Mayor Brandon Johnson makes his pitch for Bears to stay in Chicago
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What prompted Mayor Johnson's appearance on the show?
This is Rahimi Harrison-Grote on 104.3 The Score. We are awaiting the arrival of Mayor Brandon Johnson, who we asked to come on the air because we needed some gaps filled in after we had seen multiple reports about how the pilot bill did not pass out of the Senate over the weekend before the legislative session. in Springfield, Illinois, had come to a close. And we understand, based on reporting by Marian Ahern of NBC5, the longtime political reporter, that the Chicago caucus did not vote in favor of that bill. We wanted to ask Brandon Johnson about his role in that, the city's role in that, what he knew about it, and then also the reports that There were side conversations going on throughout this entire time with the Bears and the city.
That's something we need clarification on. Now, we were told we had a certain amount of time with him. That was based on a timeline that is already passing. So I'm hoping we still get our allotted time with him. But this is all part of what happens when we're waiting on somebody.
Not just the role that he and the Chicago caucus played in obviously submarining the bill that was on the table in the wee hours of the morning on Monday, but also understanding what exactly the timeline has been on these conversations with the Bears. Did the talks ever stop or have they been ongoing the whole time? And when did they understand that or were they led to believe that they are indeed a viable option despite publicly the Bears not saying so?
Well, what's the plan?
What role did the Chicago caucus play in the recent pilot bill failure?
Yeah. And when the NFL says that the only two sites are Hammond and Arlington Heights in Chicago was not part of it. Now, Brandon Johnson had a statement saying we have a publicly owned site. The team has already vetted and approved an existing sports authority with a dedicated revenue stream and a framework for moving a deal forward. Now. He has addressed yesterday, and I don't think we have enough time to play the clip. It was two minutes in its entirety. But he addressed yesterday the concept of a new plan involving the Bears paying 70-some-odd percent of that in the neighborhood of 72%, and that the rest would be paid through the Illinois Sports Facility Authority. But here's the issue. That is based off of a 2% hotel tax.
I said tax, and that is also helping fund things like the Soldier Field renovation from 2003. But when the city has to pay, because that tax doesn't always get met, the number has to be met. And so there are times where the 2% hotel tax doesn't foot all the bill for that yearly. And then it's the city who has to pick up the slack there, which means taxpayer money doesn't Again, that's where we're trying to figure this out.
What is the proposed plan for a new Bears stadium in Chicago?
The 2024 plan that was originally pushed by Mayor Brandon Johnson and Kevin Warren had public money in there to the tune of one and a half billion, alongside another one billion in borrowed money. But that seems to be different from what the latest information we know is.
And the concerning part is that if the 2% hotel tax is what you're leaning on, and that hasn't been able to solve the debt that the city of Chicago is still on the hook for for the Soldier Field renovations, that math does not make sense. It does not add up to being able to solve this problem. And again, my whole thing is, not only as a taxpayer myself, but also someone who lives in the city of Chicago, it should not be on the taxpayers to fund a stadium for a billionaire organization, you know?
What's the plan? What did the city do? What were the conversations with the bears? Those are my top three. Help us fill in the information.
And also, I think we have to bring up the Friends of the Park who would tell you just building something next to, if it is just next to Soldier Field and the exact same site, there would be some interference run there because we've seen that happen before.
There's a federal law in place that protects the lakefront. It's not even Friends of the Parks. That's usually the organization who will legislate and try to bring it up on behalf of that.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What prompted Mayor Johnson's appearance on the show?
0:01–1:27
2
What role did the Chicago caucus play in the recent pilot bill failure?
1:27–2:37
3
What is the proposed plan for a new Bears stadium in Chicago?
2:37–4:03
4
How does the funding for the new stadium work?
4:03–5:27
5
What are the concerns regarding taxpayer funding for the Bears stadium?
5:27–5:50
6
What has been the Bears' response to the stadium proposal?
5:50–7:24
7
What challenges does the proposed stadium site face?
7:24–8:49
8
What is the future outlook for the Bears' stadium plans in Chicago?
8:49–27:13
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Rahimi & Grote Show
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Full Show — September 21, 2026