Pritzker: Bears stadium deal this fall is ‘near impossible’

Gov. J.B. Pritzker poured more cold water Monday on the Chicago Bears’ hopes of legislation this year providing public money for a proposed $4.7 billion stadium project on the city’s lakefront.

In comments made during an unrelated news conference in Chicago, Pritzker said there’s been little change in the stadium proposal’s prospects since the Bears first unveiled it in April, only to be met with deep skepticism from the governor’s office and legislators.

“I've made it clear to the Bears’ leadership that it would be near impossible to get anything done,” he said of the General Assembly’s Veto Session that opens in mid-November. “(It) would have to wait until next spring.”

The Bears have pledged to contribute about $2 billion toward the construction of a new domed stadium on parking lots south of Soldier Field along Lake Michigan. The team is seeking public money to foot the rest of the costs, including infrastructure upgrades surrounding the stadium.

Some of that funding could come through the team’s request that state legislators extend Illinois Sports Facilities Authority bonds, backed by the 2% Chicago hotel tax, for an additional 40 years. The agency would also refinance its existing debt taken out for the 2003 Soldier Field renovations and to build Guaranteed Rate Field.

Pritzker in the spring called the Bears’ proposal a “nonstarter.” Little has occurred since to change his mind, he indicated Monday.

“In reality, there isn't a proposal on the table right now that would be acceptable to anyone that I know in the legislature,” he said.

A Bears spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday about the governor’s remarks.

In the meantime, Arlington Heights officials say they remain hopeful that the Bears will reconsider the 326-acre Arlington Park property the team bought in 2023 as home to a new stadium project.

Bears officials had announced plans for a $5 billion stadium development on the land. But they backed away from the proposal amid a change in team leadership and a dispute with three local school districts over property taxes.