Chicago Bears Stadium Battle Between Illinois and Indiana Exposes Massive Taxpayer Subsidy Debate

I kind of feel like that’s what the Bears were doing with Indiana in the beginning. They were like, yeah, we know these Republicans in Indiana, they give away stuff to Mega Corp all the time. They’ll give us money and that’ll make Illinois get their act together, and then they’ll give us money.

Chicago Bears Continue Weighing Indiana and Arlington Heights Stadium Proposals

And then they were like, oh crap. We didn’t think Indiana was that big of suckers. We didn’t think they’d give us that much money. How many billions? And you’ll raise taxes on how many people? Oh, well, you know, it’s like Jason will back me up on this. Sometimes when you first see somebody, it’s like somebody, you see them out and they’re not dressed in a way that flatters them. They’re not dressed in a way that truly reveals all the talents that they have to offer. And then you go along and maybe you went out with Sally initially to try to make Suzy jealous. And then you engage with Sally and you realize, damn, Sally, you used to just dress hotter because you are hot. I feel like that’s the way the Bears were with the state of Indiana. Well, we thought you guys were kind of suckers, but and we were really just doing this to make Illinois jealous, but you guys are even bigger suckers than we thought. I might just want to be with you. Maybe I’ve stumbled into something great. You’ll give us how many billions? But I still think the Bears, because they own that property in Arlington Heights, their long term goal, the better play because of the history of the franchise. And I think the franchise will take a hit if they leave the state of Illinois. Look, I think you can sell I’m in a Chicago suburb in Illinois. I think it’s a much tougher sell to the people of Chicago to say, I’m in a Chicago kind of suburb in the next state over. I think that’s a tougher sell. And I think the Bears would take a hit. And so I think their desire is to be in Illinois. But I think the Bears underestimated what dumbasses the Illinois General Assembly actually is, even though they’ve dealt with them for years. I think they may have underestimated what complete idiots the Illinois General Assembly actually is.

Illinois Political Infighting Threatens Effort to Keep Bears Inside State

What this all comes down to, and this is crazy, the holdup in Illinois is two things. One, there’s a whole bunch of people in Chicago who don’t recognize the ship on the Chicago Bears has sailed. Like they’re not willing to accept it. Come back to the dating analogy, right? You’ve been in a relationship with somebody for a long time and they’re like, hey, it’s been fun, but it hasn’t been fun for a while. I kind of met somebody else, a couple other people. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to drag it out for you. It’s over and I loved being with you. It was fun. I don’t have anything bad to say about you. I’m just going to go on my merry way. And I want you to have a happy life, too. We all know like a friend that’s had that. Maybe you’ve had that happen to you. And then we all know the response of the people. It’s the I will not be ignored, Dan. No, we will be together. No, we will be happy. We will be together. And everyone’s like, no, no, no, no, it’s over. I’ve already, I’m already living with, I’ve already got two people offering to live with them. I’m going to pick one of them. It’s over. I should have broke it off a long time ago. That’s the city of Chicago. The mayor. This is great. The mayor, Brandon Johnson, who, if you were to look up complete dumbasses in the dictionary, there would be a picture of this guy, and he will not let it go that the Bears could stay in Chicago. He keeps coming back. What about this? What about this? The Bears, like we don’t want to be in Chicago anymore. It doesn’t work, dude. For a variety of reasons, the Bears in Chicago isn’t going to work anymore. You had like five years to make Chicago work, and you guys didn’t make it work. And we’re done screwing around. Pritzker, J.B. Pritzker, when asked about Brandon Johnson’s newest set of nonsensical garbage, according to the Capital Chronicle, dismissed a proposal saying, quote, no plan viable to pull that off. The Bears also dismissed it. So not only do you have the governor saying it doesn’t work, you’ve got the Bears saying it doesn’t work. Like that’s how bad of a spouse Chicago’s been or how bad of a boyfriend or girlfriend. Quote, according to the Bears, there are only two viable stadium locations under consideration, Arlington Heights and Hammond, and a decision expected between the two later this spring or early summer. Chicago’s out. Chicago doesn’t know it’s out. Chicago won’t accept it’s out. The problem with Chicago being out is Chicago has a massive voice in the Indiana General Assembly. These aldermen, you know, these reps, these senators, they have huge sway over the Illinois government because it’s such a population center and they haven’t accepted yet that Chicago’s done, even though Chicago is done and they’re screwing it up in Arlington Heights because they’re mad about Chicago. And the governor there keeps trying to go, hey, idiots, we’ve told you for a year now, Chicago done. We got to get this done in Arlington Heights. And the Chicago guys, like we’d rather you never love again than love someone else. And in this case, we’d rather you guys leave Illinois than go somewhere other than Chicago. It’s crazy.

Indiana Taxpayers Could Face Massive Costs if Bears Relocate to Hammond

So, Pritzker, my point in all this is like six months ago, I was like, yeah, this is dinner theater. And I think it was, but I think everyone estimated how ridiculous the Illinois General Assembly is. And now they may actually lose the Bears and Indiana. We all, as taxpayers, we all ought to hope Indiana loses the Bears or doesn’t get the Bears. We all hope Illinois gets their act together. I’m not so confident anymore. Here’s what Pritzker said when he got asked. He said, quote, I put the structure of a deal together with the Bears, and now the Senate has some work to do. I think they’re going to make some changes to the bill, no doubt. But I would expect we’ll see something before May 31st and that both houses, the Senate and the House would vote on that. May 31st, guys. It’s May the 19th, right? It is May the 19th. May the 19th. It’s 12 days. There’s 12 days to go. And the governor’s like, hey, the deal’s in place. We just got to make a couple of amendments. Here’s things we’re working on. Boom, boom, boom. No, he’s like, I put some stuff out there. The House voted on a thing. I think maybe the Senate will make some changes to it. You’re talking a multibillion dollar project on a franchise that is the founding franchise of the National Football League. You guys realize that, right? Like the Bears are literally the National Football League and they are entrenched with the state of Illinois. Isn’t the Pride of Illinois the name of the Bears fight song? And the governor’s like, yeah, I put some stuff out there. The House voted on a thing. I think the Senate’s going to get it sometime soon. Sure, we’re done May the 30th. That’s the key, right? May the 31st is when the Illinois General Assembly is done. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I realize, right, yeah, but it’ll be fine. And then he said, quote, the details are quote in the legislature’s hands. You’re the governor of the state. You may be about to lose an $8 billion plus sports franchise, the founding franchise of the National Football League. And your response is that’s in the legislature’s hands.

NFL Business Model and Stadium Subsidies Continue Drawing Criticism From Fans and Taxpayers

Look, if I’m the Bears, I know there’s going to be a lot of blowback to leaving Illinois. But we all know at this point the National Football League is a business. It’s not about the fans. It’s about making money. Everything these guys do is about making money. And we, as fans, are silly enough to buy into the hometown pride heart of the city, my city, whatever the slogan is. And we keep lapping up the product they give us. There are different types of NFL fans. There are casual fans, but then there are fans who actually buy into. And I feel bad for these people, but they buy into that. The team actually gives a damn about the city. They don’t. They’re a business. It’s why they keep making you buy more and more streaming services to watch the product. It’s why I hope the Congress acts on the antitrust exemption the NFL has had for years, and these other pro sports franchises, when they do their TV deals, take it away from them that those deals were put in place 65 years ago with the idea that this is going to be on free television for the country to consume, and now the NFL is making a gazillion dollars and forcing people to buy a gajillion streaming services to watch their product. They’re a money making operation. That’s why they raise the ticket prices every year. That’s why they raise the concession prices every year. That’s why everything keeps going up. It’s not about you. They know how more and more unaffordable it gets. It’s a money making operation like any other business. And so if you’re the Bears, I don’t know if we’ve accepted that it’s a money making operation, which you kind of did when you said, we’re leaving the city of Chicago to begin with, because the Bears have a stadium that was funded by the taxpayers of Chicago and the state of Illinois, and they want out of there because they want more money. It’s a money making operation. Then the best deal for you right now, even if the legislature signs off on this pilot deal, it’s payment in lieu of taxes, which is the proposal for the Bears in Illinois. Indiana is still the better deal. Indiana are such a bunch of suckers, and the amount of money that they’re going to give the Bears on tax increases on us, Indiana’s a way better deal. Even the best Illinois deal, Indiana is a way better deal. Look, I thought months ago, I was like, ah, this is just the old I’ll go out with this other hot chick to make the hotter chick want to be with me. Now, I think the Bears may actually go to Indiana, the Illinois General. I underestimated the incompetency of the Illinois General Assembly.