Chicago's White Sox and Bears are reportedly working together toward securing public funding for their respective stadium construction projects.
"We’re working with them … to have a financing partnership that makes sense for us and for them and for the city and the state," Curt Bailey, president of Related Midwest, a developer working on the White Sox stadium project, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
According NBC Sports Chicago, citing reporting by Crain's Chicago Business, Illinois government officials recently asked both teams to work together on a joint public funding plan for their stadiums. State Senate president Don Harmon specifically has told both teams there is little appetite in the General Assembly to approve separate stadium legislation, according to Crain's. That way, the state can maintain positive relationships with both teams.
A source close to the Bears confirmed to NBC Chicago the team has “always been willing to work with any Chicago team." White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf also told Crain's that he doesn’t “want to be in competition with the [Bears-owning] McCaskeys," either.
"I think it will make sense for them to work together because there is the danger that they 'won't get picked' if they try to go in alone. Admittedly, that risk is lower for the Bears, but it is still there," economist Fred Smith, a professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, said in a text conversation with NBC Sports Chicago. The risk, according to Smith, is admittedly lower for the Bears than for the White Sox, because the Bears' stadium plans offer a greater chance of true economic benefits for the city and state. The ability to draw dollars from outside the city and state is how the local economy would benefit from a stadium project, Smith added.
The Bears have stated they plan to build a stadium with a roof for year-round usage. Assuming they also plan to build a stadium with a larger capacity than Soldier Field's NFL-lowest 61,500 seats, they'll have a stadium much larger than that of the White Sox.
That means they'll have the capacity to host NCAA tournament games, Super Bowls, WWE events, concerts and more, NBC Sports Chicago's Ryan Taylor reported. Those events generate useful dollars for both city and state, as opposed to a White Sox stadium relying on the city's dollars to back the cost of their stadium and outstanding bonds.
“If you look at the proposal from the White Sox, it looks like a gorgeous ballpark and there’s retail and commercial development around it, maybe some hotels," Smith told NBC Sports Chicago. "That’s definitely going to increase the economic vibrancy around that neighborhood.
"But at the end of the day, all that’s doing is changing where people are spending their dollars. If people are spending their dollars in that neighborhood, then maybe they’re not spending their dollars in Logan Square, or maybe they’re not spending their dollars in Wrigleyville.
“What works in the White Sox's favor is you do get some fans coming in from the metro to baseball games. The fact that you have 81 home games. The frequency of the home games does help there. But you’re obviously not hosting a Final Four in a ballpark.”
