Ut-oh, there’s bad news coming from the Chicago Bears. And one former NFL general manager thinks the Ben Johnson-Caleb Williams pairing won’t work. Furthermore, the Bears' new stadium efforts hit another wall, according to suntimes.com.
“Another legislative session came and went without the Chicago Bears breaking the line of scrimmage in Springfield for legislation to help them build a new stadium,” Mitchell Armentrout and George Wiebe wrote. “With lawmakers scrambling to pass a state budget and agonizing over the future of mass transit, the Bears’ team of lobbyists was left on the Capitol sideline in its push for a bill that would potentially pave the way to a dome in Arlington Heights.”
So maybe it’s not the best of times to be a Bears’ fan after all? Things aren’t falling into place, according to a post on X by Adam Hoge.
Saturday wasn’t ideal for the #Bears stadium plans as Springfield stalled out on pretty much everything that wasn’t budget related. Arlington Heights remains the focus, but nothing is guaranteed until shovels are in the ground — and it’s less likely that happens in 2025 now.
What direction will Bears go from here?
Bears chairman George McCaskey said last year the organization had high hopes for a 2025 start, according to marqueesportsnetwork.com.
Article Continues Below
“We want to go where it’s the best deal possible, where it’s the most feasible,” McCaskey said. “Financially. Politically. Geographically. The lakefront is an excellent site and we think that a roofed stadium just south of Soldier Field can be great for Chicago, for the region and for the state of Illinois.”
The idea was a $3.2 billion deal for a new stadium plus $1.5 billion in infrastructure, according to apnews.com.
“The status is we’re continuing to make progress,” team president Kevin Warren said last year. “We stay focused still to be able to be in the ground, start construction sometime in 2025. We’re having regular meetings with key business leaders, key politicians, just staying focused and on course.”
But, Warren hit the nail on the head when he added, “This is a long journey. This takes time. I’ve been there before. We’re exactly where I thought we would be at this point in time.”
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">Douglas Fritz is an experienced sports journalist covering the NFL, MLB, and NBA for ClutchPoints. Douglas spent over 30 years writing at the Johnson City Press daily newspaper covering University of Tennessee athletics. He is also a screenwriter, book writer, and songwriter.