(670 The Score) The city of Chicago made some news Tuesday evening, when Crain's Chicago Business reported that a mayoral committee was interested in putting a dome on top of Soldier Field. The renovation would likely cost city taxpayers between $400 million and $1.5 billion, according to the report.
Many saw the news as the city's attempt to position itself advantageously if -- when? -- the Bears leave for Arlington Heights, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk echoed that sentiment during an interview with Laurence Holmes and Leila Rahimi on 670 The Score on Wednesday.
"I think it is silly," Florio said. "And I just wonder how much of these ideas that get thrown around are part of laying the foundation to put blame on the Bears if they end up leaving. Like, 'Hey, we tried everything. We tried. We tried to offer a dome, we tried this, we tried that. They chose to go to Arlington Heights. Blame them, don't blame us.' Any time you get politicians involved, there's always a chance that the truth is something other than what they want us to think it is.
"Any time you've got a team that wants to get an improved situation, wants to get public money, it needs to have leverage. For some teams, the leverage is there's another city out there that will build a stadium and pay for most of it. For the Bears, it is, 'We'll find our own place nearby and buy it, build it and pay for it ourselves, and see you later Soldier Field.' So it looks like something that's just going to be a back-and-forth until somebody gets a deal done -- or doesn't get a deal done. We'll see how it plays out. But the idea of putting a dome on Soldier Field -- I don't know why these NFC North teams want to give up their home-field advantage. The Vikings should have never done it. Wouldn't it be something if the Packers were the only team left that has weather as part of its home-field advantage?"
The Bears signed a purchase sale agreement with Churchill Downs Incorporated last September to acquire 326-acre Arlington Park. While nothing is finalized on that front, the Bears continue to explore the potential of the property and the possibility of building their own state-of-the-art stadium there.
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