5 On It: Is Bears' exploration of stadium in Indiana motivating Illinois lawmakers?

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Rahimi & Grote Show 20 min 4 speakers 7 chapters transcribed

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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Mark Grote 0:00

The score. I got five. It's time for Five On It. Rahimi Harrison-Roney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104.3 The Score. I got five on it. Number one.

Marshall Harris 0:14

Illinois lawmakers and the Bears are reportedly close to a deal on public infrastructure funding and property tax legislation tied to a proposed Arlington Heights Stadium with the team pledging to cover construction costs. Governor J.B. Pritzker says talks are ongoing and any agreement must protect taxpayers while lawmakers continue working. working through details like ticket affordability and tax certainty. Indiana has advanced its own stadium proposal to lure the Bears, adding pressure as its legislative session nears an end, though Illinois leaders say they're not negotiating out of competition. Thanks to Fox 32 for all those details I just laid out for you there.

What is the current status of the Bears' stadium negotiations in Illinois?

Marshall Harris 0:55

So here's the question. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the BS meter, where do you rate the idea that Illinois lawmakers are not all of a sudden upping their game because of Indiana?

Leila Rahimi 1:07

Well, that's what we need clarity on, right? So when Cam Buckner says in his story, we're not in competition with Indiana. Well, the Bears made you guys somewhat in competition. So what does that mean when it comes to the discussion about the tax rate? What does that mean as far as what the Bears want? Here's the other part of this. If the Bears have to give up more than they wanted in this deal, if they're like, okay, we'll stay in Illinois. Okay, we'll go to Arlington Heights, you know, to that place we got. I don't think we're going to hear that from the bears, you know, so they're going to spin it differently. Correct. So I don't, I think at this point it's really, what is the property tax discussion going to look like?

Leila Rahimi 1:47

What are the rates that you're trying to negotiate? Do like, what do those do? How much profit should the state get from this? And profit's not the right word. How much did the state get as far as their taxing entity share? And then where does that go from here? So really, it's a question of, again, who pays, who loses, who benefits? Does the state of Indiana lose, even though they decided to go full steam ahead with this? Does the state of Illinois lose the Bears? Do they think they're not losing because they don't want to pay for this? So those are the questions that I think we further need answered.

How is Indiana's stadium proposal affecting Illinois lawmakers?

Leila Rahimi 2:19

All of this, by the way, should have happened three years ago when they bought the property or before. Just to reiterate. But, you know, that's not an option right now.

Mark Grote 2:28

So what's your number?

Leila Rahimi 2:30

The number on the meter?

Mark Grote 2:31

BS meter. Trademarked. It's very important. We need a number. I mean... Where do you rate the idea of Illinois lawmakers are not all of a sudden upping their game because of Indiana?

Leila Rahimi 2:42

I don't know. Five. Okay. It's a neutral for me. Either the Bears could be wanting to come to the table. Them saying they're covering all of the property costs, given that at one point the difference in that was several billion dollars, I think that that's a fair trade.

Mark Grote 2:58

On a scale of one to ten on the BS meter, trademarked. I rate the idea that Illinois lawmakers are not all of a sudden upping their game because of Indiana at a 9.5. Because there was no rush. There was no impetus. There was nothing moving this thing forward. There's a reason that shovels weren't in the ground in 2025. And that's because... Illinois was like, yeah, you guys got to come back to the table with something better. And they did. They came to the table with an offer from Indiana that apparently has an expiration date end of this month. So now they're moving. So that's the BS meters at 9.5, Grody, because you know what? You wouldn't be moving this quickly, Illinois lawmakers, if this wasn't something that was contesting what you're trying to do, which is wait for the Bears to say they'll pay for everything except for infrastructure.

Mark Grote 3:45

It's a 10 on the BS meter. Very simply, one sentence. The Bears and the state of Illinois have been meeting regularly since December when the Bears put out the press release that they were interested in building a stadium in Hammond, Indiana.