Jerry Reinsdorf is insistent White Sox need public funding for new stadium, hints new owner would move team out of city

(670 The Score) In his first interview detailing why the White Sox should receive public financing to build a new ballpark in the South Loop, chairman Jerry Reinsdorf stressed to Crain’s Chicago Business the threat of the franchise leaving Chicago when it’s sold after his eventual death.

Reinsdorf, who will turn 88 on Sunday, explained that his son Michael, the president of the Bulls, “will have an obligation to do what’s best” for the other White Sox investors after he passes away.

“That likely means putting the team up for sale … The team will be worth more out of town,” Reinsdorf told Crain’s .

Reinsdorf was in Springfield on Tuesday to drum up support from lawmakers for about $1 billion in public financing to build a new ballpark in The 78, a tract of land in the South Loop along the Chicago River. Reinsdorf believes it’s in the public interest to finance the White Sox’s move from Guaranteed Rate Field in Bridgeport to the South Loop, as the team can serve as an anchor of a new development that will feature bars, restaurants, entertainment, shops, a hotel, apartments and more, according to a proposal.

“At the end of the day, the benefits to the city and state are going to outweigh the cost,” Reinsdorf told Crain’s. “This is not (just) a ballpark. This is a development of which the ballpark is the anchor.”

A new stadium in the South Loop would help generate around $200 million annually in tax revenue in The 78, according to Related Midwest, the owner of the property. Related Midwest refused to reveal details to Crain's on how that estimate was reached or who conducted the study, leading to enhanced skepticism from critics about the figure's accuracy.

Reinsdorf also contended that the White Sox need a new stadium to compete at a high level, claiming they can’t generate enough revenue at Guaranteed Rate Field to pay for the rising salaries of star MLB players. He didn’t go into further detail with Crain’s on that topic.

Reinsdorf also revealed that the public financing tab would run more than the initial $1 billion that was initially reported. Financing of the stadium would require $1.1 billion in subsidies from an existing tax on Chicago hotel rooms and also about $900 million in infrastructure work surrounding the stadium from a tax-increment financing district that covers The 78, according to Crain’s. Building the surrounding entertainment district would cost another $2 billion or so, Crain’s reported.

In Reinsdorf’s perfect world, preliminary construction on a new ballpark would begin in later 2024 and the White Sox would play in beginning in the 2028 season, Crain’s reported.

The White Sox have played at Guaranteed Rate Field, previously known as Comiskey Park, since 1991.