Western suburbs, yes, but I grew up in Green Bay, and my family still lives up there (which is why I was up there over the weekend).
@AlsoNamedBort I live downtown and got season tickets just this year. So I’m basically in the opposite spot you are.
My comments about the location are more targeted at the idea that McCaskeyville in Arlington Heights would be a year-round destination. I have no doubt they will be able to sell out, it’s a huge fan base and demand is crazy. They won’t struggle to fill it. But, they will alienate tens of thousands of people who have had tickets for generations (and bought fucking PSLs once).
The issue with the location of for all the other pie-in-the-sky stuff that is being proposed around the location. If that’s not going to be some huge money maker then the whole argument for leaving the lakefront goes up in smoke.
Just to clarify, for those not familiar with the area:
- The Arlington property is a couple of blocks east of the Euclid Avenue exit off of IL-53, and is adjacent to the Northwest Highway exit off of 53.
- It is “off the highway” – IL 53 is a six-lane, divided, limited-access expressway.
- If, by “off the highway,” you’re strictly speaking of the interstate, it’s is true that it isn’t “off the interstate”, but the Euclid exit is about 2 miles north of I-90, and the Northwest Highway exit is another mile north of that.
Driving around in the downtown area, and trying to find parking, is no picnic on a game day (or, really, any time), either, so it’s not like they would be leaving an area which is currently traffic-friendly.
You’re right that Arlington Heights would be considerably less convenient for people coming from the south suburbs, or downtown (and, more difficult for those who take the L to a game). OTOH, it’d be considerably more convenient for those from the western and northern suburbs.
There’s no getting around the fact that nearly 100% of the traffic to a suburban site would be car traffic. Downtown a not insignificant amount of traffic walks or takes public transit, I don’t know the data but having been part of the mob going in and out dozens of times I’m pretty sure it’s north of 50%.
But, like I said. They’ll sell out no matter what. Someone is going to be pissed either way. I think the logistics will be a nightmare even for the north and western burbs due to the crush of traffic and reliance on driving. Downtown a sizable percentage have very eco-friendly and time-friendly logistics and all the suburban folks suffer basically equally.
Well, they’re walking the last few blocks to the stadium, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a proportion of them are walking to the stadium after having parked in the parking garages in Grant Park, or in the Loop.
But, regardless, yes, you’re right, a suburban stadium would lead to very few people using public transit to get there.
As far as “would it actually be a year-round tourist attraction,” it’s a fair question. I don’t think there’s any reason it couldn’t be a destination for Bears fans – no, it wouldn’t be downtown, but it’s also not in Iowa. Bear fans made the trek down to Bourbonnais for training camp every year (and went up to Platteville before then).
The Packers draw fans to come to the Packer Hall of Fame, which is full of exhibits about the team’s history. Bears fans note that their team has every bit as storied a heritage as the Packers do – there’s no reason why the Bears couldn’t develop a similar hall/museum.
I think the key point is that Chicagoans have a lot of better things to do than go to a for-profit sports museum. Jerry World was supposed to have a Cowboys Hall of Fame and it was never built, probably never will be.
Probably the closest analogy will be SoFi Stadium and the associated Hollywood Park project which may or may not ever come to be a reality. I suspect that 80% of what’s proposed will never see the light of day now that Kroenke has his money-making mega stadium, the rest of the project is in limbo.
I’ll just note that Green Bay residents aren’t the primary audience for the Packers’ attractions. It’s Packer fans (and, football fans in general) who make a point of coming to Green Bay to see Lambeau, and everything else.
You may well be right that the Bears fans who live in the city wouldn’t go out to “Bearstown” in Arlington Heights (or, they may go once). The Bears have fans all over Illinois, all over the Midwest, and even all over the country. Attractions like Titletown, “Jerryworld,” etc., are, more than anything else, tourist attractions. Hell, baseball fans, in large numbers, go to BFE Dyersville, Iowa to see a baseball diamond in a cornfield.
People come to the Chicago area from various smaller cities and towns in Illinois and the rest of the Midwest to see the touristy things. They come to see the Bean, go to Navy Pier, etc. A good chunk of them who are Bears fans (or, even, just generally football fans) would likely make a visit to a Bearstown part of their trip, if they could see a Bears multimedia museum, tour the stadium, maybe attend a preseason practice, and so on.
I will guarantee you that there will be Bears fans would love to get married at the Bears’ stadium, and that there are companies and organizations who would love to hold events at the Bears’ complex; both of these are big reasons why the Packers built their Atrium, and that facility is regularly uses for such events.
All of the above are basically additional ways for a team to make money from their fans, and are ways that the Bears have zero ability to capitalize on right now, while other teams are starting to do so.
Just as one useless anecdote: I have visited Chicago once (loved it!). I did in fact go to Soldier Field to check out a pre-season practice (kinda boring!). I would not have done that if the stadium was 30 miles outside the city. I was staying downtown without a car, but I almost certainly would not have gone even if I did have one. I think Omni has a point about that.
The calculus is certainly different if you’re staying downtown, and moreso if you don’t have a car.
Another thing to note: the Schaumberg area has several attractions which also attract a surprising number of tourists from outside the area, including Medieval Times, the Woodfield Mall (allegedly the second-most visited tourist attraction in Illinois), and even IKEA. All of those are within a 10-minute drive of Arlington Heights.
They do all of these things at Soldier Field today.
That may be, but the Bears don’t benefit from it, since they don’t own the stadium; when you have such an event at Soldier Field, as I understand it, you’re paying the city.
I suspect there’s a rev share for that but I take your point.
It doesn’t appear that way – several sources indicate that the Bears receive nothing from other events at Soldier Field. From this recent article:
And, from this older article in the Chicago Tribune:
Maybe. Certainly that’s true for things like concerts and parking lot festivals, which is the big money stuff these articles are referring to, but for the things they actually host in the United/Cadillac Club I suspect that’s at least partially a Bears thing.
The inside of the stadium is all outfit with Bears logos/memorabilia and the Bears hold the sponsorships which name that spaces. The team furnishes all those spaces and I’d imagine they get at least part of the revenue. It’s such a small number in the grand scheme of things I don’t expect those news stories to cover it.
Weddings, museums and corporate events are barely a rounding error. The meaningful revenue they are losing is the concerts and soccer revenue.
I do wonder what the balance sheets for these venues look like. While the Bears don’t own the space they also don’t pay for the property taxes, maintenance, landscaping, and most of other upkeep. Their annual rent is vanishingly small. So while they aren’t earning from the concerts their costs are also going to be close to the bottom of the league. I’m sure it’s a net loss, but I’m not sure how big the numbers we’re talking about here are.
I imagine this stuff is available for the Packers being public but the size of the town and cost of living will depress their earning potential by quite a lot. I’m doubtful that they’ve even come close to breaking even on those improvements so far.
Frank Clark isn’t exactly looking like the brightest bulb.
And yet another offseason arrest. This one is particularly disturbing, Barkevious Mingo arrested for indecent sexual contact with a child
Both players are former Seahawks. FORMER.
Frank Clark is a scumbag, but I don’t know that this gun thing will amount to anything. I think our gun laws are largely pretty absurd. That a NFL player think’s it’s reasonable that he or his security carry fully automatic weapons for “protection” is equally absurd. I suspect Clark is really just all about fronting a lifestyle. But there’s millions of Trumpy assholes strolling around with military style weapons doing the same shit, so I think this is just the way things are. He’ll get off with a slap on the wrist.
The Mingo thing…holy shit. Fucker is a gonna hang.
And continuing in the off season getting in trouble trend: next up is Richard Sherman
Speaking of former Seahawks, there is Chad Wheeler.