Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Bears take a key step toward building a stadium in northwest Indiana (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris opened their show by reacting to the breaking news that the Bears have taken a key step forward in their vision to build a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana. While it’s a big development in a long saga, Rahimi will believe the Bears are moving to Indiana when she sees it. After that, former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn joined the show to share insight on the Bears’ latest tactics in their pursuit of a new stadium.

The score. This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids. The views and opinions of Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports.

Okay, thanks. Bye. Bye. talked about Ben Johnson. He is like a player. He wants to whoop everybody's ass. Cut throw. Every coach.

Every, like every defense. Every, and for me, I love it. Oh, the entire podcast, both these dudes, it was love building on love. Whoa. Jumongous Man Crush, dude. Yep, it's officially a bromance. Or was it Caleb Williams

selling something? And Max Crosby buying what he was selling. Who is this? Hello, this is Michael Scott, Regional Manager. Well, this is William M. But liquor. Hello, Mr. Butlicker.

How may we help you? Michael, I like the sound of your voice. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to buy $1 million worth of paper products today. Say that's a ton. Maybe Max Crosby was gathering data on a team that he could play for. And maybe Caleb Williams was saying, hey, if you want to, you know, come join us over here. Not death row, but death row vibes.

Join me. And together we can move the NFL's father and son. Flaylor Rahimi. Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3, the score. Sorry, we're a little late. We want to remind you that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, the governor of the state from 2009 to 2015, is going to join us to talk about this issue. And we got some breaking news on the Bears Stadium and the meeting that wasn't that is affecting everybody this morning in Springfield. It was scheduled by the Revenue and Finance Committee for 8 a.m. This is Rahimi Harrison and Grotie on 1043, The Score, by the way.

We appreciate you joining us. And I just hope everybody's not wasting our time. Matt Hill just posted this on Twitter. He is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications to Governor Pritzker. Illinois was ready to move this bill forward. He says at 9.11 a.m. after a productive three-hour meeting yesterday, the Bears leaders requested the ILGA

paused the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. This morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. Why is this giving me WWE vibes? By golly, that's Kevin Warren's music. And then he comes in with like, hey, by the way, we're going to go talk to Indiana instead of continuing this conversation with you guys because we want to let you know we're serious about leaving town

if you don't give us exactly what we want. You're serious about leaving town because you did this all out of order and at this point, your dog and pony show either needs to be real or it needs to stop wasting time and therefore money because you've got an empty plot of land in Arlington Heights that has been sitting vacant for three years and you're not a real estate investment trust. So what do you want to do here? You decided that you wanted to cancel this. meeting bears that according to the state information that we get that according to governor pritzker's office so what's your plan now do you have a statement from the bears talking about this marshal do we what's the latest from the bears what are they saying right now as they

decide to cancel this meeting well yes we do have a statement from the bears that you know you can't help but correlate it to the cancellation of said meeting that you just described and the fact that it was the Bears who called off the meeting that was supposed to take place today. And here's what the statement says. We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. We appreciate the leadership shown by Governor Braun, Speaker Hustin, Senator Mischler,

and the members of the Indiana General Assembly in establishing this critical framework and path forward to deliver a premier venue for all of Chicagoland and a destination for Bears fans and visitors from across the globe. We value our partnership and look forward to continuing to build our working relationship together. You know what? That statement did not say, Lila. It did not say we are putting shovels on the ground on fill in the blank date.

There it is. That's what we're still trying to figure out. Additionally, Hammond, as Mark Rodie reported earlier in the week on Tuesday, seemed to be what was in play. We know Portage had a pitch that involved private equity financing a Bears Stadium. Hammond is ready to partner with the Chicago Bears is what the mayor said, that telling your station ABC 7 and that we've had excellent conversations with the Bears and we are forging a relationship that would be a foundation for a public-private partnership, which AKA means are they getting the money that they can't get from the state after buying the land and not getting

what they wanted. It's getting the public money and getting the private benefit of of the profits after it's all said done. Public pays, bears profit. And then the community and surrounding area, and I guess the state of Indiana at large, gets the benefit of the extra commerce that is brought with a stadium. That's the way that this has been done in the past, and it looks like that's the way the bears are leaning towards doing this in the future, and certainly it felt like that wasn't going to fly in Illinois.

And the statement that you saw is from Adam Hogue tweeted that earlier today. And Adam Hogue will be on with us at 11 o'clock this morning. Again, we ask the question, who pays, who loses, who benefits. So what's next? Well, let's start with this question, Leila. When you talk about what's next, the first question is, do you believe the bears are done with trying to build a stadium in Illinois? I think the answer is no.

until they sell the land and you said it oh they can just sell the land I don't think it's that simple necessarily but I want to say this until they sell that land I'll believe it when I see it until you have a deal in place

until there's a bill outlining how much the state of Indiana wants to put up for your stadium then we still are all just waiting and while you put on this theater we're all spending time and effort on this and I just want to

wonder how much and at what cost? Well, the bigger issue for me is if this is, this feels like fourth quarter, Caleb Williams time. This feels like almost two minute warning. Understanding when the Indiana legislators are shut down. That's next week at last count, right? Thursday, a week from today. Yeah, the 27th, right?

Yes. So because of that, you understand that they are up against the clock in Indiana. And this announcement, because you could have done this without making. a public statement, right? Oh, they needed to. And then making the public statement, that puts the pressure now in Illinois, like, do you have anything else for us? Because if you don't, we're going to Indiana. Now, Illinois could call their bluff, but at this point, I don't think it's a bluff, Leila.

I think they would build a stadium in northwest Indiana. I like this text from A4-7. I don't know who you are. Layla, you've been shunning me for months about the use of the word leverage because they are not a reed. I don't know you. This isn't personal. I've been shutting a concept, because until they sell the other land, it's not really leverage. They're doing all of this in reverse because they already bought the land.

And just like you, who does not have property tax certainty, neither do they. And where the bears isn't a good enough excuse. I hope you're serious this time, for real, for real. I need to see some numbers. I need to see more than just diplomacy at this point. If you really want to actually build a stadium there, I understand that certain things have to happen first. But for example, the Bears purchased Darlington Heights.

We know how much money they paid. We know how much money they paid in earnest. So how much money is the state willing to put up? One of the questions I want to ask the governor, Pat Quinn, who's joining us at 1025, is what? What is the delta between what the bears can afford to put up for a stadium and what the NFL can afford versus what the state of Indiana is willing to give them? And make no mistake, just because the bears can't afford it, if you can find $5 off the street for free, you're probably going to do it. And in this case, the bears are also trying to do the same.

I understand the sentimental value that the bears hold for all of their fans and the history of the bears in Chicago. I'm telling you this just to set up this. If the bears can get a better financial deal, they're probably going to take it. The real question here, Leila, isn't necessarily, okay, how much money can we save by moving to Indiana? It's how much money are you willing to pay to stay in Arlington Heights? I feel like at this point we've established this. It's going to be more expensive for the bears to stay in Arlington Heights as opposed to

move to Indiana. But what is the number for the bears through their purview? that they're willing to say, we save this much money, and that justifies the move to Indiana. That's it. So it's kind of like the state of Illinois asking the bears to cover the cost for the soldier field renovations. What is the beneficial cost where buying and selling Arlington Heights

will be in their favor? And you and I would go and try to get the best deal possible if we were responsible for our company. If we're responsible for our house, we try to get the best deal possible. I understand that part of it. But what we do is we do our due diligence. And that's what makes us so incredibly frustrating.

I wish I could compare it to a game, except halftime happened before the first quarter. So this isn't that. This is what is supposed to happen. All of this that I talked about, and I said it last week. All of this is supposed to happen before you buy the land, before you strike the deals. Now, two things on that. It is supposed to be people in municipalities competing for what they can offer you in these cases. You're absolutely right about the out of a word.

thing. But here's the thing. They did that before Kevin Warren came into the picture. And now Kevin Warren is in like this cleanup mode. So remember, first he was like, let's just keep it where it is. Let's just build by Soldier Field. Obviously that hit a very hard brick wall and he is not the Kool-Aid man so he could not break through. Now it's, okay, what are the other sites? I feel like we've exhausted pretty much, we've exhausted so much that now Iowa's in the picture. That's how much everybody thinks they've got a shot to lure the bears to them. That's where we are. I appreciate the sense of humor that Iowa had toward this.

I appreciate Iowa pointing out the absurdity through procedure and gracefulness. I thought that that was fantastic because I certainly giggled what I saw that. So I thought that that was great. You know what I just realized is, you know me, I think it's fine that stadiums are built in the suburbs. It's fantastic when they're in the city. I want to let you know that straight. Like there's nothing better than being able to relatively easily go to a game in the city. That is my opinion.

And also having been to many games in the suburbs of metropolitan areas where I lived. So I do want to say, though, I've joked about the concept of it not being that dramatic when the bears would move to theoretically another state. However, how's that fight song going to go? The pride and joy of Illinois? Are yet? I mean, I guess if they're going to stay... Where are you bearing down?

Hallis Hall is relatively new. I mean, they're not moving the organization. They're just going to play in Indiana 10 times a year or what, up to, let's see, if they have nine home games and they have two preseason, that's 11. If they host two games as the number one seat, up to 13 times a year they'll play in that stadium. See, now we've just gotten to the extreme of the mental gymnastics.

because like 269 says you have to get over the fact that bears own the land in Arlington Heights and it doesn't matter. It absolutely matters. They bought that land with the designed purpose for a stadium. What they didn't do was the due diligence prior because you wanted a deal done before that on what the land was that you purchased because that's when you actually had the leverage. Don't do this. Don't mental gymnastics your way out of the truth. Follow the money.

Where is the most money right now? It still sits on a vacant lot where Arlington Park used to be. I understand what you're saying, and I don't totally disagree with you. It matters, but I don't think it matters as much as you think it matters, and here's why. The land costs, what, $200 million? No, it was more than that. It was more than $200 million? Let's see.

Give me the tab. But whatever the tab is, this stadium project is going to cost a lot more than just that land. And so it's a negligible price if they can sell the land. Yeah, 197.2. But that's without your taxes and your freight costs, so to speak. That's fine. But what I'm saying is that's still a very small percentage compared to what the actual total price of the project is going to cost. $197.2 million is a drop in the bucket compared to $5 billion, which they cannot meet.

Yeah, it's not a drop in the bucket. I understand, but I think they could sell the land. The land can be sold. The land is not like this albatross hanging around their necks. They can sell the land. They haven't. And even if they lose, well, there's no need to right now. They don't have a deal done.

If they get a deal done in Indiana, they will sell the land. Unless they want to become real estate investors. Which is what they're doing right now. Trying to. And no, this isn't personal. This is business. Who said it was personal? Everybody.

Look at our responses. But that's what we need you to understand. I see that phone line lighten up. I know. But first and foremost, we're going to get to somebody who can let us in on the procedure in the discussion. and being the former governor of the state, what questions he has. So let's get a real pro on the phone.

Pat Quinn will join us next on Rahimi Harrison Grody. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndall 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. The latest news we have this morning is that there was supposed to be a meeting to set forth a projects bill that would include roughly eight, to $900 million to help the Bears with infrastructure for their Arlington Heights project. The governor, J.B. Prisker's chief of staff, reporting on Twitter that Illinois was ready to move the bill forward. But the Bears requested the ILGA, pause the hearing to make further tweaks

to the bill. And they said that this morning they were surprised to see a statement, lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. That is from Matt Hill, who is on J.B. Prisker's communications staff. We now go to our hotline because. to get more information on this, we needed to call in some ringers. So former governor, Pat Quinn, is kind enough to join us here in Rahimi Harrison Grotie, the Illinois governor from 2009 to 2015. Thank you so much for coming on. Okay. How are you guys doing, Layla and Marshall? A lot of dudes this morning. I'm a Bears fan from birth, and I'd like to keep them in Illinois. I think the song says

the pride and joy of Illinois, not of Hamidiviana. Well, and I, you know, I understand it from an emotional standpoint, but when you hear this news, too, as the former governor, you know, procedurally, what are the questions you have and how can you help us kind of sift through what all of this indicates? Well, I think what Kevin Warren is doing is trying to pit Illinois and Indiana against each other. He's got a proposal for Indiana, and then another one where the bear's own land in Arlington Heights, they bought it for. $300 and some odd million. So he's trying to get the best deal he can from each legislature and each governor. And I think yesterday the Bears met with Governor Pritzker for, it said, three hours. So there's something cooking.

I think in Illinois, it's a much better deal for the Bears fans and for the people. Our state is willing to provide infrastructure to get to a new stadium. The Bears got to realize, though, that they just can't take advantage of taxpayers. Back in about 25 years ago, when they remodeled Soldier Field and built the new stadium there, there's still $500 million left to be paid by taxpayers on that remodeling. That's people in Illinois and also Chicago, they have to pay for something that happened a quarter century ago. I don't think it's fair for the bears to just sort of take. money for themselves and run away.

Governors, that's one of the big things we've been talking about. Economic times are pretty hard right now for a lot of people in the state, in the city, in this community, Chicago land area. I'm curious as to your thoughts about, because you said, this is old-school leverage play, in my opinion, but it feels to me like what seemed like leverage off the top, the idea of building in Indiana now is more of a concrete, viable reality. How much do you think this is

plan B something that the Bears could actually do versus something they're just threatening to do? I think it's more of a threat. I really feel that the proposal for Arlington Heights where they have not only the stadium but commercial development

and retail and housing around it, that's a very good proposal for economic development, and far more than Hammond, Indiana. And so I think that ultimately the Bears want to go to Arlington Heights, but they want to use everything they can to get a huge deal for themselves. You know, they were asking for a 40-year property tax break,

a freeze on property taxes in Arlington Heights. That's pretty hard to stomach. This is a, you know, a franchise that's worth $8.9 billion right now. And with the new stadium in Arlington Heights, they could make even their stadium value or their franchise value be much higher. So I really feel it's all about money right now for the Bears. But what about the fans? What about the men and women who have got there this year in the cold to root the team on?

Let's think about what's good for fans. And I think the Bears got to remember that. You know, the proposal in Indiana, by the way, They don't want to use union workers to build a proposed stadium in Hammond, Indiana. They even passed a law to keep, you know, project labor agreements from happening at a stadium there. Well, that's not what the Bears are about, as a fans at least. We believe in hard work and getting paid a decent wage for your hard work. So I think these are issues that still are percolating.

And ultimately, I think Illinois is going to win. but we got to go eyeball to eyeball with Kevin Warren and the Bears hierarchy right now. Yeah, that's it, Governor Quinn, is there's a line between diplomacy and negotiation and then the process and procedure. And I feel like we're somewhere in the middle of all of it. Like we're in the worst of the Venn diagrams. You know, how would you explain to people who may not understand when something like this becomes tenuous and then perhaps when you, the risk of wasting people's time or the risk. risk of what this process could result in, not just for Illinois residents, but for perhaps Indiana and also for Bears fans? Well, I think basically when you deal with politicians of both

states, of both parties, there's going to be lots and lots of opposing and talking and posturing, and it'll go on for a while. This is what it is. It's sort of a dance. And I think, our state is much better equipped to handle a new stadium for the Bears with a fair deal. It's fair to taxpayers and just doesn't give away the store. And I think that that ultimately will prevail. But there's going to be a lot of talking going on and negotiating. And I think that is, it's important for our elected officials to stand up for taxpayers to make sure that we get a fair shake.

But we're willing to do a lot of good things. If you're going to spend nearly a billion dollars building highways and infrastructure to help the stadium in Arlington Heights and also the development around that, that's a major investment.

And I think I saw with the Indiana deal, they want to raise tolls on how to get there. So I'm not sure Vass fans are too happy about that. The ticket price alone, they're increasing ticket prices this year again, 13%. And I think over the last three years, Bears ticket prices has gone up about 30 to over 30 percent. So, you know, got to think of the fans and think of the

taxpayers. I think Papa Bear would agree with that. And I don't think Papa Bear wants, it's one thing to move from Decatur to Chicago for the Bears, but not to move out of Illinois. We're the pride and joy of Illinois. George Hall has played football. I believe for the University of Illinois, the colors are orange and blue, and let's not forget the people of our state of loyally supported the bears for decades. Governor Quinn, joining us here on Rahimi Harris and Grody, the former governor, trying to help us parse through what has happened today with Indiana, passing resolution, and now the Bears making a statement they intend to go to Hammond, Indiana. It's just framework, and as you've said, Governor Quinn, you think Illinois is still the best. place for a stadium, but we are getting late.

I just said it feels like the fourth quarter, and I don't know if Caleb Williams is walking out of that tunnel at the two-minute drill, but the legislative session, ending February 27th for Indiana, does it feel like something has to be done in the next week one way or another? Well, I think basically that February 27th deadline in Indiana, Marshall, is why they're trying to push this right now. They want to get Illinois legislators in our, governor to make a counter deal to Indiana and saying that Indiana's legislature is going out of session after the 27th of February. I think they had a negotiating session yesterday. As I understand it, the Bears asked for a postponement today of the hearing down in Springfield. And, you know,

Camp Buckner, who's a state representative who represents Soldier Field right now, he's a good negotiator for everyday people and taxpayers. And I'm sure that he will get his voice heard to make sure that what happens, Bears? You asked us 25 years ago to remodel Soldier Field. We did. And now the taxpayers still owe $500 million on that remodeling. And you just want to walk away from that. I really feel that's disrespectful to the taxpayers who have supported loyally the Bears for many, many years. So I think part of the negotiation has to deal with how do you deal with the debt on soldier field? How do you make sure that the deal in Arlington Heights is fair to taxpayers and the bears have to make investments that don't just take advantage of everyday people?

And they're trying to use Indiana to get the best deal in Illinois for themselves. Yeah, Governor Quinn, I agree. And thank you for letting us in on a lot of the, it's not fun talk. You know, I know it's the stuff you had to deal with every day when you were leading the state, but the procedural understanding and what a lot of this means, it really does help people who, you know, we're normally talking about like Max Crosby or something like that at this time of the year. So, so we appreciate it. I think, I think you bring up a good point. There's the emotional part of this and the loyalty among the taxpayers who agreed in Cook County to that large bill that's still on the books and still currently the responsibility of the Cookst County taxpayer.

And then there's also the latent result of what happens if the bears leave. You know, I think the money seems to be what is talking here. You know, in your experience, when you've seen other teams do this, Kansas City Chiefs come to mind, they just decided to move to Kansas. You know, what has been your impression just as a state official of how teams are getting this done just by pitting municipalities against each other? Yeah, it's really disappointing. You know, back 25 years ago when this all came up about Soldier Field,

the Bears got a deal from the city of Chicago where they'd be able to sell the name of Soldier Field. They were going to sell the name to a bank, Bank One, for $300 million. That money would not go to the city or to taxpayers. It would go to the Bears. And I led an effort with a lot of veterans to oppose them. that. We wanted to protect the good name of Soldier Field and tell the bears not to be money grubbing. And I think that principle they should listen to again. There are certain things that are fundamental, and that is when you have loyal fans, and I'm one of them from birth, that believe in

the team, believe in hard work and being fair, then you shouldn't take advantage of people to get more and more money for yourself. That just isn't what Papa Bear believed in. He started the team. He started the NFL, and you don't want the NFL today in the 21st century to just become a money-grubbing group of franchise owners who are billionaires who don't care about their real fans.

And I think, you know, the stadium proposal in Arlington Heights that's worthy of a lot of study, negotiation, get a good deal that's good enough for the bears and definitely fair to the taxpayers. That's where they should be focusing their attention rather than running away to Indiana and Hammond. A lot harder place to get to through the toll road that I don't think people are very going to be very happy about. Governor, you've been so nice with your time. We have a couple more questions on behalf of not just us, but also just the feedback we're getting right now from our listeners. are you okay to hang with us through a brief commercial break?

And thank you so much. I'm a scorehead. I believe in the score. Yeah, I know. I've got to ask you about the Illini and the White Sox, too. So I think that's equal time. I'm watching the Eli night. How about it? Yeah. They look great. All right, Governor Quinn, thank you so much for hanging with us through our commercial break here. We will get right back to the former Illinois governor, Pat Quinn,

kind of giving us a little bit more insight on how this goes, who pays, who loses, who benefits, and what's next in the Bears constant stadium saga on the score. Rahimi Harrison Grody, midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. The former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was kind enough to hang through a score commercial break, which you all deserve some award for that. I'll figure it out later.

Gold stars for now. So we go back to our hotline and Governor Quinn, who is kind enough to stay with us, thank you for doing so. Oh, yeah. Glad to be talking to you guys. And, you know, we're all sports fans. And don't forget, Papa Bear, I think, went to the University of Illinois, which won a big game last night in California and have another one Saturday. So Papa Bear was loyal to Illinois, and I sure hope his descendants.

George McCasky, he walked from Decatur all the way to Chicago a year or two ago showing their loyalty to Bears fans from Illinois. I sure hope they understand that today. Yeah, Illinois beat USC 101 to 65. Before we get back to the Bears talk, you got a prediction for March Madness for the Illini? Well, yeah, Illinois all the way. We almost made it 25 years ago, and Luther had two shots making threes.

We would have beaten North Carolina for the national title, but we'll just come back this year and do it again. They also ran into a bus on Yukon, to be fair. Marshall, I think, was at that game. Yeah, you kind of was bitey. But this year, look at the way the team plays defense and also shares the ball, all the assists, and excellent shooting. Great coach. So this is our year.

We love the enthusiasm. Well, and listen, Governor Quinn, I'm just curious because we were talking about that February 27th day when the legislature shuts down in Indiana. But, you know, special sessions are called. So how hard of a deadline do you see? see next week being for the bears to get something done with somebody? Well, Illinois's legislature goes until May 31st, Marshall. Indiana, I think they can have a special session, maybe, although their law requires them to adjourn on the 27th.

I think there will be a lot of activity in the coming week. The governor already met, our governor, Governor Pritzker, met with the Bears. they said for three hours yesterday, and they said that, you know, they made progress. So a lot of it has to do with how much money Illinois will, as a state, put up for infrastructure to Arlington Heights. It's about $888 million. That's a lot of money for roads and bridges and all that stuff to make sure people can get in and out of the stadium. And I don't think Indiana has done anything close to that. They're talking in the Indiana proposal of raising the tolls on the Indiana toll road.

I don't think Bears fans will be excited to hear that. So what we want to do in Illinois is have a good proposal that's fair to the Bears, but most of all, fair to the taxpayers. And that's what negotiating is. You can't just give away the store if you're fighting for the public interest. And the Bears have to understand that as well. Well, and it seems like, Governor, that they might have somebody who's willing to go. give away more of the store in Indiana. You know, a lot of times, because our listeners, you know, we talk about the bears constantly.

We understand who benefits from a bear's initiative. Having covered budgets as a governor and having dealt with them personally, where does that money go if it's earmarked for a stadium instead of, say, other public projects? Who loses when that money goes towards something like a stadium? Well, I think the number one issue is the taxpayers of Illinois should be. not in any way pay for the actual building of a stadium. Governor Pritzker has said that. I think everybody understands that.

That has to be paid for by the bears and their investors. The real issues now are the things around the stadium, how to get there, the roads and so on. And Illinois has said, because this is a major development, not only about a stadium, but a retail commercial housing development around the stadium, we're willing, as a state, to put up reasonable money to help infrastructure, to help the way of people to get to and from there. And Illinois does have a capital budget separate from the regular everyday budget of paying for schools and health care and police and so on. But we have a capital budget where we've invested in highways and bridges and everything related to infrastructure. And we have a lot of money in that budget right now.

Matter of fact, the road budget, I think, is about $3 billion. So the money is there to do reasonable things to get people safely to and from their destination, whether it's Arlington Heights or any other part of Illinois. So I think that is a real ace in the whole for our state of Illinois. If Indiana thinks they can make the Bears fans pay even more to get to the stadium, and have a toll road increase. I don't think that's a very good way to sell Indiana at all. And I don't think it's a good idea for Indiana to be the site of the Bears.

We're the pride and joy of Illinois, and that's what Papa Bear did with his Bears fight song, and we want to keep it that way. We're joined by the former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. He was the governor of the state from 2009 to 2015 here on 104-3, the score. and you invoke the name George Hallis and I understand the sentiment

mentality of this entire thing, right? But at the end of the day, because you said this last segment about not having money grubbing, I think owners in the NFL and how Popa Hallis would not like that Papa Bear Halas. I think we're already past that point, though.

If you look at what the NFL has become in terms of a business, a multi-billion dollar business, it feels like that's already been by the wayside, Fans are secondary in this whole thing. It's about the value of the companies, making sure they do the smart and prudent financial decisions. So what I'm asking you, Governor Quinn, is if Indiana gives them a sweetheart deal, something akin to what we saw just recently in Kansas City, where the chiefs decide to leave Missouri for Kansas, it's hard for me to picture them not taking a deal as good as that, unless Illinois can come up with something similar. And that seems to be at the detriment of Illinois taxpayers.

Yeah, well said, Marshall, you know, for some of these owners, NFL owners, they have dollar signs for eyes, and it is all about money for them. And what happened in Kansas City, I went by Arrowhead last summer, and I saw the stadium there. They want to run away from that and go across the street to Kansas and build a new stadium for themselves. The owners of the chiefs are billionaires to begin with. Now, the McCaskey family is not, they're not billionaires. They're well-to-do to say the least. And I hope they have a heart because it's really about the fans and the taxpayers of Illinois. They've built their franchise that's now worth $8.9 billion.

That's the latest valuation of the Bears. If they get to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights with a reasonable deal, the franchise value will go even higher. Why give that all up? Why give that loyalty up? I would hope the McCaskys would realize their grandfather who started the league, started the team. He wanted to go to Arlington Heights years ago, Papa Bear talked about going there before he went down to Soldier Field from Ruelly Field. So I really feel that ultimately all those fans in the cold this past year cheering for the Bears with the loudest stadium,

as loud as Seattle and more. It should not be let go. And we can't do things that are bad for fans just because the owners want more money. That is Governor Pat Quinn, the governor of the state of Illinois from 2009 to 2015, joining us on our hotline here on 104-3, the score. Thank you so much.

And you know, Governor, we got baseball tomorrow. Muna Takamurakami is going to be in the lineup on Friday. That's what Will Vettable said for the Sox. Well, I'm glad to hear it. We want lots of moonshots this year. And it's a great team, a lot of young team. It's going to grow. And hopefully we can be less than 100 losses and maybe even 50-50.

How about that? That's progress. That sounds like Marshall's prediction. And moonshot may be the home run call. So that's fantastic. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks. You're the best.

Take care you guys. Thanks. Thank you. That was Pat Quinn, the former governor of the state of Illinois from 2009 to 2015. Moonshot is a great Why didn't we think of that? We're not in tune as he is. We don't have enough meatball on us.

That's what I learned. I mean, maybe, you know, maybe John Triffon or maybe Len Casper had thought of it already. But this is, man, this is why I'm in my job and that's why he was in his. Can I just say,

and I know we're going to get to Adam Hogue in a moment, but can I just say, you know, we are taking your phone calls here on Rami, Harris and Grotie. And that's going to be starting at, what, 1125? So excited about that. 312, 644, 677.

A lot of you have given us feedback. The one discouraging thing about that conversation with the governor is I was left with this idea that he's almost wish casting the Bears get it done in Arlington Heights. And there wasn't really enough to convince me that they're going to have a better plan in Illinois that's financially viable to the Bears. or I should say as financially viable to the bears as something that Indiana may offer because they might put it on their taxpayers

and their taxpayers may be okay with that. Illinois, because especially understanding what happened at Soldier Field most recently, it's not going to be swallowed well by the taxpayers here. Well, I think one is used to doing his job for many voters, you know, and you get elected as the governor. So you speak to as many people as you possible. and then the other is

knowing that they can add an asset or what they see is an asset to their state and where that money and the budget goes may not be as open as where it goes here. You know, for everybody talking about, well, yes, Illinois pays a lot of taxes already. So you want more? But it's good to know and understand

about the ideas of like special sessions, what goes on in a meeting like this. And just to reset and let you know again, we have it from Matt Hill, who is on J.B. Prisker's communication staff that the Bears were the ones who called for the cancellation or at least the postponement. There is a difference between a cancellation and a postponement.

At least a pause to the hearing that was scheduled this morning to make further tweaks to an infrastructure bill that was supposed to give the bears about $900 million, give or take, to support the infrastructure for the construction of Arlington Heights. Somebody who's been on this from the very beginning and who has more information, he also got the bear's statement is Adam Hogue.

Adam Hogue of the Hogan-John's podcast joins us next to her on Rahimi-Harrison Grotie on the score.