It’s safe to say the Chicago Bears’ potential move to the suburbs has not gone down well with the city’s mayor.
The Bears confirmed Thursday that they have submitted a bid to purchase the Arlington International Racecourse property in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. The land has long been mentioned as the potential site of a new stadium if the team decides to move from Soldier Field, which is the oldest stadium in the NFL, having opened in 1924.
In response to the bid and the Bears’ possible move to the suburbs from the city itself, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot issued a statement that did not hold back. She dismissed the bid as a “negotiating tactic” and “noise.” Lightfoot, who described herself as a season ticket holder, then went straight for the jugular.
“Like most Bears fans, we want the organization to focus on putting a winning team on the field, beating the Packers finally and being relevant past October,” Lightfoot said in her statement.
Ouch. That’s actually pretty rough considering the Bears have made the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, even though they lost in the Wild Card round both times. She has a point about the Packers though, as the Bears are just 4-22 against their rivals in their last 26 meetings.
One thing is clear: big changes could be in store for the Bears in the coming years. That may cause some bumps in the road, but if their franchise quarterback turns out to be as good as the initial feedback makes him sound, the team will probably be okay no matter where they play their home games.
