(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Gov. JB Pritzker sounds skeptical about the prospect of using state taxpayer dollars to help bankroll a potential new White Sox ballpark on the South Loop parcel known as "The 78."
White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and developer Related Midwest went to Springfield last week to pitch legislative leaders on providing as much as $1 billion in public assistance for a new White Sox ballpark to be located near Roosevelt and Clark, near the Dan Ryan Expressway.
At an event Monday, Pritzker told reporters that he thinks "there's still a lot of work to be done" when it comes to making the case for state assistance.
"The taxpayers' dollars are precious," Pritzker said. "The idea of taking taxpayer dollars and subsidizing the building of a stadium -- as opposed to, for example, subsidizing the building of a birthing center -- does not seem like the stadium ought to have higher priority.
"Many of us sports fans want to see the teams succeed, but these are private businesses," he continued. "We've seen other teams support their own stadiums privately. That would be ideal here, and that would be something I would encourage."
The governor acknowledged that the artists' renderings of a potential new Sox ballpark are "terrific," but added that's not enough to justify investing taxpayer dollars in the project.
"The information that we've gotten so far is still very limited," the governor said. "How the taxpayer is going to benefit from this still has not been put forth, it's just what the need is."
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