Commissioner Labels Bears Stadium "Long Term"
If it's a bluff, it's better than anything you'll see at a Vegas hold 'em table.
This is what Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the bid made by the Chicago Bears for the Arlington Park property as she labeled it a negotiating tactic in the city's talks with the NFL team to upgrade Soldier Field.
Few go to such extremes to help themselves to a few extra dollars in a low-level negotiation.
A new Bears stadium in Arlington Heights looks about as real as possible and now the Bears even have the NFL commissioner singing their tune.
WSCR AM-670's Danny Parkins is holding a 24-hour marathon to help Athletes for Justice, the group headed by former Bears linebacker Sam Acho, as they seek to build a permanent building for the Austin Harvest store now being operated as a tent store in the Austin neighborhood.
One of the guests the station lined up for an appearance Wednesday was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
"We have a long lease at Soldier Field," Goodell said of the Bears. "It's a great place. But we're all looking to the long term and trying to look at alternatives and that's what the Bears are doing."
It's the first time someone representing the league actually came out and said something like this.
League funds could be a key in any stadium building project.
Earlier this week Arlington Heights voted to classify the property for usage as a football stadium, casino or horse racing location.
The Arlington International Racecourse is being sold by Churchill Downs, and perhaps not so coincidentally on Monday the Bears announced they have formed a partnership with BetRivers and Rivers Casino as their official sportsbook partner.
Churchill Downs owns BetRivers and the Rivers Casino.
"We are incredibly excited to announce BetRivers and Rivers Casino as our first multi-year exclusive partner in the Sportsbook and Casino categories," Bears CEO and team president Ted Phillips said in a statement. "We look forward to connecting with our fans in fun and unique ways through these avenues and couldn’t be prouder to be building this relationship with a hometown company."
Bids were received for the property by Churchill Downs but the number or cost of them hasn't been revealed by the gambling company.
Neil Bluhm is the executive chairman and co-founder of the casino and sportsbook company the Bears partnered with, and also once sought to purchase a portion of the Bears. He built a fortune in real estate and is a minority owner of the Bulls and White Sox.
"As a lifelong Bears fan, I am thrilled to have BetRivers and Rivers Casino partner with our hometown NFL team, the Chicago Bears, as the organization's only official sportsbook and casino Partner," Bluhm said in a statement.
If the Bears had simply wanted to have an official sportsbook partner, they could have continued their relationship with PointsBet. Last September they announced PointsBet as their first official betting sponsor. The company received sign usage and use of Bears logos and marks, but now BetRivers is their partner.
The Bears have something else in mind besides people betting, and it's obvious.
All any of this does is reinforce the idea they are seriously building a stadium, and it might even be a situation where the stadium is part of an overall development which keeps the race track operating. The property is 326 acres and so it's large enough to operate both, according to a story by Arlington Heights Daily Herald reporter Christopher Placek.
Pro Football Weekly's Hub Arkush speculated Bluhm could be involved in a deal with the Bears and Churchill Downs to build the stadium and it makes complete sense.
There is no doubt the Bears' value would be greatly enhanced by a stadium of their own rather than a low-cost lease like they have at Soldier Field.
Forbes put the Bears' value at $3.53 billion in its list of most valuable sports franchises, 18th overall and 44% higher than it was only five years ago. However, teams like the Cowboys or Patriots own their own stadiums and their value is much higher. Dallas' value is projected at $5.7 billion.
The dots keep getting connected, and the commissioner's comment is the latest of them.
The more the dots get connected, the more it looks like the Chicago mayor is holding a pair of deuces.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
