Protecting Chicago’s Civic Pride

By Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, D-Chicago

Since 1960, more than 40 professional sports franchises have relocated. The last time I visited Las Vegas, they had no major professional teams. Now the NFL’s Raiders and NHL’s Golden Knights both call Vegas home. Some moves of this sort are widely anticipated and leave no major scars. Other relocations, however, are still bemoaned decades later as civic and economic wounds of historic proportions.

We should be concerned as this drama plays out here with the news that the Chicago Bears are exploring buying property in the suburbs. While there are many financial reasons why the Bears are unlikely to leave Soldier Field for Arlington Heights any time soon, throwing shade at the team and double daring them to move can hardly be productive. Many fans, including myself, consider the Chicago Bears to be part of our city’s identity and a source of unity born of civic pride. We don’t want to see our team disparaged, nor do we want to even think about losing the Bears to the suburbs.

Even as many of us make regular Sunday pilgrimages to Soldier Field, fans also readily acknowledge that it isn’t exactly the most comfortable or modern of NFL venues. In fact, over 70 percent of the 6,000 readers recently responding to an informal survey by patch.com said they would like to see the team move. As elected officials, we understand that these days it is hard to get 70 percent agreement on anything. Even if informal, results like this merit our attention.

The economics of major professional sports leagues have been changing dramatically. From television and streaming rights to team-sanctioned legalized sports betting to worldwide merchandising deals and massive media empires, teams have become huge corporate conglomerates with wide-ranging interests far beyond the stadium. That’s not even to mention the occasional billionaire for whom moving a team is a vanity project rather than a money-making venture.

The bottom line is, no one expects the city of Chicago to roll over and give a private sports team a blank check underwritten by taxpayers. At the same time, we must respect and value the Chicago Bears as an important source of economic activity and civic pride. Any time relocation comes up, we must have a robust and proactive defensive scheme. With Chicago’s civic pride at stake, let’s keep in mind that it may be easiest to attract bears with a little honey.

Illinois State Representative La Shawn K. Ford is a Democratic State Representative from Illinois’ 8th District.