@NorthernHawkeye
Can you please put an X where you were strolling at when the punk accosted you? Be specific. Kudos for pretending you've been to someplace bigger than Indianola in the last 10 years, and that someone was walking with you.
Chicago and the White Sox in serious discussions for a new baseball only stadium downtown.
- Thread starter lucas80
- Start date
Can you please put an X where you were strolling at when the punk accosted you? Be specific. Kudos for pretending you've been to someplace bigger than Indianola in the last 10 years, and that someone was walking with you.
Maybe on that July night back in 1979…,..but really? In my lifetime??? It was a dump……..a smelly old dump.
I also don’t hate it. Food is better than Wrigley IMO. Much more spacious and easy to maneuver around. Used to hop the red line down 4/5 times a year to games. But haven’t been in years at this point (since kids). Too far and just not worth it.
And they’ve done some awesome renovations to the roof, the outfield, and in particular the left field area which is the largest kids zone in the MLB.
This is true. There’s some talk of the Fire possibly moving in to Comiskey and remodeling as sole tenant if the Sox go. I personally think the Fire are better positioned to develop at that site. Joe Mansueto is more loaded than Reinsdorf, and a rectangular soccer stadium would host a greater variety of events.
Done right this could be a magnificent venue if they design it to blend into the area. Jerry could really fatten up the value of the team for his heirs and partners. The Score said today that Jerry’s kids have been buying off some partners, so maybe that is an angle. And, with the Bears most likely moving to AH, the city would work to keep them. Taxpayer money would be involved, but overall it should be something that can be nailed down.
That would cost a lot to re-do for Soccer. That's how they got to the Harlem park, which was an old harness racing track
I wish MLB would have done a better job preserving old ballparks. Thank God Wrigley and comiskey still exist
There was no harness track there, I think it was some kind of light industrial
Ok. Hmm
Well, I am not sure why they don't play there still. Soldier Field is awful
Agreed. Time to start building replicas of old ballparks. We can start with Comiskey
The new trend is to create an area, not blend into one - see Atlanta, Texas, Baltimore
I was meaning architecturally. That area is actually doing well. There isn’t room to create a team owned destination, but it is still intriguing.
Agreed. Time to start building replicas of old ballparks. We can start with Comiskey
First ever MLB game I attended was at Comiskey, June 20, 1980. We sat out around the right field foul pole. There was a big fight where a Tigers batter hit a ground ball and instead of running to first, ran to the mound instead and jumped the pitcher who had his back turned, hitting him twice. A fight, a home run with exploding scoreboard and extra innings, pretty good first game.
WSNS Channel 44 - Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit Tigers - "Cowens' Suckerpunch" (Excerpt, 6/20/1980)
May 1 1990 my last game at old Comiskey. Nolan Ryan got rocked in the first inning.
Box Score of Game played on Tuesday, May 1, 1990 at Comiskey Park I
The box score of the game played on Tuesday, May 1, 1990 at Comiskey Park I between the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox.
www.baseball-almanac.com
/CSB
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I can already taste the $18 beers.
You know those renderings are bad because there will never be that many people at a regular Sox game.
Greenberg today:
Are we really talking about a new stadium for the White Sox when we still don’t know how two people got shot during a game at their current one?
While we wait for that colder-than-Tim-Anderson case to be solved, on Wednesday night, the Chicago Sun-Times broke a story that the Sox, a building developer and the city were talking about the concept of building a new stadium at a famously undeveloped plot of land called “The 78” at Clark St. and Roosevelt Rd. in the South Loop. Talks were labeled “serious” by anonymous sources to the newspaper and both the Sox and mayor’s office offered a joint, vague statement about their talks.
The idea of moving the Sox’s stadium three miles north to a spot abutting the Chicago River with potential views of the city skyline was the most uplifting news Sox fans have gotten since Cane Guy was introduced to the world in Game 3 of the 2021 ALDS.
Now, Guaranteed Rate Field, which debuted as New Comiskey Park in 1991, is not the reason the White Sox are so disappointing on an annual basis. For all of its faults, it’s actually a nice place to enjoy a game and is accessible by train with plenty of parking. A location in the South Loop won’t really alleviate any of the traffic issues for people driving in from the north suburbs, but it would possibly give the team a better relationship with tourists who stay downtown.
There are so many issues that would have to get worked out for this to be more than a Jerry Reinsdorf-induced fantasy. There are logistical concerns — would a stadium and parking really fit there? — along with infrastructure questions and financial details — who’s paying for this? — not to mention the existential quandary of: Does the city of Chicago really need to think about a new stadium for the White Sox?
An outfield vista of Chicago skyscrapers would be lovely, but not $2 billion lovely. No one with any sense should think the city or state should pay for another stadium in town. Not for the Bears or the White Sox. (The only team in town that actually draws a substantial amount of tourists is the Cubs and they couldn’t get the money they were begging for.) Could the Sox actually pay for it? Maybe they’ll start a GoFundMe?
The White Sox have never had the luxury of playing in a ballpark that is a tourist attraction like Wrigley Field, which can draw 2 million just by opening its doors. But it’s the organization’s fault that attendance is a perennial issue because they don’t provide a product that demands (positive) attention. It’s not the fans’ fault. It’s always the Sox.
There are things the business side does wrong (prohibiting upper-deck ticket holders from accessing the 100 level most games) and there were major flaws in the original design of the ballpark, most of which were fixed. Some, like the errant orientation of the ballpark, which faces southeast instead of north, remain.
But really, the reason the team struggles to fill the park is because it just doesn’t win enough.
They were close to solving that problem, of course, with the recent promising but unsuccessful rebuild. It was just their luck that the 2020 season coincided with a worldwide pandemic, but it’s the organization’s fault it couldn’t follow up the 2021 season on a positive note. In 2023, the team had the worst attendance decline in baseball. Imagine trying to sell tickets to the 2024 team.
White Sox vibes are the lowest we’ve seen in town in two decades. But when the Sox are good, they usually draw. In the early 1990s, before the strike, they were competitive with the Cubs in their new stadium. In 2005-06, they packed the place.
More recently, at the end of the 2021 season, after the team opened to full capacity in late June, the Sox were regularly drawing weekend crowds in the mid-30,000 range. They were 13th in attendance that season and the fans were lively. Their two playoff games saw crowds upward of 40,000.
Even more recently, a lot of fans seem inclined to go to the park to tell Reinsdorf to sell the team.
And that maybe is what’s necessitating this push for a new stadium, which began last season when a Crain’s Chicago story reported Reinsdorf was angling for a new home in Chicago or elsewhere. At the Winter Meetings, Reinsdorf was conspicuously spotted coming out of the Nashville mayor’s office, reported a Chicago-based Politico correspondent, who earlier had the scoop that he was dining with the mayor of Rosemont.
What a coincidence.
Reinsdorf is 87 and has long said he’d instruct his kids to put the team up for sale when he passes (there’s also an ownership group in place that would also demand it, per the group’s agreement). The Sox and Guaranteed Rate Field would likely go for around $2 billion, even with current stadium and broadcasting questions. If there’s a new stadium, or at least the plans for one, it would help goose the sale price. This is the lens in which I’m viewing this story.
The team’s regional sports TV deal with Comcast is up after the 2024 season and it’s expected that the Bulls, Sox and Blackhawks will team up in a new arrangement, as everyone in sports (outside of the NFL) is scrambling to be ready for a direct-to-consumer streaming revolution.
But the stadium, which is more than 30 years old, will be the sticking point for any potential ownership group. Even if the team was averaging 30,000 a game, a new ownership group would want a new stadium, because that’s just how it works in pro sports.
Not long ago, after it was announced the Bears were looking for a new home, I was chatting with someone far wealthier than me, a person with an interest in being a part of a baseball ownership group, and I asked if the White Sox would interest them were they ever to be sold.
Sure, the person noted, if they could build a new stadium at the Soldier Field location. Well, what about a stadium a mile west of the lakefront? I’m guessing that would intrigue potential buyers. So maybe Reinsdorf puts some money down on it so his kids could recoup it later? Or maybe he’s more interested in selling it while he’s alive than he’s let on.
But what about the Bears and their search for a state-of-the-art stadium to call their own? At a news conference last week, Bears president Kevin Warren read an impromptu verbal love letter to the city when asked about a potential stadium location in the south lot of Soldier Field, which had been floated recently as the team tries to cut a potential tax deal for their Arlington Heights property.
“I mean, very rarely do you get an opportunity to have such a beautiful downtown with a vibrant business community with an absolutely beautiful lake and the energy that goes along,” Warren said. “I always focus on what’s a way that we could bring together the beauty of the lake, the beauty of downtown, the business community, all the art exhibits, to bring that together for an environment, because it’s always about the fans, how can we create an environment that they really enjoy, and not only on our game days but also from art, from food, just from music.
“I live downtown. I love the city. I just think we’re blessed to be able to live in a city like Chicago. It has many pluses, and so I’m just a big proponent of the Chicagoland area. I’m a big proponent of Arlington Heights, but there’s something that’s really special about downtown Chicago.”
Some saw that as canny negotiating. I heard a guy who really doesn’t want to commute to the suburbs. I hear ya, pal.
So could the Bears actually stay in Chicago proper? And if so, where could they go?
Well, if the Sox move to the South Loop, there would be room for a new football stadium on the South Side adjacent to the highway and public transportation. Parking is included.
Should we really be talking about a new home for the White Sox?
Are we really talking about a new stadium for the White Sox when we still don’t know how two people got shot during a game at their current one?
While we wait for that colder-than-Tim-Anderson case to be solved, on Wednesday night, the Chicago Sun-Times broke a story that the Sox, a building developer and the city were talking about the concept of building a new stadium at a famously undeveloped plot of land called “The 78” at Clark St. and Roosevelt Rd. in the South Loop. Talks were labeled “serious” by anonymous sources to the newspaper and both the Sox and mayor’s office offered a joint, vague statement about their talks.
The idea of moving the Sox’s stadium three miles north to a spot abutting the Chicago River with potential views of the city skyline was the most uplifting news Sox fans have gotten since Cane Guy was introduced to the world in Game 3 of the 2021 ALDS.
Now, Guaranteed Rate Field, which debuted as New Comiskey Park in 1991, is not the reason the White Sox are so disappointing on an annual basis. For all of its faults, it’s actually a nice place to enjoy a game and is accessible by train with plenty of parking. A location in the South Loop won’t really alleviate any of the traffic issues for people driving in from the north suburbs, but it would possibly give the team a better relationship with tourists who stay downtown.
There are so many issues that would have to get worked out for this to be more than a Jerry Reinsdorf-induced fantasy. There are logistical concerns — would a stadium and parking really fit there? — along with infrastructure questions and financial details — who’s paying for this? — not to mention the existential quandary of: Does the city of Chicago really need to think about a new stadium for the White Sox?
An outfield vista of Chicago skyscrapers would be lovely, but not $2 billion lovely. No one with any sense should think the city or state should pay for another stadium in town. Not for the Bears or the White Sox. (The only team in town that actually draws a substantial amount of tourists is the Cubs and they couldn’t get the money they were begging for.) Could the Sox actually pay for it? Maybe they’ll start a GoFundMe?
The White Sox have never had the luxury of playing in a ballpark that is a tourist attraction like Wrigley Field, which can draw 2 million just by opening its doors. But it’s the organization’s fault that attendance is a perennial issue because they don’t provide a product that demands (positive) attention. It’s not the fans’ fault. It’s always the Sox.
There are things the business side does wrong (prohibiting upper-deck ticket holders from accessing the 100 level most games) and there were major flaws in the original design of the ballpark, most of which were fixed. Some, like the errant orientation of the ballpark, which faces southeast instead of north, remain.
But really, the reason the team struggles to fill the park is because it just doesn’t win enough.
They were close to solving that problem, of course, with the recent promising but unsuccessful rebuild. It was just their luck that the 2020 season coincided with a worldwide pandemic, but it’s the organization’s fault it couldn’t follow up the 2021 season on a positive note. In 2023, the team had the worst attendance decline in baseball. Imagine trying to sell tickets to the 2024 team.
White Sox vibes are the lowest we’ve seen in town in two decades. But when the Sox are good, they usually draw. In the early 1990s, before the strike, they were competitive with the Cubs in their new stadium. In 2005-06, they packed the place.
More recently, at the end of the 2021 season, after the team opened to full capacity in late June, the Sox were regularly drawing weekend crowds in the mid-30,000 range. They were 13th in attendance that season and the fans were lively. Their two playoff games saw crowds upward of 40,000.
Even more recently, a lot of fans seem inclined to go to the park to tell Reinsdorf to sell the team.
And that maybe is what’s necessitating this push for a new stadium, which began last season when a Crain’s Chicago story reported Reinsdorf was angling for a new home in Chicago or elsewhere. At the Winter Meetings, Reinsdorf was conspicuously spotted coming out of the Nashville mayor’s office, reported a Chicago-based Politico correspondent, who earlier had the scoop that he was dining with the mayor of Rosemont.
What a coincidence.
Reinsdorf is 87 and has long said he’d instruct his kids to put the team up for sale when he passes (there’s also an ownership group in place that would also demand it, per the group’s agreement). The Sox and Guaranteed Rate Field would likely go for around $2 billion, even with current stadium and broadcasting questions. If there’s a new stadium, or at least the plans for one, it would help goose the sale price. This is the lens in which I’m viewing this story.
The team’s regional sports TV deal with Comcast is up after the 2024 season and it’s expected that the Bulls, Sox and Blackhawks will team up in a new arrangement, as everyone in sports (outside of the NFL) is scrambling to be ready for a direct-to-consumer streaming revolution.
But the stadium, which is more than 30 years old, will be the sticking point for any potential ownership group. Even if the team was averaging 30,000 a game, a new ownership group would want a new stadium, because that’s just how it works in pro sports.
Not long ago, after it was announced the Bears were looking for a new home, I was chatting with someone far wealthier than me, a person with an interest in being a part of a baseball ownership group, and I asked if the White Sox would interest them were they ever to be sold.
Sure, the person noted, if they could build a new stadium at the Soldier Field location. Well, what about a stadium a mile west of the lakefront? I’m guessing that would intrigue potential buyers. So maybe Reinsdorf puts some money down on it so his kids could recoup it later? Or maybe he’s more interested in selling it while he’s alive than he’s let on.
But what about the Bears and their search for a state-of-the-art stadium to call their own? At a news conference last week, Bears president Kevin Warren read an impromptu verbal love letter to the city when asked about a potential stadium location in the south lot of Soldier Field, which had been floated recently as the team tries to cut a potential tax deal for their Arlington Heights property.
“I mean, very rarely do you get an opportunity to have such a beautiful downtown with a vibrant business community with an absolutely beautiful lake and the energy that goes along,” Warren said. “I always focus on what’s a way that we could bring together the beauty of the lake, the beauty of downtown, the business community, all the art exhibits, to bring that together for an environment, because it’s always about the fans, how can we create an environment that they really enjoy, and not only on our game days but also from art, from food, just from music.
“I live downtown. I love the city. I just think we’re blessed to be able to live in a city like Chicago. It has many pluses, and so I’m just a big proponent of the Chicagoland area. I’m a big proponent of Arlington Heights, but there’s something that’s really special about downtown Chicago.”
Some saw that as canny negotiating. I heard a guy who really doesn’t want to commute to the suburbs. I hear ya, pal.
So could the Bears actually stay in Chicago proper? And if so, where could they go?
Well, if the Sox move to the South Loop, there would be room for a new football stadium on the South Side adjacent to the highway and public transportation. Parking is included.
You mean Wrigley and Fenway.
Dodger Stadium is the 3rd oldest ballpark in MLB opening in 1962.
Fenway Park - 1912
Wrigley Field - 1914
4th - Angels Stadium - 1966
5th - Kauffman Stadium - 1973 (I skipped the Oakland Coliseum 1968 since it will be gone soon)
Think about that for a second. We do a really good job at tearing down our history.
I love how starting with Camden Yards there has been a push towards building retro stadiums. It would be nice if future stadiums incorporated the jewel box stadium design elements like Fenway and Wrigley. While wide concourses and all the frills are nice, those stadiums have a much more intimate setting than any of the stadiums today.
The irony of that is probably the two most valuable ballparks and two of the most valuable franchises have the two oldest parks in MLB.
Imagine if parks like Ebbets Field or Shibe Park still existed today how valuable they would be.
I'd like to see someone try to build a Shibe Park like replica with the next stadium that is built, incorporating the intimacy and charm of the old with modern amenities and construction methods.
Ebbets Field
Shibe Park
If you look very carefully in the bottom right of the third picture you can see Northern and his totally real wife being accosted by a punk kid.I can already taste the $18 beers.
UPDATE:
New renderings are out and the city’s plan has more clarity. Three Chicago sports franchises each get what they want, as does the Illinois Sports Authority:
Bears - Get their dome in the parking lot of current Soldier Field.
White Sox - Get their close-to-downtown, retro-modern park and development.
Fire - Get Guaranteed Rate converted into a soccer-specific stadium within the city and rail stop, with a capacity to host major international matches for soccer/rugby.
City - Keeps all these teams in town, gets more housing in Bridgeport, retail and housing at the 78.
Guaranteed Rate converted to soccer stadium:
Sox Park at 78:
New renderings are out and the city’s plan has more clarity. Three Chicago sports franchises each get what they want, as does the Illinois Sports Authority:
Bears - Get their dome in the parking lot of current Soldier Field.
White Sox - Get their close-to-downtown, retro-modern park and development.
Fire - Get Guaranteed Rate converted into a soccer-specific stadium within the city and rail stop, with a capacity to host major international matches for soccer/rugby.
City - Keeps all these teams in town, gets more housing in Bridgeport, retail and housing at the 78.
Guaranteed Rate converted to soccer stadium:
Sox Park at 78:
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Jerry will still own the team and it will still suck. You can only put so much lipstick on a pig
Same here, early 70's - my father's favorite player was (as he was known then) "Richie" (Dick) Allen.
Still have a baseball foul he caught (hit by Allen) sitting on a coffee mug with Allen on it. They're both the only MLB memorabilia I own.
Not a Sox fan, but it's an interesting concept for Chicago. If Reinsdorf intends to sell the team comes into play, too.
The bigger story for me is the movement by the Bears away from Arlington Heights. I think that's real, and not just a negotiating ploy. I don't think the McCaskey's want to borrow the money to build a stadium.
The bigger story for me is the movement by the Bears away from Arlington Heights. I think that's real, and not just a negotiating ploy. I don't think the McCaskey's want to borrow the money to build a stadium.
Still a great SI cover. And those uniforms. My brother was a White Sox fan ... made me a Cubs fan.
Still a great SI cover. And those uniforms. My brother was a White Sox fan ... made me a Cubs fan.
I remember that cover vividly, the only real magazine subscription our family had back then was SI. I remember it so well because I only got to read that issue once - my dad squirreled that issue away once he saw it.
Jerry wants $1 billion in tax dollars for this new stadium. What a crock of shit. I hope Chicago and the state of Illinois tell Jerry to go pound sand. What a joke. I didn't want tax dollars going to the Cubs for their renovation of Wrigley Field and I actually cheer for that team. Billionaires can pay their own bills.
Judging from the replies I've read on Twitter, no one is going for this either. Jerry can start packing for Nashville. Or actually sell the White Sox and the Bulls. He's 82, time to retire.
The Crain's story referenced:
Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is preparing to ask Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other state leaders for roughly $1 billion in public money to build his team a new home in the South Loop.
While Pritzker has been dismissive of using tax dollars to subsidize a new stadium for a team worth billions even before the bonds that paid for the team’s current South Side home are paid off, he has yet to rule anything out until learning of the team’s detailed financial plan.
Reinsdorf and Related Midwest President Curt Bailey, the developer of The 78 site where the stadium would be built, have been meeting with elected officials and business and labor leaders to gin up enthusiasm for the deal before meeting with the governor. The two are bullish they can win state support by arguing the stadium subsidies will bring along billions more in private investment, and the deal is structured in a way to not require new or increased taxes.
While the stadium itself would be subsidized, the White Sox and Related Midwest have stressed it's the key to unlocking the additional private investment — mixed-use buildings with affordable housing, bars and restaurants; an underground garage with a capacity of 4,000 spots; and parks — in meetings, sources familiar with the discussion said.
"The new ballpark is a very, very important engine for this investment, but it is a smallish component as an overall dollar amount of the project that will in many ways change the face of the city of Chicago,” a source involved in the meetings told Crain’s.
The White Sox and Related Midwest declined to comment for this story.
Financing
The proposed deal would also get the city off the hook for being the guarantor of the current debt arrangement with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, or ISFA, to pay for the 2003 renovation of Soldier Field.
The ISFA is the financing vehicle that was created in 1987 to pay for what is now called Guaranteed Rate Field. The authority issued $150 million in bonds in 1989 to build the Sox a stadium and later issued another $399 million in bonds to pay for the renovations to Soldier Field for the Chicago Bears. Along the way the authority has occasionally refinanced or extended the debt to overcome short-term pain.
“The current financing plan would pay off all of the existing debt on the Bears stadium,” said a source involved in the meetings with state and city officials.
To pay for the new Sox stadium, Reinsdorf is seeking to lay claim to the revenue from a 2% hotel occupancy tax, currently used to pay for ISFA’s annual debt service, for decades beyond when all outstanding bonds are currently meant to be paid off in 2034.
Extending ISFA bonds over 30 years while adding a new line of revenue to back the debt would provide the upfront capital to begin work on the stadium at The 78 site, which sits between the Chicago River and Clark Street, connecting Chinatown to the Loop.
Reinsdorf is also seeking to create a tax-overlay district surrounding the proposed stadium that would capture the state’s portion of sales taxes generated in the area — estimated at roughly $400 million over an undisclosed period — to be set aside to subsidize the stadium and back the new bonds.
The special tax district would be restricted to The 78 property, which currently sits vacant and does not provide any sales taxes.
Adding the sales tax revenue to the pot would also allow ISFA to borrow more money, which a source familiar with the bonding plan said would get into the “ballpark” of the roughly $1.2 billion in assistance that Reinsdorf is seeking in order to build a park with a capacity to hold between 35,000 to 38,000 people and retire the current ISFA debt.
But all of that would require state approval, both to give the ISFA the authority to issue bonds that extend past 2034 and to siphon sales taxes meant for the state into a separate fund backing the authority's debt.
Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is preparing to ask Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other state leaders for roughly $1 billion in public money to build his team a new home in the South Loop.
While Pritzker has been dismissive of using tax dollars to subsidize a new stadium for a team worth billions even before the bonds that paid for the team’s current South Side home are paid off, he has yet to rule anything out until learning of the team’s detailed financial plan.
Reinsdorf and Related Midwest President Curt Bailey, the developer of The 78 site where the stadium would be built, have been meeting with elected officials and business and labor leaders to gin up enthusiasm for the deal before meeting with the governor. The two are bullish they can win state support by arguing the stadium subsidies will bring along billions more in private investment, and the deal is structured in a way to not require new or increased taxes.
While the stadium itself would be subsidized, the White Sox and Related Midwest have stressed it's the key to unlocking the additional private investment — mixed-use buildings with affordable housing, bars and restaurants; an underground garage with a capacity of 4,000 spots; and parks — in meetings, sources familiar with the discussion said.
"The new ballpark is a very, very important engine for this investment, but it is a smallish component as an overall dollar amount of the project that will in many ways change the face of the city of Chicago,” a source involved in the meetings told Crain’s.
The White Sox and Related Midwest declined to comment for this story.
Financing
The proposed deal would also get the city off the hook for being the guarantor of the current debt arrangement with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, or ISFA, to pay for the 2003 renovation of Soldier Field.
The ISFA is the financing vehicle that was created in 1987 to pay for what is now called Guaranteed Rate Field. The authority issued $150 million in bonds in 1989 to build the Sox a stadium and later issued another $399 million in bonds to pay for the renovations to Soldier Field for the Chicago Bears. Along the way the authority has occasionally refinanced or extended the debt to overcome short-term pain.
“The current financing plan would pay off all of the existing debt on the Bears stadium,” said a source involved in the meetings with state and city officials.
To pay for the new Sox stadium, Reinsdorf is seeking to lay claim to the revenue from a 2% hotel occupancy tax, currently used to pay for ISFA’s annual debt service, for decades beyond when all outstanding bonds are currently meant to be paid off in 2034.
Extending ISFA bonds over 30 years while adding a new line of revenue to back the debt would provide the upfront capital to begin work on the stadium at The 78 site, which sits between the Chicago River and Clark Street, connecting Chinatown to the Loop.
Reinsdorf is also seeking to create a tax-overlay district surrounding the proposed stadium that would capture the state’s portion of sales taxes generated in the area — estimated at roughly $400 million over an undisclosed period — to be set aside to subsidize the stadium and back the new bonds.
The special tax district would be restricted to The 78 property, which currently sits vacant and does not provide any sales taxes.
Adding the sales tax revenue to the pot would also allow ISFA to borrow more money, which a source familiar with the bonding plan said would get into the “ballpark” of the roughly $1.2 billion in assistance that Reinsdorf is seeking in order to build a park with a capacity to hold between 35,000 to 38,000 people and retire the current ISFA debt.
But all of that would require state approval, both to give the ISFA the authority to issue bonds that extend past 2034 and to siphon sales taxes meant for the state into a separate fund backing the authority's debt.
The Bears and Soldier Field
The deal would also potentially box out the Chicago Bears from tapping into the ISFA to pay for the new stadium they are exploring along the Chicago lakefront.
Sources familiar with both teams' plans say the two are not working together to find stadium deals, but are in competition to be the recipient for whatever appetite there is in Illinois to use public dollars for new stadiums.
In 2003, the state authorized the ISFA to issue $399 million in new bonds to help pay for the renovation of Soldier Field. As of 2023, $384 million in principal was still outstanding on the bonds, meaning the authority has largely only paid the interest payments in the last two decades.
In a complicated repayment structure, the ISFA’s main line of revenue comes from a 2% hotel occupancy tax in Chicago and $5 million in annual payments from both the state and city.
But because revenue from the hotel tax lags the debt payments, Illinois provides an annual advance payment to the ISFA to cover annual debt service. The authority then repays it with its hotel tax revenue. In years where the hotel tax revenue does not cover the repayment, as was the case in the last three years, the difference is taken from Chicago’s share of state income taxes.
Because of the back-loaded debt repayment structure created under former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to pay for Soldier Field renovations, the city could be on the hook for increasingly large payments to cover the annual shortfall.
Total annual debt service on the original Soldier Field bonds and subsequent refinancing is projected at $55 million this year, but is set to rise to $90 million in 2033.
The hotel tax revenue totaled $55.8 million in 2019, the last year before the COVID pandemic wrecked the tourism industry. In 2021, the revenue dropped to just $6.9 million before recovering to $41.2 million in 2023, still well below pre-pandemic levels.
“The load of debt that the Soldier Field bonds put on the authority, in addition to other related financial requirements of the deal — such as financial assistance, payments for maintenance and improvements to Soldier Field, insurance and operational costs — is a lot higher than the revenues coming in to the authority,” according to the state of Illinois annual capital plan report.
Whether the Bears see out their lease at Soldier Field, move to Arlington Heights or build a new lakefront stadium, the ISFA is still on the hook for the debt service.
While the new debt structure would no longer obligate the city to guarantee the ISFA’s annual debt service, the arrangement is not without risk.
A representative for the ISFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Bears have had at least one meeting with ISFA officials earlier this month.
Hotel tax revenues are still recovering after cratering during the pandemic, and the plan relies on capturing sales tax revenue in a development that has yet to break ground and may take longer that any best-laid plans to materialize. If those revenues fall short of the ISFA’s debt payments and the city is no longer backing the debt, who will?
It’s unlikely the White Sox could convince the state to raise the 2% hotel tax flowing to the ISFA, which is just one part of the overall taxes on a hotel guest’s bill that add up to the highest in the nation.
Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said in a statement that the potential Sox stadium is exciting “as long as the funding source is stable.”
“While Related Midwest and the Chicago White Sox have assured us the existing Chicago hotel tax that funds sports facilities, along with other revenue sources, would be sufficient to fund the ballpark, our priority is protecting the hospitality and visitor industry,” the statement said.
The White Sox and Related Midwest have yet to meet with Pritzker, but representatives of the team and developer have been quietly meeting with other state officials to build support for the project, including John Atkinson, chairman of the board of Intersect Illinois, according to sources familiar with meetings.
Getting government onboard
Pritzker's office did not respond to a request for comment, but a source close to the governor said it's unlikely Pritzker will meet with Reinsdorf until he has a fully prepared plan to build the stadium.
Both Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch have had meetings, but neither are ready to voice support for the deal until the White Sox lay all of their cards on the table, according to their offices.
Related Midwest met with Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter in January, who has already come out in support of the deal, touting the jobs it would create for union workers in the building trade and service industry.
Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, who represents the area, has also met with the team. Dowell has expressed tepid support, but is still seeking more information.
“They presented an idea,” Dowell told Crain’s on Feb. 14. "They're going around, doing their due diligence trying to get people excited, interested in what they're proposing, but I haven't seen anything specific.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson has also said he likes the idea of the project, but is waiting on more details. While the financing structure requires state legislation, Johnson’s backing is key to getting Springfield on board to approve a plan that would obligate a tax on hotel stays in the city towards another White Sox stadium.
While neither tax would be new or result in a tax increase, every dollar dedicated to build the Sox a stadium would be a dollar not spent on other priorities for the state or for Johnson.
The stadium would sit inside the Roosevelt/Clark tax-increment financing district that was created in 2019 to help pay for the infrastructure costs to unlock The 78 development, both by connecting it to the rest of the city and making it more attractive to potential commercial tenants and residents.
The stadium is an allowable use in the planned development zoning district that encompasses The 78, but if the infrastructure needed to accommodate a stadium necessitated changes to the $551 million redevelopment agreement Related said it would pay for infrastructure work, the developer may be forced to return to the City Council for approvals of the amendments.
Currently, Related Midwest would pay the upfront costs to build a new $364 million CTA Red Line stop, the $85 million realignment of Metra tracks running through the site, and $102 million towards various street improvements and reconstructing the riverfront seawall. As incremental revenue flows into the TIF district, the city would repay Related for the infrastructure costs.
Opening up an existing redevelopment agreement could give Johnson and the City Council the ability to extract further concessions in exchange for the changes to the infrastructure agreement.
Even if Pritzker approves the financial structure to build the stadium, other pitfalls could ruin the deal, according to those involved in the discussions.
The White Sox would need to agree to terms to lease the ISFA-owned stadium, and a price to purchase the land has not been broached. The state of Illinois could also seek a share of the team's ticket revenue.
The state and city would also want to see a plan for the ISFA-owned Guaranteed Rate Field and its surrounding parking lots. The White Sox have floated the idea of building a mixed-use development on the parking lots to help land a new tenant for the stadium, including the Chicago Fire, but an actual detailed plan has not materialized.
The deal would also potentially box out the Chicago Bears from tapping into the ISFA to pay for the new stadium they are exploring along the Chicago lakefront.
Sources familiar with both teams' plans say the two are not working together to find stadium deals, but are in competition to be the recipient for whatever appetite there is in Illinois to use public dollars for new stadiums.
In 2003, the state authorized the ISFA to issue $399 million in new bonds to help pay for the renovation of Soldier Field. As of 2023, $384 million in principal was still outstanding on the bonds, meaning the authority has largely only paid the interest payments in the last two decades.
In a complicated repayment structure, the ISFA’s main line of revenue comes from a 2% hotel occupancy tax in Chicago and $5 million in annual payments from both the state and city.
But because revenue from the hotel tax lags the debt payments, Illinois provides an annual advance payment to the ISFA to cover annual debt service. The authority then repays it with its hotel tax revenue. In years where the hotel tax revenue does not cover the repayment, as was the case in the last three years, the difference is taken from Chicago’s share of state income taxes.
Because of the back-loaded debt repayment structure created under former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to pay for Soldier Field renovations, the city could be on the hook for increasingly large payments to cover the annual shortfall.
Total annual debt service on the original Soldier Field bonds and subsequent refinancing is projected at $55 million this year, but is set to rise to $90 million in 2033.
The hotel tax revenue totaled $55.8 million in 2019, the last year before the COVID pandemic wrecked the tourism industry. In 2021, the revenue dropped to just $6.9 million before recovering to $41.2 million in 2023, still well below pre-pandemic levels.
“The load of debt that the Soldier Field bonds put on the authority, in addition to other related financial requirements of the deal — such as financial assistance, payments for maintenance and improvements to Soldier Field, insurance and operational costs — is a lot higher than the revenues coming in to the authority,” according to the state of Illinois annual capital plan report.
Whether the Bears see out their lease at Soldier Field, move to Arlington Heights or build a new lakefront stadium, the ISFA is still on the hook for the debt service.
While the new debt structure would no longer obligate the city to guarantee the ISFA’s annual debt service, the arrangement is not without risk.
A representative for the ISFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Bears have had at least one meeting with ISFA officials earlier this month.
Hotel tax revenues are still recovering after cratering during the pandemic, and the plan relies on capturing sales tax revenue in a development that has yet to break ground and may take longer that any best-laid plans to materialize. If those revenues fall short of the ISFA’s debt payments and the city is no longer backing the debt, who will?
It’s unlikely the White Sox could convince the state to raise the 2% hotel tax flowing to the ISFA, which is just one part of the overall taxes on a hotel guest’s bill that add up to the highest in the nation.
Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, said in a statement that the potential Sox stadium is exciting “as long as the funding source is stable.”
“While Related Midwest and the Chicago White Sox have assured us the existing Chicago hotel tax that funds sports facilities, along with other revenue sources, would be sufficient to fund the ballpark, our priority is protecting the hospitality and visitor industry,” the statement said.
The White Sox and Related Midwest have yet to meet with Pritzker, but representatives of the team and developer have been quietly meeting with other state officials to build support for the project, including John Atkinson, chairman of the board of Intersect Illinois, according to sources familiar with meetings.
Getting government onboard
Pritzker's office did not respond to a request for comment, but a source close to the governor said it's unlikely Pritzker will meet with Reinsdorf until he has a fully prepared plan to build the stadium.
Both Illinois Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch have had meetings, but neither are ready to voice support for the deal until the White Sox lay all of their cards on the table, according to their offices.
Related Midwest met with Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter in January, who has already come out in support of the deal, touting the jobs it would create for union workers in the building trade and service industry.
Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, who represents the area, has also met with the team. Dowell has expressed tepid support, but is still seeking more information.
“They presented an idea,” Dowell told Crain’s on Feb. 14. "They're going around, doing their due diligence trying to get people excited, interested in what they're proposing, but I haven't seen anything specific.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson has also said he likes the idea of the project, but is waiting on more details. While the financing structure requires state legislation, Johnson’s backing is key to getting Springfield on board to approve a plan that would obligate a tax on hotel stays in the city towards another White Sox stadium.
While neither tax would be new or result in a tax increase, every dollar dedicated to build the Sox a stadium would be a dollar not spent on other priorities for the state or for Johnson.
The stadium would sit inside the Roosevelt/Clark tax-increment financing district that was created in 2019 to help pay for the infrastructure costs to unlock The 78 development, both by connecting it to the rest of the city and making it more attractive to potential commercial tenants and residents.
The stadium is an allowable use in the planned development zoning district that encompasses The 78, but if the infrastructure needed to accommodate a stadium necessitated changes to the $551 million redevelopment agreement Related said it would pay for infrastructure work, the developer may be forced to return to the City Council for approvals of the amendments.
Currently, Related Midwest would pay the upfront costs to build a new $364 million CTA Red Line stop, the $85 million realignment of Metra tracks running through the site, and $102 million towards various street improvements and reconstructing the riverfront seawall. As incremental revenue flows into the TIF district, the city would repay Related for the infrastructure costs.
Opening up an existing redevelopment agreement could give Johnson and the City Council the ability to extract further concessions in exchange for the changes to the infrastructure agreement.
Even if Pritzker approves the financial structure to build the stadium, other pitfalls could ruin the deal, according to those involved in the discussions.
The White Sox would need to agree to terms to lease the ISFA-owned stadium, and a price to purchase the land has not been broached. The state of Illinois could also seek a share of the team's ticket revenue.
The state and city would also want to see a plan for the ISFA-owned Guaranteed Rate Field and its surrounding parking lots. The White Sox have floated the idea of building a mixed-use development on the parking lots to help land a new tenant for the stadium, including the Chicago Fire, but an actual detailed plan has not materialized.
The Fire have to be licking their chops. Either Soldier or Guaranteed Rate is going to fall into their lap. Hoping it’s the latter.
I heard about this on the radio about a month ago. Both the White Sox and Bears were going to be in a race to potentially get these funds because it only allows for one and not both of these new potential stadiums. If I remember correctly, if the White Sox were the first to jump at this, the Bears best option is Arlington
Let him try.
This proposal doesn't make any sense for the state or city. That land can be put to much better use for something that gets used 365 days a year
From reports Nashville doesn’t want to give him money, either. They have two facilities to pay off as it is, and don’t want to issue any bonds for a baseball only stadium.
