Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Callers sound off on Bears' stadium push: 'They're not leaving Illinois'

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote opened up the phone lines for Score callers to sound off on the Bears' pursuit of a new stadium.

Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 The Score. This is Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043 The Score, talking about the latest news from the state of Illinois regarding the possibility of the bears getting some legislation that would help with their property tax discussion regarding the property they bought in Arlington Heights. Cam Buckner is going to be on the afternoon show on Spiegelan Holmes to give us some more clarity. That will happen at 4 o'clock today. time we're taking your calls because it's your money. So if it's your money, then you should be able to call. 312-644-67-67 is the number.

Let's go to Mario and Hyde Park. Mario, you're on 104-3, the score. That sounds so crazy. 104.3, the score. Wow. I like that. You sound great, man. You sound, Mario. You are made for FM.

More than you know, Mark, girl. Do you? Oh, yeah. I feel like what I said a year ago is kind of still in play. They're not leaving Illinois. I agree with Marshall. Indiana's not a bluff at all. That's real.

I think it's more real than it's ever been. That's why this new move from the state legislature to maybe come up with a bill to cast aside the needs of the bears is going to probably happen. I don't think if J.B. Prisker is thinking about an extended run here in Illinois being governor or perhaps going national and maybe running for president,

I don't think that he thinks it's a good idea to have that on his list of things that he let the Bears leave in the... I'm sorry, Illinois. But I go back to the beginning. The Bears are cash cow for the state. They'll do what they have to do to get them to stay. Where it gets kind of cloudy is what are taxpayers willing to accept,

not what are they willing to pay if you follow? What would they accept as, okay, that's enough for me. I can deal with that as opposed to outright going, I'm not going to pay for any of it, because I don't believe the bears stay unless the taxpayers do pay for some of it. And then the other part, and I'll leave, that $500 million, do you think people's minds would change about footing some of this bill if the bears were to say we will eliminate that $500 million debt on Soldier Fields?

And that's it. Thanks, guys. No, I think you're right, Mario. It is what is the public willing to accept? The other problem is you know we're one part of it, would be going if you watch the bears and we talk about them every day and you understand that part. What you don't know is where that money goes if you're not taking it to the

Bears. And that's where it gets hard and gets tricky. And frankly, it gets hard for politicians to hammer the point home as to why it's not necessarily sound business. You know, and that's what makes it difficult. We all talk about the Bears. We all understand why the stadium would

make sense from a Bears standpoint. That part of it is easy. It's just trying to figure out how the budget gets stretched and moved and repurposed and who pays, who loses, who benefits. That's where this gets hard to discuss. And Governor Pritzker does have, just addressing the other sort of part of Mario's call there, he does have a needle to thread here, a very fine one at that because he's right. The part of the reason the state of Illinois is rustling up is because not on my watch,

the Chicago Bears. I don't want to be known historically as the governor who let the Bears go to Indiana. So not on his watch, but also simultaneously, you're not going to raise the taxes beyond belief to the state of

Illinois, while I do have bigger aspirations, possibly, or I want to leave a strong legacy in Illinois. So he has two things that, or the state of Illinois has two things that they are trying to negotiate. In this stare down, though, don't you think there's more pressure on J.B. Pritzker and the politicians to keep the team Illinois than

there is on George McCasky and the Bears to stay in Illinois? That's a great question. I don't necessarily know because it's just like what Mario was saying. Like, what is it really, I think the number one thing a politician could do if he really, if he really wants to take this out of his hands and give the power to the people, you put it on a ballot. You make the public vote for it. And then it's the public's decision as to whether or not they want to pay for it. That's the best way to do this. If you really want to do it. But they don't have time to do it now.

I think there's a survey. There's an undisclosed survey. That's not the same though as putting it on the ballot. When you put it on the ballot, it is end of discussion. It's also about those who conducts the survey. Like if Mark Grody's conducting the survey for Mark Grody and Dave the cat to have a bigger house. That's Dan Levy the Cat, by the way.

Yeah, Dan Levy the Cat, then you're probably going to publish a survey saying like, oh, here are the reasons why we need a bigger place. It would have to have some. neutrality to it. Yeah, it would have to be... No, you would have to do that because that's your principle, but I'm saying, like, an entity that, like, guess what? High fructose corn syrup is good for you, according to those who are in the business of selling high fructose corn syrup. Like, that's what makes this tricky. That's why you put it to a ballot and then let the people decide. Like,

if J.B. really wanted to do that. If he was really concerned about his political aspirations, that's how you fix it. What do you think they would say? Well, the problem is, They would say, no, thank you. What happened in Kansas City? In Missouri, the taxpayers resoundingly said no. I can't think of the last time one of these ballots passed favorably for the team. Maybe I'm trying to remember if Tennessee had a ballot thing going on with the Titan Stadium. But it's remarkable that people, and I get it.

A lot of people are texting us right now and saying, I'll gladly give up a steak dinner. There are people who cannot afford a steak dinner who would be like, what are you talking about? That's the point. The haves and the haves-s-not, the gray area between has been as spread as it ever has been between the haves and the have-nots.

The have-nots are like, yes, I can afford bear season tickets. Bring me my stadium. There's also just a lot of people with bad information. 773 is like, well, the bears already paid it off. No, they didn't. Like, no, we still, as a county,

oh, $550 million on the renovations for 20 years ago. That's not true. Like, some people just, have bad info. All they have done is promised $2 billion towards the stadium. That's the Bears' contribution or offered contribution. And is it going to cost more than $2 billion?

Of course. I'm just saying, like for the record, we have to give the whole story. The Bears are offering $2 billion. So where's the other $3 billion coming from is my question. What's being worked on right now? I can't wait to see. The state of Illinois is not coming in to fill in the gaps on that. That's the point.

Unless, and if you want to, if you guys really want to, either start a go fund me, or put it to a ballot. Find your local lawmaker and ask them to put it to a ballot. And then the biggest thing for me, Laila, Mark, is the understanding that if the $3 billion, we don't know where it's coming from.

I do want to see how this process plays out because I do want to see how exactly you're going to fund this. Because in Indiana, they've been very clear. We're going to pay for it. You're going to rent to own and we'll pay for it. Bells and whistles. That's what I'm saying.

Them going to Indiana sounds really appealing right now. You can sell that land later. And A5 is right. Illinois is much more than Chicago. It really is. And that's something too. Should the state pay for something that's in the city? Man, this conversation is, I love it.

I love hearing from all the people who have been texting and calling us and letting us know they're very much varied opinions on this matter. But that's why the best way to do it is to put it on a ballot. but traditionally they fail. Yeah, I looked up the Titans thing, by the way. They bypassed the ballot referendum because they're just like, we're going to go ahead and do this. And that's how they got around the ballot thing.

The ballot does not do well for people who own billion-dollar teams. Yeah, that's it. You know, that's part of it. And now we're just getting to the hot take. So coming up next here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, we are going to switch gears a little bit. George McCasky did speak. He did not speak about the stadium,

But you know what? You know what he did? He did get asked about. This. That's his employee, swearing publicly about the team he hates. That and much more from George McCasky. Next.