//Which will it be,
Cubs or White Soxs,
Next to flee//
My $ on the Bulls.//just my thoughts

infinity ag said:

---

I think Chicago did the right thing. No public taxpayer money to private businesses. All the hypocritical "conservatives" are bending their own rules to make rich people richer.

What good is tax revenues generated by the Bears if it has to be paid back to the Bears as tax breaks?

Any private corp who wants to leave can GTFO.

---

Lolz

this is a good discussion because true economic value is hard to determine / measure

sometimes the stadium moves work...sometimes they don't

similar to the Olympics, World Cup, etc..,

the policiticians love to boast about hosting these events, but when the increased costs for transportation, safety, assorted upgrades, security, overtime, marketing, kickbacks, etc.., are factored in...

well, they don't talk about that

The Bears should have moved to San Antonio.

stetson said:

---

The Bears should have moved to San Antonio.

---

Plenty of women available there to play on the offensive line!

Im Gipper said:

---

Chicago Bears should have drafted a roster full of Haitian immigrants.

Chicago would have funded the entire program.

— Attorney Sholdon Daniels (@SholdonDaniels) June 5, 2026

---

Don't give the Vikings any ideas. I don't think I can handle a team called the Minnesota Skinnies

In who?mikejones city id treat any pro sports team like any other commercial enterprise.

They buy the land, pay for the improvements and my city would simply check off they meet our codes and standards.

Id trade some tax abaments for infrastructure improvements but wouldnt give any public money. What we wouldn't do is extort the team for political gains- special taxes, non associated infrastructure improvements, low income housing (looking at you austin).

They'd be treated just as any other entity.

It takes two to tango here. The bears(and most sports teams) ask for too much while government also asks for the moon for the privilege of having a business in their towns. ****ing absurd

stetson said:

---

The Bears should have moved to San Antonio.

---

San Antonio Osos

Good summation of this move…

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921.

They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year.

Think about how badly you have to run a…

— Yogi (@Houseofyogi) June 6, 2026

not really following the claim that they "aren't leaving for a better deal"

Indiana is giving them things they can't get in Chicago

96AgGrad said:

---

This conservative thinks cities and states are smart to provide tax breaks for high profile sports teams. The boost to the local economy should more than offset the incentives.

---

Tax breaks benefit a relatively few who are beyond rich, some in the economy no doubt benefit, but both of these are paid for by people who are neither wealthly nor business owners. They pay through higher taxes, middle class and those below that get to pay for it.

BMX Bandit said:

---

not really following the claim that they "aren't leaving for a better deal"

Indiana is giving them things they can't get in Chicago

---

Kind of already stated but by moving to Indiana they are also avoiding negative opportunity costs of being in Illinois.

YouBet said:

---

BMX Bandit said:

---

not really following the claim that they "aren't leaving for a better deal"

Indiana is giving them things they can't get in Chicago

---

Kind of already stated but by moving to Indiana they are also avoiding negative opportunity costs of being in Illinois.

---

That's right. Any commitment to Chicago comes with hidden political danger at any moment.

all in all Indiana is giving them a better deal. The tweet even sets out why it's a better deal.

Yeah, because the rich ones who own the teams are the ones who spend the money and take the risks. So of course they are going to be the main beneficiaries of targeted tax deals

And to be clear- the poor wouldn't lose anything in this proposed deal. Cook County would still be at least doubling it's revenue from the current soldier field set up. Not to mentioned increased revenue from a facility that can host year round events.

Is it the full assessment of taxes based on property value? No. Thats the deal. The Bears are asking for some sort of predictability on future costs.

The notion that future budgets are "damaged" by not capturing an entirely hypothetical tax stream that doesn't even exist yet is fundamentally unserious.

W said:

---

this is a good discussion because true economic value is hard to determine / measure

sometimes the stadium moves work...sometimes they don't

similar to the Olympics, World Cup, etc..,

the policiticians love to boast about hosting these events, but when the increased costs for transportation, safety, assorted upgrades, security, overtime, marketing, kickbacks, etc.., are factored in...

well, they don't talk about that

---

[Ray Perryman enters the chat.]

If for no other reason the Bears should leave Chicago after the abysmal and architecturally offensive expansion that was done to Soldier Field 20 years ago. They took one of the best looking stadiums in the world and turned into a piece of Euro trash

it was so awesome before they made it look like a tennis shoe.

Burpelson said:

---

Pro sports team should never get taxpayer monies, ever!!!!

---

if we had promotion and relegation instead of franchises like most sports leagues in the world, that wouldn't be a problem.

ThunderCougarFalconBird said:

---

Burpelson said:

---

Pro sports team should never get taxpayer monies, ever!!!!

---

if we had promotion and relegation instead of franchises like most sports leagues in the world, that wouldn't be a problem.

---

Get out of here with that eurotrash commie stuff.

Give me relegation. I want to see Indiana playing the Browns.

Old Gorm said:

---

Ask Oakland how well things work when your sports franchises move out of town along with all the other private businesses run out due to over-regulation, high taxes and government corruption. Took Brooklyn decades to get back to stability after losing the Dodgers and other private sector companies…although Mommydani is doing work to reverse that trend.

Years ago, states in the Sun Belt began a process attracting businesses across all sectors using advantages in tax policy, regulation and incentives. This took place while Democrats began operating under the thrall of the warmth of collectivism, chasing away the private sector and residents alike.

The state of play today? Red states thrive as Democrats attempt to cheat the Census to maintain power lost by their policies and practices.

The Bears are a warning to both Illinois and Chicago: abandon nanny state economic approaches or watch your elite city turn into the next Detroit or Oakland.

---

Oakland is an entirely different situation. I'm amazed they ever had pro teams given that SF was right next door, and the Bay Area Fandom is absorbed by both cities. Sure they're distinct in their own ways, but Hammond is not SF by any stretch. Chicago happens have suburbs across state lines.

The Chiefs are moving to the Kansas side soon I believe. These things happen. I don't really care where the Bears play, since I don't live there, but an extra 30 minute drive for fans is nothing like what Oakland has gone through.

Indiana Bears ?

Windy City Ag said:

---

For the majority of people that are not familiar Hammond, it is a Chicago suburb that happens to be right across the Indiana border but everyone that lives there thinks of themselves as Chicagoland residents.

Everyone seems to lose in this deal except for the Bears ownership. Hammond itself is a very dodgy, rustbelt, S#!thole that is nicer than Gary, Indiana but not by much. It is annoying to get to and no one will stick around after games like they do currently at the Soldier Field setup.

Huge chunks of the Bears season ticket fanbase who currently ride the METRA 30 minutes or so downtown are now looking at 90 minute or more drives to watch the game.

Indiana itself is footing a pretty heavy tax forgiveness package to get the deal done.

Ultimately, the state legislature is to blame for them moving and the deal seems like such a gift to Bears ownership that they had to take it no matter the downside to fans. Money talks at the end of the day.

---

Maybe…. and I'm just spit balling here, but maybe the leaders in Hammond are betting this is the cornerstone of a redevelopment plan so their town is not the s#!thole you seem to think it is. Ya think?

Captain Pablo said:

---

Windy City Ag said:

---

Quote:

---

You seem bitter

---

I actually get it. Bears are for profit and they made the optimal choice here.

You have to be a bit sad though because Soldier Field on a crisp Autumn morning with the harbor bristling with sailboats and Lake Michigan glistening in the background was truly a beautiful place. The Green Bay game was always so much fun with Pack fans riding the train in and tailgating ruthlessly.

A lot of that goes away with this development, but that is how things work.

I wish the Cowboys played somewhere else than Jerryworld as well. Driving to Arlington in traffic, paying $12 bucks for a small lite beer, and then sitting in a cramped seat watching crap football is a major comedown from my early childhood. That doesn't mean Jerry Jones wasn't a shrewd guy to maximize his potential take from the franchise.

---

The problem is Chicago

And Illinois

They are run by idiots

---

Apparently, so is Indiana.

They have been attempting to rehab Hammond and Gary for decades at this point.

It is a post industrial crime zone along with other large swaths of South Chicago and Northern Indiana.

This may change all that but the bad infrastructure, high crime rates, declining population, abandoned properties indicate it will need a whole lot more than a stadium for fans to park and tailgate for a handful of Sundays each year.

Windy City Ag said:

---

They have been attempting to rehab Hammond and Gary for decades at this point.

It is a post industrial crime zone along with other large swaths of South Chicago and Northern Indiana.

This may change all that but the bad infrastructure, high crime rates, declining population, abandoned properties indicate it will need a whole lot more than a stadium for fans to park and tailgate for a handful of Sundays each year.

---

San Antonio tried this with the most recent venue the Spurs play in, the AT&T/ Frost Bank Center. In order to get the thing approved by the Commissioners Court, they needed the votes from the East Side of San Antonio. They sold it to the public as good use of the property where the rodeo is held and said it would drive redevelopment in a low income/light industrial part of town. That was 25 years ago, and those people are still waiting for the redevelopment.

Now the city wants to move the Spurs back to downtown.

If the Bears really move to Indiana, I expect it to be 10-15 years, and Chicago will figure out a new way to get them a new stadium near downtown.

Scientific said:

---

Oakland is an entirely different situation. I'm amazed they ever had pro teams given that SF was right next door, and the Bay Area Fandom is absorbed by both cities. Sure they're distinct in their own ways, but Hammond is not SF by any stretch. Chicago happens have suburbs across state lines.

The Chiefs are moving to the Kansas side soon I believe. These things happen. I don't really care where the Bears play, since I don't live there, but an extra 30 minute drive for fans is nothing like what Oakland has gone through.

---

Oakland has spent at least the last 20 years chasing out businesses and the folks who work in those businesses with a host of leftist regulations and tax policies. They were a major city in their own right, a blue collar community with a Democrat leadership that didn't sacrifice economic progress for progressive social fantasies.

The sports franchises, from the Warriors to the Raiders to the A's, are just a part of the larger truth regarding Oakland and its hostility to private enterprise. Same thing is going on in Chicago; the Monsters of the Midway are merely part of a larger issue infecting Chicago since Richard Daley left office.

Bears aren't the only ones leaving Chicago. As long as Johnson and the other mental midgets run the city and remain anti-business, they will not be the last to go.