Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
State Rep. Kam Buckner broke down what has changed in Bears' stadium talks
11 Feb 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Rahimi Harrison-Rhodie on 104.3 The Score. And for the second day in a row, we have more follow-up when it comes to discussion surrounding the Bears stadium. If you missed us yesterday, and I know there were a lot of people who called, we will take your calls again in this hour.
Chapter 2: What updates are there on the Bears stadium discussions?
312-644-6767 is our number.
do have a vote you do have a say with us even if you don't get to vote on it yourselves in an actual ballot we at least will listen to you so just know that and in the meantime we got some answers on our afternoon show yesterday spiegel and holmes who had cam buckner on who is part of the state legislature he's one of our representatives and cam is important in this because he provides answers and that's that's what you want from your public servants and cam is sports savvy as we know and
And he understands the discussion, I think, a little bit better from people like us who, you know, know about the Bears, but don't necessarily know what the other money would go to in a budget. So Cam, I think, provided some valuable answers. You know, before we get to what he said, what were you two's opinions of just Cam kind of clarifying Marshall Harris and Mark Grody?
I loved Cam's appearance because it kind of took us behind the curtain as much as he could because obviously it's an act of negotiation. There's only so much that he can say. But when you bring up the reference to having been through something similar, when you talk about the Cubs ā deciding they were going to remake their ballpark and do all the things that they were doing.
And in comparison to this, not an apples-to-apples comparison, but just laying it out, hey, this is where we are with the NFL and their process compared to what happened with the Cubs. I thought that...
illustrated more clearly what this whole process is going to look like and the fact that hey we're making progress in this process that's probably the most important thing yeah i mean that was the first thing that i jotted down in this that again the the evidence is mounting from all the different sides of this that the meetings are positive specifically using words like the most regularity and clarity
there has ever been in the meetings with the Bears. So I think it's important to point that out. I thought it was interesting to hear the optimism. Yet, yet, Cam Buckner sharing with everybody, and we'll hear some of it coming up, on what the concerns are still that are left, which include, obviously, what the state is stuck with and the windfall and the backfill of the coffers.
That's really important to the state of Illinois. And the other part, too, was that I thought was interesting is, hey, if they move to the suburbs, if they move to Arlington Heights, what's left for Chicago in all of this?
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Chapter 3: How does Cam Buckner contribute to the stadium negotiations?
Where are the benefits then? What are they stuck with or left with or not have the benefit of? Yeah, I like to say it was something that we were taught in journalism school. I was made to minor in political science as part of a journalism major at North Texas, and I don't normally tout that, but you do end up learning a lot.
Like when I had to take two semesters of urban politics and what that meant in sports arenas and their effects on local governments was one of the parts of the study and a term paper for me. So one of the questions that I always ask in these things, and it's valuable to you, is who pays, who loses, who benefits? And so that's what we're trying to figure out.
You know who benefits because we're a sports station. You're listening to us. The Bears benefit. So that is clear. Everything else is where it gets a little more not blurry, but just you can't always see. So Cam Buckner talked to Spiegel and Holmes and discussed what that phrase even means. Property tax certainty and how it plays out.
when you look at a mega project this size, what the bears are asking for is to be able to know upfront what they're gonna pay every year in property tax. What I've said from the beginning is that while that is not immediate money or a check from the government, to the bears, there has to be conversations about what that looks like. How much is the property tax break?
What are they gonna negotiate? And the reason that the state has some skin in the game on that is because if for some reason the property tax relief is so big that the village of Arlington Heights ends up coming back to the state of Illinois to help them backfill the coffers for things like schools and police and fire, then we missed an opportunity to have a robust conversation.
So for me, I understand property tax certainty. I understand why you would desire that in a stadium conversation. And I respect why the Bears are asking for that. And I think they also, at this point, I respect that we have to be prudent when it comes to how all of these things work out for the broader economic picture. You know what? I bet you would like property tax certainty, the listener.
I bet anybody who's in our studio right now would like property tax certainty. And you know what else?
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Chapter 4: What are the financial implications of the Bears moving to Arlington Heights?
You probably use your house more than a guarantee of eight or nine games a year. You know, that's the part of this that makes this hard is, yeah, okay, it might create jobs in X, Y, and Z. But, you know, what's the payoff for the state here? And then how does that happen? Where, yeah, guess what?
If the local doesn't have enough money, then the state, as we've seen in prior instances, will have to backfill the gaps. I think the cost certainty from the taxes is something that both sides should be concerned with, just as Cam laid it out, because you need to know what you're able to do with that tax money. And the only way you can know that is how much tax money are you bringing in?
So that's where the negotiation to me lies. That's the stake right there. Where is that needle moving? Is it moving to somewhere where both the state, a.k.a. us, because the citizens are who's left with those kind of if not a debt, as we saw at Soldier Field, just the understanding that it's got to make sense for both sides. And so for the Bears, we know their playbook.
Listen, the Kansas City Chiefs thing is still fresh on my mind when I look at all of this. It's pretty amazing. Yeah. And we'll get to that. So it's got to make sense, though, for both sides. And I think the Indiana introduction... The multiple spots in Indiana that would like to have a Bears stadium, it's causing everyone to focus a little more, what are you going to do?
What are you going to do? Clearly, they've been for weeks now planning what they are going to try to do. Right, and you kind of asked me off the air, I think it was yesterday, Marshall, where I stand with all of this. Of course, I'd prefer the Bears to stay in Illinois, but I would like to hopefully, if the Bears do get the opportunity to, if to negotiate the rate with the local municipalities,
That's what I want to know more. I want to know more because we joked around about it yesterday about the steak dinner and that just avoid one steak dinner a month and you'll be covered. I really want to know what is going to be charged of Illinois citizens, people in Chicago, people who are not interested. So I am very curious to see what that is.
I also saw something that really made sense that Cam Buckner said yesterday that is good for all of this, that He kind of understands what the Bears have been doing because it's what the NFL requires. But he shot back saying they need to understand what we are trying to do representing the citizens of the state of Illinois. Well, that's it. And it's not just one steak dinner. You said a month.
Tony and Joliet said a year. It's more than that. And we talked about it. There's a lot of published articles about how the money does change up. And we'll get into a little bit more of that in our next segment because Cam Buckner did talk about that part of it. You know, it's the concept of that money goes in other places then. You know, money that was designated for your CTA.
Money that was designated for your roads. Money that was designated for other things. Police.
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Chapter 5: What concerns remain for Illinois regarding the Bears' stadium plans?
So, yes. I still like it when everybody just starts naming sites that they want to put the stadium on. That's still my favorite. My ex's house. You know, I'm like, what about this abandoned mall? Like... I feel like my ex's house most people can relate to because they've got that one ex that they're like, yeah, they made my life absolute.
My ex does not deserve to have the Bears stadium built on her site. I don't know why you guys think this is a punishment. You don't even deserve the Bears. You don't deserve the Bears built into your property. Their house is now gone. Their place of residence no longer exists. They've had to move. Never forget that our meatball of the year, and I'm aware it's February of 2026.
I'm aware it's early. But our meatball of the year is the guy who wanted to eminent domain the team. You, sir, you are the winner right now. You're the winner of Meatball of the Year. He didn't say eminent domain for a site for the stadium. He said eminent domain the entire organization. We always say we laugh with Rome because he said for the career. I'm like, the team? For the team?
Eminent domain. Eminent domain. The team. That's going to be my answer for everything from now on. Eminent domain. That's how we're going to do it. But say it like in an intellectual way. Do you ever think about eminent domain? That's something you got to think about. Do you know what it reminds me of? Is Dwight from The Office trying to citizens arrest everybody? This is a citizens arrest.
I'm eminent domating anything. With what authority? My own. You thought that that was your intellectual property? Have you ever heard of eminent domain? The table is cleared. All you have to say is eminent domain, and you win your argument, kids. And then you just back it up with the necessary and proper clause.
Okay, let's get back to the real stuff here and people who will actually be in a room for a decision. Ken Buckner also explained what has changed for the Bears in finding a new stadium location. This is a process, right? And each part of the process has a different cadence. I think early on, they were trying to see what they could get.
I think it was very difficult to figure out where they were going. As you guys remember, they were initially said they were leaving Chicago. Then they came out with a big announcement that they were going to stay in Chicago. Then they came out with another announcement that they were going to leave Chicago.
Then they came out with another announcement that they were going to go to possibly look at Indiana, right? And so it was kind of hard to to keep tabs on where they were. But I think where we are now is a real honest, transparent conversation. In order to maintain the integrity of those conversations, I'll just, you know, I'll say kind of some surface level things about it.
But we have spoken to them, I think, with the most regularity and the most clarity that we've been able to get within the last three years. The last three weeks has been clearer than any point of the last three years.
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Chapter 6: How does property tax certainty affect the Bears' negotiations?
Our Twitch mob is chatting. on the Twitch chat over there. You can also find us at YouTube, YouTube.tv and 670 The Score Chicago is our address there as well. So coming up next, more from Cam Buckner because he's going to be in the room when this happens, so to speak. You know, he's part of these discussions that the state is having and that the Bears are asking money from the state.
He's part of the one in the group who knows what that actually entails. So As far as who pays, who loses, who benefits, more on that. And then also what he thought of the most recent stadium discussion that happened close-ish to us when it comes to the NFL. So all that is next. And yes, you can call us 312-644-6767. You've got Rahimi Harrison-Grody on the score.