Full Text of HR0627 102nd General Assembly
HR0627 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Professional sports franchises often relocate to | 3 | | address seating capacity limits, restructure debt, modernize | 4 | | the stadium experience, or to gain full authority over a new | 5 | | stadium; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The Chicago Bears professional football team has | 7 | | expressed a willingness to buy property in the Village of | 8 | | Arlington Heights; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Chicago Bears fans have also expressed an | 10 | | openness toward the team moving, with a recent informal survey | 11 | | of 6,000 people by Patch.com indicating that over 70 percent | 12 | | of respondents would like to see the team move; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The former Arlington Park property presents | 14 | | itself as a fresh development opportunity for the Village of | 15 | | Arlington Heights and the Chicago Bears team; it is | 16 | | conveniently situated off a major highway, just a | 17 | | twenty-minute drive from O'Hare International Airport, and, | 18 | | crucially, it has its own dedicated stop on the Metra commuter | 19 | | rail line; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, The Chicago Bears' current lease payment to the | 21 | | Chicago Park District is $6.48 million per year, though the |
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| 1 | | team only paid $3.1 million in 2020 after fans were not allowed | 2 | | to attend games because of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Taxpayers have covered over $430 million of the | 4 | | Soldier Field renovation project; this is a figure that will | 5 | | balloon substantially before the debt fully matures and is | 6 | | paid off in 2032; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The economics of major professional sport leagues | 8 | | have been changing dramatically in recent years; from | 9 | | television and streaming rights to team-sanctioned legalized | 10 | | sports betting, worldwide merchandising deals, and massive | 11 | | media empires, teams have become corporate conglomerates with | 12 | | wide-ranging interests far beyond the stadium; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The location of the Chicago Bears team matters | 14 | | much less than their name, which implies that the team is one | 15 | | with Chicago so long as the team keeps its namesake; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Moving to a stadium in Arlington Heights presents | 17 | | an economic opportunity for a top-of-the-line stadium | 18 | | featuring a higher capacity and burgeoning entertainment, | 19 | | restaurant, and retail industry; the Arlington Heights | 20 | | location provides easier access via the State's roadways and | 21 | | Metra commuter rail lines; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 2 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 | | we urge the owners of the Chicago Bears organization to reach | 4 | | an agreement that all parties see as equitable and beneficial | 5 | | to move the team to the former Arlington Park property; and be | 6 | | it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That the Chicago Bears organization should move | 8 | | to the Arlington Heights location without requesting | 9 | | incentives from local or state government; and be it further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 | | delivered to the Chicago Bears organization, Chicago Mayor | 12 | | Lori Lightfoot, and Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes.
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