Let Indiana make the mistake on Bears

Let Hammond have the Bears. With the end of the spring legislative session, the Bears and Illinois lawmakers failed to finalize a deal to keep the team in Illinois. The Bears have been seeking a completely new domed stadium holding roughly 65,000 people in a business development at a total cost of about $5 billion, funded by both private investors and Illinois taxpayers. They also want full control over stadium revenue, something impossible at Soldier Field, which has been city-owned since 1924.

Indiana has now offered a competing proposal through Hammond. Illinois has offered up to $855 million in public money for infrastructure at Arlington Heights. Indiana has offered a $1 billion stadium authority backed by taxes on hotels, restaurants, tolls and admissions, with the Bears keeping all stadium revenue and the option to buy the stadium back after 40 years. Indiana residents would pay for the stadium while the team keeps the profits.

Illinois should not compete with this. The Bears generate roughly $600 million in revenue per year. Illinois taxpayers should not take on more financial burden to subsidize a billionaire-owned franchise that can fund itself. Every dollar Illinois puts toward a Bears stadium is a dollar not going toward schools, roads and communities that actually need public investment.

The Indiana deal is a sweetheart arrangement that lets a wealthy organization profit while ordinary residents foot the bill. Illinois should hold that line and let Hammond make that mistake instead.

Sandeep Pant

Palatine