Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - JB Pritzker is more motivated than Illinois House, Senate to get Bears stadium deal done

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed the Bears' stadium pursuit, with Grote sharing why he believes Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is still motivated to keep the team in the state.

Rahimi Harris and Grody. That sounds so crazy. 104.3 the score. Wow, I like that. Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 The Score. We know we've got a lot of calls and texts coming in. We will take them 312, 644, 67, 67.

But first, Mark Grody, our dogged reporter, has been on the scene. You were at the rally in Arlington Heights last week. You have more information that you've gathered. even since yesterday morning regarding the bear's latest? I am dogged. There is no doubt about that. Better to be dogged than dogging it, so I appreciate the doggedness. I talked to a lot of people yesterday, and a lot of it's been discussed already.

You know, obviously I covered the bears, been doing that since 2018, so iron's in the fire there. People don't, people on the a.m. know this, but maybe not on the FM. You know, our new FM people. I did work in, I was a reporter, news reporter in Springfield, Illinois, ladies and gentlemen, for two years of my life where I chased ambulances, but also made my way to the state Capitol building when a George W. Bush was campaigning for president and a young Barack Obama, see how I got both sides in?

A young Barack Obama was just Jenny from the block. You were there? I would see him. Yeah, yeah. And I did not cover the state on an every day. But I was assigned there every once in a while. So I've got a little bit of experience in all of that. And I will just say this about what is going on with the state.

From what I understand, the governor, J.B. Pritzker, is fairly motivated to get this done, but there isn't necessarily the same buy-in from the House and the Senate, which you could look at, I think, in all sorts of different ways, depending on what side of all of this you are on. It's good that the governor, if you want the bears to build in Illinois, Arlington Heights, that he is the one that is pretty motivated to get this done. But those of you who are watching out for your taxes, the House and the Senate has your back right now as well. I wanted to ask you guys on this specifically, and people will weigh in, 312, 6, 4, 4, 6, 7, 67.

We're taking your phone calls at the top of the hour. But if you're Governor Prisker, how much of a black mark is it if you are allowing the bears to leave the state of Illinois? That's the big question. and I think it's person to person. You guys have taken the calls. We've read the comments. There are people that will say the bears are dead to me if they move to Indiana. There are people right now that just don't care anymore.

They just want to know where it's going to be. There are people who wanted in Indiana. Do you want to know where I am right now with all this? I'll tell you where I am with all. The only time I ever had a dog in the race, I don't like to say dog in the fight. The only time I ever had that, the one, and this was meatball of me in a little bit, I would have loved for there to have been a path to build downtown, to build the stadium and Soldier Field.

I realized that that was not realistic. Honest to God, I'm at a point right now, just from all the conversations I've had over the last week or so and maybe something, there's been a psychic change in my head, I don't care if they move to Indiana. I really don't. I mean, I see so many different good possibilities for Indiana if it is to go there. That doesn't mean I don't think there's a million great things about Arlington Heights as well.

And of course, as somebody who grew up here, grew up a Bears fan. It does feel weird the idea that the Bears have moved to Indiana. But I'm at a point right now where I honestly, and this has happened organically, like maybe even yesterday where I was like, I'm okay with Indiana if they do it. Like I've been making my piece throughout this whole process and I've arrived at that. Well, and that's, I think that's fine. My biggest issue has been if you really want to know what everybody thinks, if you want to give everybody their fair say in it,

You'd have a ballot issue in Indiana. You would ask the voters what they think of the state. You would ask the voters of the state of Illinois what they think. And then you would actually get the true opinion of everyone. But I know that you don't have to have public money to build a privately profited stadium. You don't have to. States that are near other bordering states, you know, teams that are near other bordering states like Chicago is, you can go ahead and ask another municipality, just like,

Kansas City did if they want to fund your project. And if you get a deal that's best for you, you have the right to do that as a business. But as far as taxpayers are concerned, ask them whether or not they want to pay the extra freight. Now we know historically that answer's been no. But I think that it should have been the voter's decision if they wanted that. The bears didn't have that option in Arlington Heights because they already bought the land. So that's what makes this different. Right. Which is why. And the other thing that I'm reporting. and I have already discussed it is, but just to make it succinct, if both Illinois and Indiana come up with fair proposals.

Because of what you just said, Layla, they own the land at Arlington Park. Illinois is going to get the benefit of the doubt, even if the proposal is not as dominant as what Indiana can offer. So when you say fair proposal, my first thought is, well, what do the bears think is fair? Because they are the arbitrator in this. Well, you know, what they keep saying and what we keep hearing, over and over and over again is the obviously the infrastructure, which feels better now than

it used to in terms of people accepting what would have to be paid in that regard, but it's the property tax certainty. That's the two things that we've been hit over the head with throughout this entire process. And that's their phrasing. The bears say they want that. So that's important to note as well. That is what they have put out there day after day after day after day. You're right. You're right. Yeah. So I think that that's important to bring up. 312, 64, 64, 67. Now, Mark, based on when you were in Arlington Heights last week, and based on the events of yesterday and what you heard,

do you feel any different about anything that you gathered in that time, like either what happened last week, do you feel like there was more clarity or what happened yesterday? More clarity? Yeah, or just like, is there something that you, something that happened or that you heard from, like, say, last week, that you feel like got answered and you're reporting it? yesterday.

Yeah, I don't really think, no, I don't think anything has been exactly answered as of yet, because it does feel like once we think we know something, we don't really know that something. So none of the big questions have been answered as of yet. Would this qualify as a developing story then? Just in the nature that there have already been twists and turns, but you feel like there's way more twist and turns around the corner? I don't know if there are twists and turns necessarily around the corner because at this point, as I said earlier, this might go to, to be very specific here, the Indiana governor's desk,

Mike Braun, next week, could be at the end of next week. That does not mean that by the end of next week, the bears will be ready to say, yes, we'll take Indiana. It gives Arlington Heights then the state of Illinois. time to up their game. I think until they break ground on something, we might not necessarily know. Like, you've got to put the laws in place

in order to build around it, but you don't actually have to build anywhere until you're actually building somewhere. That is true. Let's just hope that's 2026 and not 2027 because that means that this ordeal will be over and we will have decisions that have been made. The shovels in the ground podcast.

I am telling you, man. That is it. Listen, you could just start another podcast and call it the shovels in the ground. And you can battle with the cranes in the air podcast. Because, you know, sometimes you have a podcast and it's not like this everlasting podcast. It's just a series. That's what it should be.

The Shovels in the Ground podcast. Right. And then once the shovels go on the ground, it's over. Then we've got to move on. And you can listen to it and understand how this all came to be. The podcast is fluid, just like the situation with the stadium. We'll keep renaming it until, you know, we like irrelevant names. That's what it is.

Irrelevant names. Take the North is irrelevant. The North has been taken. No, but you got to take it. take it again next year. Oh, God, that's right. That's, it's, it's, every year the North has to be taken, because that's the whole thing. That's the podcast. Every year, the North has to be taken podcast. Are they taking the North next year? Or are we going to talk about that later? That's in five on it.

You're always doing this. You're always taking like a five on a topic and trying to bring it up early. Sorry. No, you're not. I jumped a gun. You're not sorry. He does it for the ply? He does it for the plight. Hey, did anybody ask if an AH is going on the helmet, though? H, it's not going to have, you sometimes like to stir thing. I do think about Les Grabsstein a lot right now because his head, this might have killed. If what killed him then, didn't kill him then, this would have killed him. All of this talk, like he had had a strict, I don't want to hear about it. We're not talking about the stadium.

Anybody wants to talk about KMA. We'll talk about amen. Who knows how he would pronounce Ogbogmogamemegas last name. That would be a trip to. Are you saying it would not be Ogbaugh? It would not be Ogbogababiga. The linebacker. The linebacker.

Everybody knows that. Yeah. He'd be like, A-O. A man hits from the bong of boiga. I don't do drugs and I don't eat chocolate. Les was a sober man. Remember that?

That's a sobering thought. No chocolate in your life? No, it was like a weird thing. I was like, what are you, a dog? You don't eat chocolate? I gave up sweets for Lent and I'm already counting down the days. Oh, wow. You gave up sweets, huh?

I still love to give something up. I'm always late. Am I too late? Give up. You can't give up the bears because we wouldn't be working with you. I was going to suggest that, but that's crazy. I think the reason that I was so anxious to ask you about the Bears winning the North is because it's like, I can't wait to get back to just talking about the bears as opposed to the stadium stuff. It's going to be a while.

It's going to be several shovels on the ground podcast from now before we get back to that. I will stay on the phones. I will stay on the phones and we will inform you like we do on the Rahimi Harrison Grody Show. Yeah, and we'll stay on the phones with you. We'll take your calls next. Yeah, that's right. You all get the longest segment of the hour next. 312 64 6467 on 104-167-the-score.