O’Donnell: Growing tab in Cleveland should be of note to Bears stadium sharpeners
SO FRESH SPECULATION IS RIFE that Gov. JB Pritzker may be laying the spadework to call a special session of the Illinois state legislature and give the Bears much of what they want to build their new stadium in The Land of Winkin'.
The state government's sudden race to capitulate is filled with fiscal uncertainties.
One of the biggest is: Once the Bears break ground on their new palladium, when do their “asks” end?
FOR A PRIMER ON HOW A NEW NFL STADIUM rolling downhill can gather a lot of free money, Pritzker and associates need look no further than the Cleveland Browns and their evolving site in the modest airport suburb of Brook Park.
Owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have gone about bringing their franchise to the tidy, working-class village in a most team-friendly manner:
Their Haslam Sports Group broke ground on the new $2.6 billion field without all streams of public money finalized.
The motto could be, “Tease now, squeeze later.”
IN THE LATEST HASLAM GAMBIT, the Brook Park City Council is in way over its head scrambling to create a home stadium authority.
If such a body is brought into being — and it's moving along at a rapid clip with minimal local opposition — Brook Park's New Community Authority would own the stadium and lease it back to the Browns.
The projected savings in property taxes to the Haslams over the probable life of the building is close to $540 million.
This in a suburb that had a total operating budget of $74 million in 2025.
(By comparison, in the same year, the budget of Arlington Heights touched $230 million.)
THE MONEY GRAB BY THE BROWNS would bring public funding for their new stadium to about $1.3 billion, or close to 50% of its estimated cost.
That ledger also includes:
· $600 million in cleverly diverted other funding from the state of Ohio;
· $70 million in state highway funds; and,
· $100 million in sales tax breaks on construction materials.
LEFT UNADDRESSED IN THAT RISING TOTE is potentially $600 million more in Cuyahoga County and Brook Park tax funds that Jimmy Haslam requested more than a year ago and has left on a back burner until the pork up front is brown 'n served.
Also in the first waves of cash into the Browns' startup kick in Brook Park would be revenue from new personal-seat licenses. Informed Cleveland observers estimate that the cost of a single “premium” PSL will top out around $150,000 and the gross will be around $250 million.
IT'S NICE FUNDING IF YOU CAN GET IT, and apparently in a Cleveland region still singed by the bolting betrayal of Art Modell and the original Browns to Baltimore three decades ago, you can get it if you try.
Gov. Pritzker and all individuals involved in any sort of save-the-Bears movement for Illinois should be studying the Cleveland dynamic with a wary eye.
The first “save” announcement involving the Bears may prove to be the cheapest. Subsequent McWarren “asks” will go higher bank, whether in Illinois or Indiana.
ONCE A SLATE OF POLITICAL REPUTATIONS are forever intertwined to that initial kumbay-Bear moment, Illinois taxpayers will then become the passive paying porters.
STREET-BEATIN':
Hot off the online presses, the 2026 Vegas Stats and Info NFL Betting Guide (vsin.com) predicts rough straits for the Bears. According to crack researcher Steve Makinen, “Only five of the last 54 teams since '98 that won six or more games improved in the follow-up campaign with an average season DROP of 3.4 from the other 49 teams.” That means a record of 8-9 or 7-10 for Ben Johnson and his late luck brigade. …
Just in time for 2026 NBA draft afterthoughts, “Horace Grant Day” in Chicago will be celebrated by official city proclamation at a South Loop bistro Thursday night. Among the featured events will be a taping of “Legends in Sessions,” Grant's new cable show. Past guests have included Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and the late Stacey King. Anyone who can name Grant's four NBA teams qualifies as a keen student of the four-time NBA champion (three are easy and the fourth has relocated). …
Also Thursday, Fergie Jenkins will be among the marquee panelists when “My Father, Dick Allen” — the documentary about the Herculean White Sox slugger — premieres at the Chicago Historical Society. Kenny McReynolds will host with other guests including Richard Allen Jr., executive producer David Fletcher, writer John Owens and fabled White Sox organist Nancy Faust. Netflix may be buying the doc as it attempts to build a sports library. …
So it's not Senegal-Iraq, but the improbables from Cape Verde continue their run at a slot in the FIFA World Cup knockout round vs. Saudi Arabia Friday (7 p.m., FS1). Recuperating ace Christian Pulisic likely won't have to be a factor when the U.S concludes group play with a dead-rubber match against Turkey Thursday (9 p.m., Fox) …
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.