them in Chicago, saying “I’ve seen a couple of reports but a couple of data points I think you should be aware of are the Bears have a lease with Soldier Field through 2033 and the NFL doesn’t let any teams break their leases.” The Chicago Tribune did find that the Bears could get themselves out of the lease after the 2026 NFL season by paying a penalty of $84 million. However, if they aren’t ready to buy the lease out in 2026, the fee would go down each year until the end of the 2033 season. For now, the Bears will continue to play their home games at Soldier Field for at least the next five years. Pending if they can get out of their lease after those five years are up, the team might be following in the footsteps of other teams. As Professor McHugh said, “The Bears could follow teams such as the San Francisco 49ers who play their games in Santa Clara, California, or the Dallas Cowboys who play their games in Arlington, Texas.”

However, it’s growing increasingly clear the Bears’ time at Soldier Field is ticking down to its end as more developments about the team’s activities in the next five years should be interesting to follow.