Arlington Heights Bears? Fans not pleased

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Ross Bostick

Bears may move to Arlington Park. The move is not being praised.

Ross Bostick

Arlington Heights are you ready for some football?

The Chicago Bears may be calling nearby  Arlington Heights home as soon as next year.  Along with Churchill Downs Incorporated a Purchase and Sale Agreement has been signed for 197.2 million dollars.

With this announcement many fans have mixed feelings on what this means for the future of the team and the city of Chicago.  Recent developments have not shone the brightest light on the between the Bears and the city.  Some fans have even wondered if the Bears truly care about their diehard fan base.

“I’ll be a fan no matter what, they’ve got me and to be honest it sucks, ” said student Johnny Williams.  This has led fans to question if the Bears want to be a competitive team that competes for championships or if this possible move to Arlington Heights is more to do with the bottom line and economic success rather than giving their fans a quality team on the field.

According to the Bears press release regarding signing the PSA, the team plans to create shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences centered around the new stadium.

Some question if the venture is necessary or if the money would be better spent somewhere else,  “Personally, I  think the money would be spent unnecessarily and should be spent on improving the infrastructure of Chicago or even towards improving healthcare instead of a new stadium,” said student Matthew Gorenstein Von-Bergen.

If the Bears do move to Arlington Heights within a year or two the new stadium would not only be a further drive from where Soldier Field and create possible traffic problems, it will most likely have the team paying a big bill and seeing the franchise having the most expensive stadium in NFL within a the next season after the hypothetical move.

Williams said, “It’s absurd, they could at least partially fund this new stadium, but the owners act like the team is losing them money when it’s actually making money.”

Other teams that have moved into new stadiums have a history of strong- arming cities into funds for a new stadium as soon as possible.  Even with Arlington Heights being a prime location for the Bears to maximize profits and line pockets according to people in key positions in the organization, moving to a new stadium is starting to look less like a dream and more like a reality.