Governor to evaluate tax proposal for Bears stadium in Arlington Heights

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker is not ruling out tax legislation to help the Chicago Bears move forward with a stadium project in Arlington Heights.

The governor said Monday that his administration is still evaluating a bill to use sales-tax revenue that would come with a large-scale development to support that project.

“We’re going to evaluate what the costs are for the people of Illinois to do this, the benefits that come from attracting businesses as a result of providing that ability to use those tax dollars,” Pritzker said.

Officials from the National Football League team held a press conference last Friday to provide an update on training camp in Lake Forest and the team’s stadium plans.

Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said his team has held weekly meetings with Arlington Heights officials. The Bears own 326 acres of land at the site of the former Arlington Park horse-racing track. The team purchased the site for nearly $200 million in 2023.

According to Warren, all the team needs to move forward is property-tax certainty.

“This is not any transfer of money from the state of Illinois to the Chicago Bears or other businesses. This just says, ‘We’re going to allow you to negotiate the property taxes,’ which is critically important,” Warren said.

Warren said the “mega-project” bill that was on the docket last spring would allow companies like the Bears to negotiate with local taxing authorities.

Warren hoped for a positive vote from the state legislature during the fall veto session and said it was all the team needed to move forward.

Pritzker said his administration would evaluate the costs and benefits.

“I do not think that the taxpayers of the state of Illinois should be propping up what is now an $8.5 billion-valued business. They seem to be doing OK for themselves,” Pritzker said.

Bears Chairman George McCaskey said stadium developments take time.

“It’s on us to convince the governor and the state legislators that this is a good idea for the people of Illinois. We need to do a better job of that,” McCaskey.

McCaskey said the project could be transformative.

“The concern is that delay means greater expense, and it also means that we’re missing out on another round of the assignment of major events,” McCaskey said.

The Bears said they hope the new stadium would attract the Super Bowl, NCAA basketball and other large-scale events.

The team currently plays at Soldier Field in Chicago. Last year, the Bears proposed a $4.7 billion stadium project for the lakefront that involved public funding.

Pritzker said it was his hope that the Bears would stay in the city, but he said he did not think they would leave Illinois.