00:00Yeah, Molly, working with the Bears has been frustrating from the beginning.
00:05As you mentioned, they've pivoted between various plans back and forth between Arlington Heights and the Lakefront.
00:12And that shifting continued right up until this spring when they were publicly saying there was a binary choice between
00:19Arlington Heights and Hammond while they were conducting, let's call them back-channel discussions with the city of Chicago.
00:26Those discussions completely undermined their efforts in Springfield during the legislative session.
00:34I think they pumped hope into the idea that a Lakefront stadium was still possible.
00:40And that made it all the more difficult to get Chicago members to support a plan for Arlington Heights.
00:49You know, if I could, guys, I'm not sure the public and even the Bears themselves understand how unusual of
00:58a political feat the Bears are trying to pull off.
01:01Because I can't think of a single instance where a professional sports franchise has moved from one city to another
01:10within the same state and received a subsidy or tax break from the state government.
01:16It's happened plenty of times when local governments provide a subsidy or tax break.
01:22For instance, when the Braves left downtown Atlanta for the suburbs, they got a big subsidy from Cobb County, the
01:29place they moved to.
01:30When the 49ers left San Francisco for Santa Clara, they got a big subsidy from Santa Clara.
01:37They didn't get it from the California state legislature.
01:40The Braves didn't get it from the Georgia state legislature.
01:43This is a case where the Bears want a big tax break from the state legislature.
01:50And in order to get that to pass, they need Chicago members to vote for it.
01:55There are 15 state senators and 28 state representatives with Chicago home addresses.
02:01Getting them to vote for a big tax break to move any business, to encourage any business, to leave the
02:12city of Chicago is daunting.
02:13And I think the Bears didn't really know what they were bargaining for.
02:18Let's get started.
02:18Let's get started.
02:18Let's get started.
02:18Let's get started.
02:18Let's get started.
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