City of Chicago, Bears unveil plan for a new lakefront stadium, but significant hurdles downstate threaten their hopes

CHICAGO (670 The Score) — With a unified vision shared between Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and the Bears, the city and the organization presented a plan for a multi-billion stadium project along the lakefront in a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at Soldier Field.

The cost of the entire project would near $4.7 billion, with the stadium itself accounting for $3.2 billion of that total. The proposal to pay for the stadium includes more than $2 billion in private funding from the Bears and $300 million in loans from the NFL but would also require $900 million from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority in the form of extending bonds of the existing 2% hotel tax. The project will also require about $1.5 billion to fund infrastructure. That would rely on approval from the Illinois state legislature, and Gov J.B. Pritzker is “skeptical” of the plan, he told reporters Wednesday.

"I wonder whether it's a good deal for the taxpayers," Pritzker said, according to the Sun-Times. "It's early on ... It's very important to me that with all the state needs to accomplish that, you know, we think about what the priorities are."

Illinois house speaker Chris Welch told the Chicago Sun-Times that the plan would “fail, and it would fail miserably,” which he relayed to Bears president Kevin Warren last week.

Gov. Pritzker wasn't present for the ceremony Wednesday, which was led by Johnson, Warren, Bears chairman George McCaskey and team executive vice president of stadium development Karen Murphy.

Johnson and Warren presented a plan that they claimed wouldn't introduce any new taxes. Billed as “a state-of-the-art, publicly owned enclosed stadium,” the lakefront venue would be built on the property south of Soldier Field. The plan would be for a seating capacity of approximately 65,000, with the hopes to break ground in the summer of 2025 and open in 2028.

The stadium would feature a translucent roof, similar to Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium – a project that was led by Warren during his tenure as the Vikings’ chief operating officer – and has design similarities to the Raiders' Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Manica Architecture, which designed Allegiant Stadium, would lead the project in Chicago.

“We are the organization that George Halas dreamt we would become,” said Warren, who's entering his second year as the Bears’ president.

Under their proposal, the Bears would continue to play their home games at Soldier Field until the completion of construction of their new stadium. The vision is for the stadium to host the Super Bowl, Final Four, Big Ten football championships and the World Cup.

The city of Chicago has never hosted the Super Bowl, Final Four or Big Ten football championship. It wasn't included in a recent Sports Business Journal list of the best sports business cities in America.

“We’re going to see a Super Bowl in the city of Chicago, and it’s going to be our team playing,” Johnson said.

Under this proposal, for the groundbreaking to occur on schedule in summer 2025, approval must occur in the present session of the state legislature. That is open through this May 31, meaning the Bears could face a time crunch.

The Bears’ sole focus for the location of a new stadium is on the city’s lakefront, Warren has often repeated, despite the team owning a 326-acre property in suburban Arlington Heights. The Bears closed on their $197.2-million purchase of Arlington Park in early 2023, but they've encountered property tax disputes with three local school districts there.

Early this year, the Bears announced their intention to build a stadium south of Soldier Field in the city.

“We are excited to invest in the greatest city in the world,” McCaskey said.

By rule, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority can only provide the $900 million in stadium construction. Given that, the fate of the Bears' proposal could rest in the state legislature with the hopes to secure more than $1.5 billion in public funding.

Notably, Gov. Pritzker and key state leaders weren't present as participants in this stadium ceremony at Soldier Field on Wednesday.

Each year of waiting for approval on the project would cost an addition $150 million to $200 million in costs, the Bears said.

"We don't think that's prudent," Warren said. "The time is now."

Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 .