It gets cold in Chicago, especially during football season. For years now, the Windy City has provided the Chicago Bears with a pretty good home-field advantage for that very reason.
Outside of what the Green Bay Packers boast at Lambeau Field, few venues in the Midwest can be as terrifying as Soldier Field when the temperature drops into the single digits. That’s a home-field advantage the Bears are seemingly willing to part ways with, though.
The Bears are reportedly dreaming up a big future for Chicago football. According to ESPN, they have a concept in place for a 326-acre “multi-purpose entertainment district” highlighted by a new stadium with a roof on it.
The idea is for Chicago to become a destination for events like the Super Bowl, College Football Playoff, and Final Four.
It’s worth noting that the Bears do have a lease at Soldier Field that runs through 2033, but they can end it as soon as 2026 for a roughly $84M buyout.
That may seem like a lot, but it’s merely chump change when compared to the $197.2M purchase and sale agreement the Bears have with the property in Arlington Heights that currently hosts Churchill Downs.
Per ESPN, the Bears’ organization is hoping to close on the land by 2023 and it sounds like an ideal location for a new stadium and entertainment district.
Team president and CEO Ted Phillips said that’s not necessarily a guarantee, though.
“If we do close on the property, it does not guarantee we will develop it,” the team’s statement read, per ESPN.
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