Daily Herald opinion: Bears, White Sox both at the former Arlington Park? It's worth some thought

This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

When Jerry Reinsdorf makes news, he makes news.

His flagging baseball team, the Chicago White Sox, has been at 35th and Shields on the South Side since 1991, when then-U.S. Cellular Field was opened across the street from Comiskey Park, which had housed the Sox seemingly since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Now Reinsdorf is open to leaving the South Side, and apparently Illinois, he says.

Again.

His ruminations about leaving Chicago are not new. We remember his talk of moving to Addison. And to Florida when Big Jim Thompson was governor.

Now that Reinsdorf has shown team Executive VP Kenny Williams and General Manager Rick Hahn the door, his team can't seem to win two out of five games this season and his lease at Guaranteed Rate field is up in six years, it seems clear Reinsdorf is willing to shake things up with a sale, a relocation or whatever.

So let us suggest, Jerry, that you consider Arlington Heights.

Hey, why not? Our communities have experience dealing with major pro sports teams. Sure, the Chicago Bears have gone round and round with local officials about what it would take to bring the team to the former site of Arlington Park, a 376-acre gold mine along Route 53 on the village's west side. Local school districts have objected to giving the Bears the kind of tax concessions the team says it needs to move in.

Think of what that parcel could be with not one but two pro sports stadiums on it.

Neither team owns its stadium. The state owns The Rate, while the Chicago Park District owns Soldier Field. All manner of professional sports teams these days see that the financial boon comes when you own your stadium as well as the land around it where you can build hotels, restaurants, bars and other accoutrements.

Having two stadiums on one parcel could have a number of advantages.

They could share parking, for starters, which eliminates a lot of overlap and gobbles up a lot less acreage.

The regular NFL season begins in early September. The Major League Baseball season ends at the start of October. Schedulers could easily work with a three-week overlap.

Having two teams playing at the site of the old oval means the only time you wouldn't have regular action there would between early January and late March, the start of the White Sox season.

Consider what a steady stream of fans on the site - rather than just Sundays and the occasional Monday or Thursday night for the Bears - would do to maximize revenue potential for any hotels, restaurants or bars on site.

It would be good for Arlington Heights, and spreading the costs over two teams could provide other economies of scale that could make up for some of that revenue gap that the Bears claim exists.

Think about it, Jerry. We imagine you already have Bears President & CEO Kevin Warren's cell number.