(670 The Score) Chicago mayor-elect Brandon Johnson is prepared to pick up from his predecessor in City Hall with goals of keeping the Bears at Soldier Field.
On the Mully & Haugh Show, Johnson said that he has asked the Bears to give him a chance at evaluating their situation with Soldier Field. The team in September of 2021 signed a $197.2-million purchase on the 326-acre property at Arlington Park with plans of constructing a new stadium.
The Bears closed on the purchase of Arlington Park in February.
“I'm not going to accept inevitability, and I’ve asked ownership to give me an opportunity to be able toa assess, and then we can make a collective determination together,” Johnson said Wednesday morning. “The reason why I don’t ever accept inevitability. Like, I come from a family of 10. We had one bathroom. I am the baddest negotiator in the world, and I mean bad in a good way. Like, I know how to leave the house clean. The type of deals that I make to get there, don’t judge a brother.
“Keeping the Bears in the city of Chicago is important. And the field should not be confined to eight games and hopefully a playoff game or two. It’s a beautiful campus, and it’s an entire infrastructure that the city of Chicago has not fully tapped into. I want to make sure that the field, the museum, the entire campus is used in a way that speaks to our excellence.”
Johnson won the runoff election for Chicago mayor early this month after defeating Paul Vallas. Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her bid for re-election in late February. Lightfoot proved to be a tough figure for the Bears as they re-evaluated their lease at Soldier Field, shooting back at the team’s exploration of Arlington Park as “noise.”
“Finalizing the purchase does not guarantee the land will be developed, but it is an important next step in our ongoing evaluation of the opportunity,” the Bears wrote in their open letter after closing on the property. “There is still a tremendous amount of due diligence work to be done to determine if constructing an enclosed state-of-the-art stadium and multi-purpose entertainment district is feasible.”
Listen live to 670 The Score via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker