Chicago Bears bought Arlington Heights track only to build next to Soldier Field?

SCNCY

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Sep 11, 2009
10,718
8,529
113
37
La Fox, IL
If

If they buy and develop AH

Well for crying out loud. This makes them seem like goddam fools if they DON'T move forward

Maybe things have changed, but I was always under the impression that the McCaskey family's wealth was derived entirely from the Bears franchise. Any income they received was due to income derived from the operations of the franchise. So I assume they are trying to leverage the value of the franchise to become real estate developers. If this is correct, I would guess there is a high likelihood that this will happen.
 

tman24

Well-Known Member
Feb 6, 2008
6,143
1,964
113
If

If they buy and develop AH

Well for crying out loud. This makes them seem like goddam fools if they DON'T move forward
Hopefully the owners arent idiots. They should see how much Jerry is generating at JerryWorld, and go why dont we do something like that.
 

JP4CY

Lord, beer me strength.
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
74,720
95,812
113
Testifying
Maybe things have changed, but I was always under the impression that the McCaskey family's wealth was derived entirely from the Bears franchise. Any income they received was due to income derived from the operations of the franchise. So I assume they are trying to leverage the value of the franchise to become real estate developers. If this is correct, I would guess there is a high likelihood that this will happen.
I think that is also true with the Davis family.
 

Rabbuk

Well-Known Member
Mar 1, 2011
56,961
46,118
113
Maybe things have changed, but I was always under the impression that the McCaskey family's wealth was derived entirely from the Bears franchise. Any income they received was due to income derived from the operations of the franchise. So I assume they are trying to leverage the value of the franchise to become real estate developers. If this is correct, I would guess there is a high likelihood that this will happen.
Yeah George Halas paid like 100 bucks or something in like 1915 for the team.
 

drmwevr08

Well-Known Member
Nov 25, 2006
7,713
3,731
113
Arizona
Would be a good way to build wealth by adding land and development to the team value.
I still don't love teams in the burbs. Hope they have or create some good transit access.
 

BigTurk

Well-Known Member
Dec 17, 2013
2,949
3,669
113
Maybe things have changed, but I was always under the impression that the McCaskey family's wealth was derived entirely from the Bears franchise. Any income they received was due to income derived from the operations of the franchise. So I assume they are trying to leverage the value of the franchise to become real estate developers. If this is correct, I would guess there is a high likelihood that this will happen.

Yes. The Bears is the McCaskey family business. They are not like Steve Bisciotti who was a billionaire before buying the Ravens. The McCaskey family is like the Bidwills and Browns in the sense that the team is the only business they have and the team has to support the entire family. My FIL follows the Bears closely and has said repeatedly that as long as the Bears make money the McCaskey family is happy. Winning is nice but it isn't that important.
 

1UNI2ISU

Well-Known Member
Jan 30, 2013
9,104
12,223
113
Waterloo
Good chance the Bears would become the second most valuable franchise if/when this project gets done. They're already 6th and don't own their stadiums like the 5 above them

Cowboys-$7.64B
Rams-$5.91B
Patriots;$5.88B
Giants-$5.73B
49ers-$5.18B
Bears-$5B
Jets-$4.8B
Commanders-$4.78B
Eagles-$4.7B
Broncos-$4.65B

If you're looking for a bargain, you can buy the Lions, Bengals, Bills or Jags for an affordable $2.9B.
 

BigTurk

Well-Known Member
Dec 17, 2013
2,949
3,669
113
Good chance the Bears would become the second most valuable franchise if/when this project gets done. They're already 6th and don't own their stadiums like the 5 above them

Cowboys-$7.64B
Rams-$5.91B
Patriots;$5.88B
Giants-$5.73B
49ers-$5.18B
Bears-$5B
Jets-$4.8B
Commanders-$4.78B
Eagles-$4.7B
Broncos-$4.65B

If you're looking for a bargain, you can buy the Lions, Bengals, Bills or Jags for an affordable $2.9B.

I wish someone would buy the Lions. The Fords are terrible owners.
 

VeloClone

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2010
48,544
39,375
113
Brooklyn Park, MN
Arlington Heights Bears, it has certain ring to it.
Kind of like the Arlington Cowboys (formerly Irving Cowboys), Orchard Park Bills, Paradise Raiders, Inglewood Chargers, Ingelwood (formerly Anaheim) Rams, Miami Gardens Dolphins, Santa Clara 49ers, or my favorites the Landover, MD Redskins, New Jersey Jets and New Jersey Giants.
 
Last edited:

exCyDing

Well-Known Member
Nov 29, 2017
5,664
10,193
113
Would be a good way to build wealth by adding land and development to the team value.
I still don't love teams in the burbs. Hope they have or create some good transit access.
The site has a Metra stop on the north side of the site. The L stops at O'Hare, so it'd need a 10-15 mile extension depending on the route. I'm not sure how much sense that makes, and I'm inclined to think any suburbs the line would have to go through that aren't Arlington Park would probably fight it.
 

Rabbuk

Well-Known Member
Mar 1, 2011
56,961
46,118
113
The site has a Metra stop on the north side of the site. The L stops at O'Hare, so it'd need a 10-15 mile extension depending on the route. I'm not sure how much sense that makes, and I'm inclined to think any suburbs the line would have to go through that aren't Arlington Park would probably fight it.
There's no appetite from the wealthy people in the northern suburbs for an El. Same reason a bunch of neighborhoods in Chicago are impossible to drive busses through.
 

JP4CY

Lord, beer me strength.
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
74,720
95,812
113
Testifying
I wish someone would buy the Lions. The Fords are terrible owners.
I thought the NFL bars owners from owning a team in another major league otherwise you'd think the Illitch family would own the Lions.

But I also don't get how Kroenke owns an NBA team as well.
 

houjix

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2021
1,926
1,944
113
I thought the NFL bars owners from owning a team in another major league otherwise you'd think the Illitch family would own the Lions.

But I also don't get how Kroenke owns an NBA team as well.
Owned the Avalanche and an MLS team, too. I think the NFL rules are they don't want you to own teams from other leagues in the same city as an NFL team. He pulled some trickery with his son running those teams, but he eventually transferred ownership to his wife. She is a Walton and her cousin is now owner of the Broncos.
 
Last edited:
  • Informative
Reactions: JP4CY

1Nation

Active Member
May 16, 2013
657
73
28
CA
I thought the NFL bars owners from owning a team in another major league otherwise you'd think the Illitch family would own the Lions.

But I also don't get how Kroenke owns an NBA team as well.
NFL owners used to be prohibited from owning other professional teams in cities that had NFL teams (if there was no NFL team it wasn't an issue). For example The Vikings owner could own the Twins because they're both in Msp but the Vikings owner could not own the Guardians (because Cleveland has the Browns).

However, that was changed a few years back and they can now own other sports teams anywhere.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: JP4CY

canker2323

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2006
1,615
379
83
47
What Cheer, IA
Hopefully the owners arent idiots. They should see how much Jerry is generating at JerryWorld, and go why dont we do something like that.
This is wishful thinking here. Bears ownership is terrible.

Chicago had the worst owners in 2 different pro sports until Bill Wirtz died.