NFL Thread 2022-2023

[IlliniKat91]

At the time there was a new dome proposed as part of McCormick Place (McDome), however there was a lot of pushback with things like the Bears should only play on grass and the Bears should play outside in 'Bearweather'. Modifying Soldier Field as they did was controversial enough. There was plenty of hyperventilating by the historic preservation folks and Soldier Field was stripped of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. So, this proposal which takes from the original integrity of the stadium even more would have been out of the question.

I am not a huge Bears fan but, I will say this concept of adding a dome looks pretty appealing. The Bears thus far seem to be bungling their Arlington Heights proposal and have no experience at all in pulling off a massive project like that. I envision that an Arlington Heights Stadium will be a banal stadium and surroundings with corners cut. There just isn't the critical mass of people nearby to sustain the energy they are hoping for. On the other hand, the state has no business giving Robert Dunn any of the $6.5 billion he requested for his companion One Central project.

There's a Metra line that runs right to the location instead of a mile away, and they'll be able to let people tailgate as long as they want without having to listen to the Chicago Park District's ridiculous rules on that. They'll have plenty of people show up.

The people I feel bad for are the ones in NW Indiana. That's going to be quite the hike up to Arlington Heights.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

The people I feel bad for are the ones in NW Indiana. That's going to be quite the hike up to Arlington Heights.

with no traffic on Sunday morning, its 50 minutes. not a game changer for them as its 30 minutes at least for them to SF .
the AH size and location is about as good as it gets anywhere.

 

[ChiefGritty]

There's a Metra line that runs right to the location instead of a mile away, and they'll be able to let people tailgate as long as they want without having to listen to the Chicago Park District's ridiculous rules on that. They'll have plenty of people show up.

The people I feel bad for are the ones in NW Indiana. That's going to be quite the hike up to Arlington Heights.

If this spurs the kind of development of the area around the Soldier Field site I'm talking about AND causes Metra to get more serious about being a regional transit service rather that strictly a commuter operation to the Loop (a declining market) then it's a win-win-win.

I am deeply skeptical of the AH project, because of the distance, lack of transit links, and just general feeling on the McCaskey family as business people, but we'll see. This could be good for everybody.

 

[IlliniKat91]

If this spurs the kind of development of the area around the Soldier Field site I'm talking about AND causes Metra to get more serious about being a regional transit service rather that strictly a commuter operation to the Loop (a declining market) then it's a win-win-win.

I am deeply skeptical of the AH project, because of the distance, lack of transit links, and just general feeling on the McCaskey family as business people, but we'll see. This could be good for everybody.

I have no faith in Metra. Doesn't help that they're hampered by the fact that they literally rent their rails from freight companies and therefore can't actually dictate their schedules.

There are blueprints all over the NFL (Minnesota and LA are first to come to mind) on how to do this well. I'm with you in not trusting the McCaskeys.

I just also don't trust the City of Chicago to not mess things up, either. No one here has a great track record.

 

[IlliniKat91]

with no traffic on Sunday morning, its 50 minutes. not a game changer for them as its 30 minutes at least for them to SF .
the AH size and location is about as good as it gets anywhere.

It's about fuel cost, too. That'll go up regardless. And the time will creep in the afternoon when they have to either go down 294 or back through the city.

 

[ChiefGritty]

I have no faith in Metra. Doesn't help that they're hampered by the fact that they literally rent their rails from freight companies and therefore can't actually dictate their schedules.

There are blueprints all over the NFL (Minnesota and LA are first to come to mind) on how to do this well. I'm with you in not trusting the McCaskeys.

I just also don't trust the City of Chicago to not mess things up, either. No one here has a great track record.

I mean when it comes to integrated, cost effective metropolitan development, the United States of America has a terrible track record. But I don't want to get on a soapbox here. There is a lot of room for improvement, is my point, and there doesn't need to be rocket science involved, these are largely solved problems in other parts of the world.

One thing to note in all of this is that the Bears leaving would in theory leave the Chicago Fire as the anchor tenant, they already host more SF events than the Bears do. The Fire are a terrible team and have been for a long time and they don't draw well at all. But MLS teams in other cities draw very well, and the Fire are owned by Joe Mansueto, a multibillionaire and the kind of person who could potentially be a big player in redeveloping the area.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

The Fire could hold 81 events at SF in any given year and still couldnt afford to pay 25% of the rent the Bears do hosting 10-11 games

All that land over there is Park District owned. Good luck in getting any of it developed.
George Lucas wanted to give the city a fancy museum over there that would draw millions of visitors, and he got shot down.

Its all about having an NFL team.
An XFL or AAFL team, if even viable in 12-24 months, wont mean a thing either

 

[ChiefGritty]

All that land over there is Park District owned. Good luck in getting any of it developed.

I mean, the city can sell any land it likes if that's what they want to do.

I kinda go either way on the Lucas Museum thing, I can see both sides of it.

But the real money is in creating connectivity over (I assume over, I'm no civic engineer) the Metra electric tracks that separate LSD from the South Loop. That would be creating high-level real estate out of thin air. Too good not to happen within our lifetimes, IMO. It's a better idea than Lincoln Yards and that's moving forward.

 

[Mr. Tibbs]

once land is titled to a Park District or as a Forest Preserve or State or Federal Park , it’s just about IMPOSSIBLE to sell it or lease it .

seriously

sure , you can get vendors to lease a building for a state park lodge or snack shop , but you can’t develop the property like you can with private non park land

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

No one on earth is as smart as Pace thought he was. That's kind of a common personality trait in scouting, especially in football, but Pace took it too far.

You'll get no argument from me on this. As a fellow EIU alum, I defended his actions probably a lot more than I should have.