Jim O’Donnell: Bears can move to Indiana and leave stable Arlington Heights alone
IN A METRO AREA OF MORE THAN EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE, every time the Chicago Bears play a home game, they need roughly 60,000 people to populate their live football studio.
Those human TV props cheer on cue. They must rabidly boo as expected. Some are immersed in the passion play enough to cosplay and try to look like Mike Ditka.
(Why does no one ever show up trying to look like George McCaskey or Kevin Warren? What about Bad or Bugs Bunny?)
THE FACT THAT THE BEARS can still find those 60,000 — approximately 0.75% of the region's population — to fill out Soldier Field is no great wonder of modern “Mad Men.”
They own market exclusivity. With fewer than 13 home games even in the best of times, they greatly benefit from the scarcity principal. They are one of the 32 anointed members of that grand socialist pastime mill doing business as “The National Football League.”
An intriguing point to ponder about those capacity throngs is why people who otherwise consider themselves discerning and brimming with common sense continue to commit time and money to attend games available for free in their living rooms.
“FAN EXPERIENCE” IS a dandy live entertainment concept.
But 10 to 12 hours to fight traffic in and out, whiz away a chunk of good money while being used as a television accouterment and otherwise frittering away one of those golden days of a Midwestern autumn to attend a Bears home game?
Strange ways indeed.
THE DISSECTION TAKES CENTER STAGE because of the media frenzy generated this week over the possibility of the Bears accepting a new TV studio in Hammond, Indiana.
The state of Illinois and the Arlington Heights-Palatine-Rolling Meadows triangle will be big losers, some regional supporters were lamenting.
Indiana wins big and a wave of gentrification to follow in the state's northwest corridor might go so far as to make Gary the new Hoosier Naperville, those same Rust Belt projectionists were saying.
OXYGEN TANKS WERE ALMOST MANDATORY Thursday as the Warren-era Bears issued yet another edict ominously warning that their due diligence was now directed many furlongs from Arlington Park.
Some local pols continued with their hoary exhortations, now updated to include, “We can't lose the Bears to Indiana!”
We can't?
Why not?
CONSIDER:
• The Bears are a private show business corporation. Within the constraints of the bylaws and contractual commitments of the NFL, they have every right to attempt to maximize franchise profits.;
• Indiana is a more affordable place to do business — and live — than Illinois. This isn't a recent reality to be laid on the accountability ledger of Gov. JB Pritzker. It's a matter of fact that's been well over a century in gestation.
The demise of so many steel mills only makes northwest Indiana more desperate for investment and any hint of uplifting vibe.;
• The path of the Bears to a new stadium has grown meandering, impulsive and inefficient. Ten years from now, the hiring of Warren as the great “stadium whisper” in 2023 may be acknowledged as one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history.
• For individuals and families attempting to upscale, Arlington Heights is a target suburb. The presence of Arlington Park on its western fringe was a nice seasonal option for close to 100 years. The ongoing pleasantness of the village has never hinged on thoroughbred racing.
Eventually, something will be built on those 326 acres. If imagineers really burn the conceptual oil, a dazzling chunk of suburban Tomorrow-land could emerge, with or without the Bears.
• Hammond is an exit on the Indiana Toll Road, gateway city to Whiting. Most people don't dream about living there. They undoubtedly wake up some mornings and think, “Oh yeah, I still live in Hammond, Indiana. I hope the air quality is OK today.”
• Despite pop-ups like “Touchdown Arlington,” there is no groundswell in Arlington Heights to rattle fiscal sensibilities in any attempt to “land” the Chicago Bears.
If the organization wants to move its TV football studio to Arlington Heights as fresh, good neighbors, that'd most likely be fine with a majority of the population.
IF THERE ARE ANY ON THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN ILLINOIS who think the matter of the proposed new Bears stadium has degenerated into a duel between Arlington Heights and Hammond, they're grossly misreading the will of more centered taxpayers in the northwest suburb.
Current certainties now are that the profitability of the Bears — primarily due to those unfathomable network television deals — will remain goof-proof.
And that wherever they designate as their home TV studio, they'll find the requisite 60,000 or so paying props to show up and cheer on cue and rabidly boo as expected.
• 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.