(670 The Score) As the Bears seek to build a new stadium in the coming years, the NFL will be a key partner in the project.
The Bears’ previously proposed plan for a stadium along the lakefront in Chicago included a $300-million loan from the league. But it remains unclear where exactly the team will elect to break ground for a stadium.
The Bears last April unveiled renderings for a stadium site just south of Soldier Field, though they currently own a 326-acre property in suburban Arlington Heights and have even considered the long-vacant Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell believes the Bears are running a sound process as they evaluate their stadium future.
“Stadiums are an important role for the NFL, for the teams, but they’re also huge assets for the community because they do attract those great events, they do bring people in,” Goodell said Monday afternoon at his annual Super Bowl press conference. “And I think they’re part of economic revitalization of a lot of communities.
“(The Bears) are being very thoughtful, they’re speaking to everybody about their needs as well as community needs and where they can find a stadium that can be suitable and can have the kind of impact of having big events. So, I think the process they’re going through is very positive. And a lot of our teams are doing this.”
Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren, who has led the project since taking his office nearly two years ago, said in January that the team’s stadium focus remains in Chicago, though he also pointed to Arlington Heights as an option.
“Downtown still remains the focus, the museum campus,” Warren said. “I feel that we made a massive amount of momentum. Again, I've been here 20 months and we've made great progress. But along those lines, we own 326 acres of beautiful land in Arlington Heights. It's a fantastic piece of property. We were able to get the memorandum of understanding done there. So, optionality does exist, but I'll remain steadfast that the goal remains that we have shovels in the ground in 2025, and I'm confident that will happen.
“We have stadium meetings every single day. From a political standpoint, from a business standpoint, these things are massive projects. I've been here before (with the Vikings’ stadium project). This is not buying a house where you go and find it and you put a deposit down and then you close on a certain day. There are so many things that come together.
“Especially as we get into the spring and summer, you'll start seeing some of this progress that I’m talking about now. I feel the momentum is really moving in the right direction and from a stadium standpoint, we're right exactly where I thought we would be.”