Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - How close are the Bears to building a new stadium? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 10, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote opened their show by reacting to the latest developments in the Bears' quest to build a new stadium. The Bears have made progress in their discussions with Illinois lawmakers to build a stadium in Arlington Heights. Later, they opened up the phone lines for Score callers to sound off on the Bears' pursuit of a new stadium.

This hour is brought to you by Menards. See, big money at Menards. The views and opinions of Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grotty 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.

Gay, thanks. Bye. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody. 10 to 2 on 104 3 The Score. Dan, thanks for joining us. Hi, guys. Welcome to the NFL offseason.

Oh, we've made it. Look at that. The weed man has spoken. The season is over. Dan, Vork is trying to call you the weed man. And I'm pretty sure that refers to something else. How do you feel about this? Weed man, weed man, weed man.

Come on in, man. All of the people that knew me in childhood just call me weed. And so my nickname has kind of evolved over the years during various markets and on this station as well. When I was in college, I used to get wicked hammered. My nickname was puke. Probably would have gotten exposed. I'd let it affect my grades, but I aced on my horses. They called me ace.

It was totally awesome. We got straight bees. They called me buzz. You can call me just about anything you want, and I won't be. Wait, wait. What is your preferred nickname? Because I don't want to call you weed if you don't be called weed. What are you talking about?

We've got to call him weed now. I think it's a little more endearing, but that's also Mark Brody who put me on to the weeds. Is that supposed to be my nickname? That's your nickname. Adam, we, Dan. We appreciate the time. Sorry, I was just reading something from Adam Schepter. Nothing of not there.

Unfortunately. Sorry guys. No problem, Dolores. We'll talk to her. Dolores. That's wild. Officer Torres is wild. Her name is Dolores. Okay, listen, I can't just call you weed and be like, okay, thanks, weed. I'm a no on weed. I just want to be on the record now.

Like, thinking weed just seems unstable. I have to do what's right. Weed is for the people. It's the people's weed. Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. To 2. on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. At least Dan found out what the texter had sent to us yesterday.

You sent him that, right, sent him that offline, so that's good. We have that going for us, team. What rhymes with Dolores? Mm-hmm. No, not that one. Oh. Oh, the other one. Yeah, you know.

I'm sorry, it's just not safe for work. There were two texts that I showed some serious restraint and not reading. I thought before I read. I think that's a better version of, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Because I'm like, I think you still read it though. I did, but not, I don't think I read it on the blanks. You just didn't read it out loud.

On the microphone. But, yeah, and as I heard that Great Open by Tyler Buterbaugh, I was like, it just made me thinking, again, where did weir come up with Dolores of all names? Like, why did, why was that the name that came to his head? Yeah, that was pretty amazing stuff, wasn't it? It was. So, so that is a, I guess that. is just one of the conclusions that we have come to as a show is that my alter ego will be Dolores, Dan will be the weed man.

I love it. Or just weed, I guess. I love what we're building. By the way, I take the north because people love this. Our episode of what we got right and wrong from the beginning of the season is up. So if you like talk show hosts admitting things they got wrong and playing back bad predictions and good ones and good ones, it's up and running on Take the North right now. This is Rahimi Harrison Grosy on 1043, The Score.

we thank you for joining us on this Tuesday. And I know that it is a topic that is tedious. It's just basically a lot of people speaking in front of microphones. Gee, why would we be interested in that? Oh, we're a lot of people speaking in front of microphones. We're entertaining. Interesting. So the latest on the stadium is that there is some movement.

Everybody's saying multiple reports that the Bears and the Illinois lawmakers are closer on a stadium deal. And this is really birthed from what Jaybury-Prin. Pritzker had to say yesterday when he talked about there being a little bit of movement closer to the concept of the Bears getting some work done in Illinois. So J.B. Pritzker was at an event downstate. He talked about the so-called pilot legislation that would give the team ability to negotiate property tax levels within the village of Arlington Heights. At the land they've already purchased for a stadium. Paris Shuts was on with the afternoon show, Spiegel and Holmes. Let's listen to how Paris, the Fox 32 reporter who's been following this,

explain what the details are now. I mean, all signs, Lawrence, and thanks for that introduction, Lawrence and Matt, point to the fact that this Indiana play has motivated Illinois to change its tune. You see Governor Pritzker and State Rep. Cam Buckner going from saying, we're not helping out a billion dollar corporation to today saying, you know, we've, feel there's progress and let's find a deal that's going to be good for the team and good for taxpayers. So what I've been told, there are talks that are going on, and I've been told these talks have been going on pretty regular between a deputy governor, Andy Minar in the governor's office, and Cam Buckner, and then state senator Bill Cunningham and the Bears. And they've been

hammering out the details. And what sources close to these talks say is that there is an agreement. Lawmakers are on board the idea of infrastructure spending. Governor Pritzker has said that. You know, he's not opposed to that. And they're on board the idea of this pilot legislation, as it's called, that would give mega-developments like the Bears the ability to negotiate property tax levels with the community as opposed to getting their giant piece of property assessed and then having a $100 million tax bill. They would negotiate these things going forward. That's the thing that Kevin Warren is called property tax certainty.

So those, it's just the details of those things aren't agreed to, but the principle of those things lawmakers are now saying, okay, we can do this. That was pair of shots on with Spiegel and Holmes yesterday. So he kind of translates for us. Now keep in mind a couple of things. The Bears bought Arlington Heights in 2023. So we, it's February, I believe, of 2023.

So we're to the three-year mark of there being nothing, construction-wise. Property taxes have been a major sticking point, as we know. I don't necessarily know how much them threatening to go to Indiana mattered in this. I think there's also been a reiteration on the state's part of what they're able to do. But that part about the, quote, property tax certainty, and that just basically means they want their rates to be some sort of guaranteed or set. Which is normal. Yeah, usually though you do it before you buy the land. And that's the thing here is that that's, I've always maintained this, they did it out of order. So these are the three aspects of this you have to keep in mind when you hear this. I think it's understandable that

they want the tax certainty, of course. Yes, they are out of order, but this franchise has been out of order and a lot of things at a lot of time. So that's unsurprising. Pre-kevin Warren, we'll say. Kevin Warren is brought in to get this thing rolling, and it has not rolled as of yet, But it feels like they are getting to the starting blocks here. And I think that's progress. And this idea that the Bears are going to build in Arlington Heights is not one that is lost on anyone. That's been the assumption because why would you buy all that land if you weren't going to build on it? But at the same time, this Indiana thing was a game changer.

Let's be honest. This moved everything that was stalled into motion. I completely agree with that. that it just happened to be because one of the new reports was, and I happened to read the Chicago Tribune article, that the Bears and the state of Illinois have been meeting regularly since December. What happened in December, Mark? When the letter came out from the Bears as in regards to Indiana.

And as Paris said, yes, they did change their tune. As they were being, the state was being a little smug about it. Like, we're not going to help a billion dollar industry. and then all of a sudden J.B. Pritzker is back to the table here. I think this is good, though, because you guys are both right if it's out of order, but the bears now have, will have had, if they are allowed to the megaproject's legislation, if they are able to negotiate with the local municipalities, won't they have had two out of the three things that they wanted out of this? the other one being the Soldier Field debt payment from the renovation, which occurred in 2003,

that they want out of that as well. Yeah, that was an add-on. That is. So that's the other part that they have to talk about. I concede that that should not necessarily be a slam dunk. But that's the point of this is that in negotiation, all these other pieces of this have developed. that originally we knew that the state of Illinois hadn't changed position on we'll give you around a billion dollars.

I know that that is not a fun number to round, but they'll give you around a billion dollars for the infrastructure. That we knew. Like that, that was said that was maintained by J.B. Pritzker, that was maintained by the state of Illinois. Then there was the issue of the property tax rate, and that's where a lot of this has come from.

That's where we are. That's where I argue most of this has come from. Then there was the pep rally that they had with Brandon Johnson, where they also decided to ask the IFSA, which is the bond, you know, the bond issuing entity that created, say, guaranteed rate field, which, by the way, is the equivalent of what Indiana just created is the bond issuing outlet that they had to put that legislative position forward to move forward on this. So once you create an entity to issue the bonds, that becomes a little more real. So they asked them for a bunch of money in between what the Bears wanted to contribute, what the NFL wanted to contribute, and then what they wanted for the building. The building discussion is now off the table, as I am to understand. Fox 32 reporting, Warren has vowed that the team will pay for all costs of actually building the stadium structure.

So we keep getting all these bits and pieces as to what the deal is. And now we're finding out more things. Remember when we found out Marshall that the concept of the Bears paying the debt left on Soldier Fields renovations from 2002 was a thing? 500 million in public debt. Yeah, and they wanted to

essentially throw a couple of bucks at it because was it 25 million they offered up? What the Bears offered on the 500 million? Yeah. It's like me paying a credit card bill. It was like, oh, is this what you're coming to the table with? And now because Indiana is involved and because that legislative session ends at the end of this month.

And there is an actual bill drawn up that the Senate has approved. That means Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, Cam Buckner, all of the associated parties, they got to get it together and quick. They do. And it should be pointed out as well in all of this. Like there are, you know, from both sides, there's issues. The Bears did have promised, and this was forever, $2 billion in private investment towards the stadium projects. So it's not like the bears are asking for everything.

And I know I told you guys about this, but you mentioned the word pep rally. There is going on in Arlington Heights tomorrow night. The mayor and some other speakers as well, representatives from Arlington Heights will be there. I guess the way it is posed to me urging the state to play ball and to keep the bears in Arlington Heights as opposed to Indiana. I do plan to attend just to get a feel for what's going on. I don't know exactly in what form I'm going, reporter, just myself, just curious citizen. Curious citizen, but just to hear what they're saying, see who might be there as well. So, yeah, it's just things are, that my point is to say things are happening right now. Yeah, and part of this is because the state of Indiana decided to,

the state of Indiana has a self-proclaimed deadline on when they've got to figure stuff out, which is February 27. But here's the funniest part. They've actually upped the speed because they're like, we got places to be. We would like to get this decided by the 17th. Isn't their season over though? No, because the legislative session in Indiana is February 27th. That's what I mean at the end of February.

Right, but they have said they would like to get this done by the 17th. They got their own deadline. So that's what I'm trying to explain. So yeah, they decided to even. advance that somewhat to try to get this process rolling. Now, the thing about their entity that they created is that entity can then act, get the land, tax people for the stadium, do all the things that are necessary to make it happen. But the point of it is, is, yeah, the bears have been willing to try to contribute two billion. But the cost estimate on this project as a whole

has come up to way more money than that. There was an argument said originally after that Pap Rally with Brandon Johnson, that the bears were asking for $5 billion. Additional. Additional. And like originally it was $3 billion. It was two. And then the Illinois bond issuing entity said it was going to be upwards of way more than that. And that's what this is.

It's negotiation. And we're all along for this ride. We're all on the table, ladies and gentlemen. When we talk about being along for this ride, if it comes out that us as taxpayers are going to be left with yet another bill, an exceeding bill, let's say the bears pay for 70% of the stadium and the taxpayers are left for the other 30% of the actual stadium, not the infrastructure, the stadium itself.

You know what I'm going to say? Yeah, y'all go have fun in Indiana. And who knows? So might the bears. I'm curious, too, what the people think. What the people think. Yeah, we need opinions on this. Because there's a lot of people dealing with real issues

as far as where the tax money is going, specifically when you talk about the state. money in Illinois. So yeah, we definitely need to hear from the people. I'm sure they're texting us already. I don't know that the budget is in the business of guaranteeing discounts for a lot of people, which is what the bears and that have argued for and the state of Illinois has maintained they cannot do. So that's the other part of this is, well, what kind of tax certainty are you going to get? Is it year to year? You know, like, what does that actual law that they want to draw up look like that would make this all make some sense? So that's another question.

that I would have in all of this. Yeah, I mean, that's all going to be negotiated and hopefully come to the light soon if they could agree on all of this. Yeah, so we'll get into more on what we expect to happen with this. We'll take your calls as well. 312, 64-64-67 is our number here on 104-3. The score, we're still on 670. And frankly, if the whole state's going to pay for this, I know we got some people down in

downstate who are listening on 670 who might want to share a minute. Shout out. Field, Peoria, Lincoln. I'll see all you. 670 is for the distance. 104 is for like our building. We couldn't get anything behind our building. So, you know, we fill in the gaps with everything else.

So that's how this goes. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104. As I mentioned, we want to get your thoughts on just whether or not the stadium should be here. Should it be in Indiana? Do you care? Do you want to pay for it? Yeah. Well, and you're already paying for it.

Chances are if you're listening to us. 312, 64, 64, 67, 67 is the number. Our producers are Ray Diaz and Tyler Buterbaugh. You just heard Marshall Harris and Mark Grotty. I'm Laylorahaheimy. You can join us on Twitch as well, Twitch.tv slash the Score, Chicago, or YouTube. The Score Chicago is our address there as well. Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis are our video team.

Braden Friar helps us out as well. And we have more coming up on this topic, which is sponsored by almost free Teeth.com, affordable implants, life-changing smiles. Do we actually think shovels will be in the ground this year? Let's start with that concept. I'm done with that game. I mean, well,

three years later, after you buy a property, is always when you like to build, right? It sounds like the shovels are going to be in the ground. It's just going to be a matter. Are they going to be in the ground in Illinois or Indiana? Indiana. Hold your thought. Let's discuss that next. Rahimi, Harris, and Grohuey. Midday's tidal two.

Chicago Sports Radio. This is Rahimi Harris and Grady on 1043 The Score, talking about the latest happening with the Bears and Arlington Heights. Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, Cam Buckner, who's going to be on the afternoon show at 4 o'clock, by the way. You won't want to miss that on Spiegel and Holmes. He'll give us some more explanation. Cam Buckner has been outspoken about this and sports. I always like to hear what he has to say because I feel like he's a good sports fan,

and so are you. 312, 64, 64, 67, 67 is our number. We're going to start with Mike on the south side. Mike, this is Rahimi Harrison-Grody. How are you? Hey, I'm good. What's up, Mike? Yes, I was listening to you guys.

You know, I think that I'm sick of watching people get pushed around by private interests, and it's supposed to be the government who defends us from them. So I think that the city should use eminent domain to take control of the team. It's the Chicago Bears Bears And the domain to take the team I mean I've heard of some land plays How do you get to the team

Mike I mean the CPD that's a what Like a 3,000 strong Personal private army That the mayor controls What are they going to do It's the government

You can't fight City Hall Like they say You can't fight City Hall That's the first time I've heard it used To talk about taking over An entire football organization Take that back. Thank you very.

So we have the meatball of the day. The city of Chicago marches into Arlington Heights and takes their team back. I don't know. I feel like there's more meatbally things that are going to be said in these airways. Oh, no. Now, using the concept of eminent domain, which domain defines property to take the team. Okay. You know one of his buddies told them that.

The problem with that is what are the bears evaluated at against? 9 billion? 9 billion. Yeah, 9 billion. You got to pay for it. So that's still coming back on the taxpayers at that point. Eminent domain. They did use Eminent Domain to build Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, the Death Star, if you will.

That's adjacent to where the Rangers play. So that was, and that was met with a lot of pushback, too, because it was People's Land. Like, there were some houses in the way of that project. Wait, what? The Death Star is what? We lovingly refer to the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington as the Death Star. Oh, that's hilarious. You've been there, right?

And the death turns out to just be the cowboys playing in the windows because they face east-west and not north-south. That's hilarious. Yeah, that's one of the few stadiums that I have not been in, Jerry's World. Or the Death Star, apparently. You can call it either or. Jerry World, Death Star. I believe it's called AT&T Stadium, but who calls it that? But the point is, eminent domain does get used in these cases from time to time.

I just don't know if it's for the team. For a team? He takes it over Hallis Hall. You're taking over all the things. Okay. We're off and running. We are indeed. 312-644-67-67 is our number. Let's go to Jeff and Evanston. Jeff, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Hi there. Yeah, I've been following this stadium question pretty carefully because if you remember, back in the day when Chicago wanted to host the Olympics, I was the economist who had the unfortunate job of telling Mayor Daley, I didn't think it was going to be. be good for taxpayers. So that's a central theme, I think we need to be careful about no taxpayer

money for the Bears Stadium. And the studies that people use to figure out if there's going to be economic benefit or not tend to be gused up by whoever wants it. So we've got to be really careful with whatever numbers are being tossed around. What is it about this specific stadium idea that makes you think that this is not going to be a good economic situation if they build at Arlington Heights or in the state of Illinois as opposed to going to Indiana? Well, I think the bottom line is if you just look at the data around all stadium builds, most of them do not return value for the surrounding community. And if they do, it's just kind of weakly positive. So that may be okay. And versus Indiana or Arlington Heights is probably

about the same. But the point is, I don't think we can use taxpayer dollars to boost that up. Jeff, thanks for your call. Yeah, there's, there is pushback, especially from the state here, using public money to privatize profit. And that's where this has become a real sticking point. Cam Buckner's talked about it when he talks about, you know, kitchen table issues, inflation, the cost of actually just living your life. There's not a lot of appetite in this state when it comes to public money to fund a business where you only get eight to nine guaranteed regular season dates, for example. They can see. they want to fill it with all this other stuff, concerts and all of that. But when you build another entity as well, you build another arena, you build another stadium, guess what that means? That's another place for an act to go. They still have the opportunity to go to a soldier field, for example. You still have all these other places where, like, your concerts can go.

It's not as guaranteed as a lot of times they make it out to be. I do think he's right about that. I think the biggest thing is, and I think he's right overall, is there's a fine line between investment because I'm good with the infrastructure money. Like that's going to service more than just the Chicago Bears, the idea of that infrastructure building up many other businesses. Right, right. That helps everybody.

That helps everybody. But when the investment becomes kind of this donation, this welfare, if you will, for the billion-dollar company, that's where I draw the line, me personally. I wonder if people out there feel the same way. And I think the fact that this is dragged out so long, I think a lot less people are sympathetic with the Bears as opposed to saying, hey, just go to Indiana.

Well, that's why this is, that's why the details of a bill like this are so important. Like, for example, Pritzker, let's just reread the quote. We're in constant conversation with the Chicago Bears. Pritzker said to reporters at an unrelated event downstate. The most important point I would make is we're not going to do anything that's bad for the taxpayers. We are helping build infrastructure and other things that are available to any business that's growing or building something new in the state of Illinois that is putting people to work. Those are normal incentives, and that's what I'd expect we'll end up with for the bears.

So then the question becomes, what is the pilot legislation going to dictate? And does that number even get the bears to come to the table? Because if that's not a number they like, they still have the concept of Indiana being a part of this. Yeah, and I know a lot of people think Indiana is just a complete bluff. I think at the end of the day, money talks, and you know it, walks. And if Illinois doesn't come up with something that the bears find, I don't know, favorable is even the right word, but to their liking, the Indiana thing is just a sweetheart

deal. It really is. I mean, depending on what it is, though. We don't have the details. Illinois did not, obviously, did not treat it as leverage as a bluff. Like, they might think way in the back of their head it is, but there's a big part. We can't afford to lose. Yeah, like this one, they, they are taking the bears very seriously.

or they wouldn't have gone right to the table in December when the Bears note came out and we were all mad at the Bears because the Bears were winning games. How dare you ruin our vibe? Distraction action. But as it turned out, it was a bold move by the Bears. Now the Fox 32 report says, so it's close to the Bears, say the only site that they're considering in Indiana

is near Wolf Lake and Hammond, which is right across from the Chicago border. So I guess the entity that they want to create in Indiana, bond issuing authority there, that would be the land that would be part of this discussion. So that's something to consider as well. But all of this is still a far cry from the Bears obviously holding property in Arlington Heights that they built and told us with the expressed intent of a stadium. That's why I just don't budge much on this.

If I'd known this over the weekend, because I was literally in Hammond, Indiana over the weekend, I would have taken a stronger look around the place. A site survey? size survey of my own. To be clear, I still think it ends up in Arlington Heights. Like, I think at all stops of this thing, even when I was going through my God, I'd really

like to see the stadium stay in Chicago. And really, who wouldn't if we could afford it in everything? Because it's beautiful being in the lake. But at every turn, even though it's gotten very interesting, I have said when pressed, where's the stadium going to be? It's going to be Arlington Heights. Because they bought the land.

They've got the land. And it's the best place for the Bears. And they also at one point said, Repeatedly, when asked about a stadium or even renovations to Soldier Field, our sole focus is Arlington Heights. That was the quote from George McCasky every single time it came up until Kevin Warren came into the picture. And that's why I maintain this stuff usually gets done before you buy the land, not after. Because guess what they've already done, pay taxes on the land that's vacant for three years. That's the part the bears did screw up. And Kevin Warren is even if it has been awkward on his part,

He came in and he was like, wait a minute, you guys didn't even consider any other possible place to build your stadium before you bought Arlington Heights. So Kevin Warren was playing from behind when he came in and George, to his credit, said, yeah, go ahead, go ahead, you know, play the game if you'd like. When the Bears hired Kevin Warren, they realized they were playing from behind. Oh, yeah. Went into part of it. I think the decision to hire Kevin Warren. But the point is, too, is like, oh, you can blame Ted Phillips, who was an accountant. before he became the Bears president,

but then he still has somebody to answer to. He's still managing somebody else's money. This may have been a McCaskey family thing or the board or whatever you want to call it and been like, oh, there's a stadium property available. Let's build it here. Kind of like 847 on our text line. I'm telling y'all there's an industrial neighborhood

in Chicago Avenue, Justice of Cicero, that could easily be bought out through eminent domain, which would be large enough for the stadium. I feel like that was the decision-making process that went into it. and I maintain this the entire time. Since public money has gone towards so many stadiums in the country, you can Google this. You can Google it.

You can find out what the process is supposed to be because you can read the stories about other entities who did this in a different order already. But I knew this would come to this. I knew it would come to everybody just wanting to build the stadium at different spots. When you start to tell us that you want to take down your ex's house to build the Bears Stadium,

I just don't know that it's going to happen. 312, 644, 67 is our number. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 to score as we try to figure out what the latest is regarding the Bears Stadium possibilities. Are there going to be any shovels in the ground? Let's continue our conversation on the phones. Let's go to Tony and Joliet. Hey, Tony. Hey, Leila, Marshall Grody.

What's up, Tony? Hey, buddy, thanks for taking my call. I'm going to go different with this one, guys. It might be a shocker, but I've talked to a lot of my friends. nobody likes to see a big corporation like the Bears have to take money because they're worth billions and they're printing money there. But I'm being honest, and I told Ray,

it's kind of ridiculous to start saying, and like what you said, Marshall, you know, if I got to come on my pocket, hello Indiana. Well, you're not really from Illinois. And I'm telling right now, go to any jewel store, ask any dude walking out with the Bears hat

and say, hey, listen, man, if the difference between the Bears was going to Indiana, or you missing one night out a year at a stakehouse with your wife. If you couldn't do that once a year, would you rather have at Arlington Heights or would you miss the one dinner? Because when we talk about the taxpayers having to take on something like, let's say it's $2 billion, it'll come out to about $25, $50 a person. And if you take it, well, we pay for taxes every year and the stuff, if people could see what our money's going to that has nothing to do with us, it's ridiculous.

Something like this would be so little per person that I don't think. think that should be an issue in talking point. Unless you're just focused on the fact that billionaire companies should not have to take from people. But that's kind of where it's at. And I would have no problem giving up 50, 100 bucks a year, to make sure the bears aren't the Indiana Bears. Sure, they'd still be the Chicago Bears.

But, man, it's not like your daughter getting married and getting another last name. The Bears are bigger in the town of people's daughter. I'm just kidding. But honestly, I really look at that way. You know, I don't think it'll be that much per person. So, guys, thanks for me to have my call. I just want to make that point because, like, Jeff came on earlier, the financial guy.

And I was really thinking when he was talking, I was like, man, just ask him, what do you think that would be per person? Because I bet it's under 50 bucks a person. It's not under 50 bucks a person. Love you guys, man. See you, Tony. Yeah, that's the point. It's not under 50 bucks a person.

Mars, he came at your stake. So, your response. Unfortunately, it comes out in the CTA not having enough infrastructure to, I don't know, have trains run at a normal speed because. there are so many tracks that need repair, you know, or it's CPS's budget, and then you end up paying for it in ride share fees that keep going up and up and up. Wow. Like that's a lot of times, and the studies have been done,

there are articles about this as well. You can read about how stadium funds usually take from other funds, and it's typically public schools, it's typically public infrastructure, and other things that end up being in more states of disrepair because they don't have proper funding to maintain them. even though we pay for them. And then guess who ends up paying a little bit higher CTA fare, for example,

or a little bit higher Uber fee? Suddenly you have a Chicago surcharge and another surcharge and another surcharge. You do. And that's why this is such a tricky topic. I hear you though, Tony. I mean, it's hard. It's hard for people to consider the possibility of the team moving out of the state. And that is like, I mean, there are opinions on every side of this.

And there is the part two where, and he joked about it, It is the Bears. It is a massively appealing entertainment product that makes the state of Illinois very happy. We all know how much. The Bears fuel us. The Joy Tax. The city of Chicago and the state of Illinois is fueled by the joy. Like, I understand this is peripheral stuff.

It is part of it. But it is part of it. Civic Pride is real. The entertainment part is real. The fact that everybody loves the bear. Like, we can all agree that we love the bear. No, I agree with everything you're saying. I didn't even disagree with like the sentiment that Tony was bringing.

But the bottom line, the cold hard facts of how cash works. Come on, man. Did you hear what, were you listening though? He took away a steak dinner from you, man. But you say that now, but you don't understand how you pay for it later. Like, CPS is a best example I can give because a lot of times the two are adjacent in a budget. You know, like that, we pay for it and then we hear about it constantly. They're still paying off Soldier Field last I checked, correct?

To the taxpayer. They still owe 500 million plus dollars. That's what I'm trying to, like, let's not act like that doesn't exist in reality right now. Before any shovels go in the ground, there's still money being paid on Soldier Field by tax dollars. Also, what's the tax going to cost you on that steak dinner you want to buy? The sales tax keeps going up and up as far as I recall. Who is paying for that right now? Is that the entertainment tax?

Well, there was a grace period on the grocery tax that I know, but that recently stopped. I thought it was a hotel thing that was more so driving it. That's what's paying for it right now. And with the pandemic and other things, hotel business has not been as booming as it was, say, 10 years ago here in the city of Chicago. So are you Marshall? Like, you want them in Indiana if people are going to get hit with the taxes? It's a guaranteed nine games a year. Like, say what you want about pre-year.

season, but when it's, I've read all the studies. Like, this was part of my field of study. And I lived in a state where I've paid my tax dollars, have paid for many stadiums. So because of that, yeah, I understand that teams move. I just don't want to be the one on the hook for it, especially in a state where the budget is such a problem. 312-644-67 is our number. We continue with Stadium Talk. I'm Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 at the score. Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison 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 Spiegel and Holmes to give us some more clarity.

that will happen at 4 o'clock today. In the meantime, 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 is that.

You sound great, man. You sound, Mario. You are made for FM. More than you know, Mark Groby. 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 pass 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 a 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 bear's 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 cats have a bigger house. That's Dan Levy the Cat, by the way. Yeah, Dan Levy the Cat, Martin.

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-for-Jose corn syrup is good for you, according to those who are in the business of selling high-furtose corn syrup. Like, that's what makes this tricky. That's why you put it.

It's not good for you. 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 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 dollars 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. 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 in 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 year 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.