00:00You know, this Chicago Stadium issue is really a polarizing conversation that's going on in Chicago right now
00:06on what to do, whether or not you're going to go to Arlington, whether you're going to go to Hammond,
00:11Indiana,
00:12or whether you're going to stay right where you are in Soldier Field.
00:15Chicago Bears yesterday were in an exhibition game, and George McCaskey came out and started talking about a potential site.
00:22There's a new golf course site now in Hammond that the Bears are looking at with the backdrop of the
00:29city of Chicago.
00:30Look, when they were talking yesterday at the game, they're not talking to today's Bear fans.
00:38They're talking to Bear fans 15 to 20 years from now.
00:43The same thing that happened back in the New York metropolitan area when the New York Giants,
00:49and I was there for this, when the Giants moved out of New York, they went to New Haven for
00:54a year,
00:55and then they ended up going to the Meadowlands, where they currently play now.
00:59They weren't talking back then about New York Giants fans that were currently fans of the football team,
01:06that were outraged that the Giants would play anywhere but the city of New York.
01:11That's not going to happen here.
01:12That's not who McCaskey and who the McCaskey and Kevin Warren, the president of the team, are talking to.
01:18They're talking to future Chicago Bear fans.
01:22This is why I do believe when McCaskey was addressing this yesterday,
01:26he was talking more about what the team and what their aspirations were on building a community there in Hammond,
01:34Indiana.
01:35Unfortunately, it's just so disrespectful to the current fans of the Chicago Bears.
01:41The Bears will not change their name.
01:42Get this.
01:43If they do build a new stadium across state lines, funny in their song, the state of Illinois is mentioned
01:51in it.
01:51We will be the Chicago Bears, whether we're in Arlington or whether we're in Hammond, Indiana, said the Bears.
02:00I mean, it's so disrespectful to the city of Chicago.
02:04That is not just a football team.
02:07You know, there's certain teams in America that when you're NFL, you look at what that is.
02:13It's civic pride.
02:15Philadelphia, the Eagles, Buffalo, the Bills, Steelers, in Pittsburgh, Chicago, the Bears.
02:23That's civic pride, man.
02:25People who are raised in that area love that team more than just a sports team.
02:31It represents who they really are.
02:32Hard work, football, outside, going out and really playing great ball and having something that you can really identify with.
02:41Fans in those communities identify with certain teams like this.
02:45And this is what, again, the Chicago Bears are disrespecting their current fan base over.
02:50But again, this is the NFL.
02:51Well, it's all about the cash register.
02:54They don't really care about fan bases any longer.
02:57They care about the origin ratings.
02:59Look, if you can move a team out of San Francisco and move it to Santa Clara, make no mistake
03:05about it.
03:06Those aren't 49er fans.
03:08They have lost the soul of the 49ers.
03:10But because of a new stadium and because of money that was generated with that new stadium, hell, they just
03:16had the Super Bowl there.
03:18This is what the NFL is about.
03:20How about moving a team like the Raiders out of Oakland?
03:24How do you not identify the city of Oakland with the Oakland Raiders and the Silver and Black?
03:30Did they care about the fan base?
03:32No.
03:33They moved to Las Vegas because it was going to increase the value of the football team.
03:38How about the Chargers?
03:40I was in the middle of all that when they were trying to vie for a stadium in San Diego.
03:46And when the citizens of San Diego refused to give the Spanos family that team, they wanted to go to
03:53Los Angeles because why?
03:54The value of the football team went up.
03:57They didn't care about the fact that 70,000 fans would show up there down at Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm
04:04Stadium.
04:04They didn't care.
04:05The National Football League cares about one thing, and that is the cash register.
04:11And however they get that money, they do not care.
04:14That's why TV right now is way more important than fans in the seats.
04:19Look, the NFL gets 97% of their operating budget from the television networks, not from fans going to games.
04:27They build these new stadiums.
04:29Why do you think the Chicago Bears are building a stadium for 10 football games a year?
04:35No.
04:35They're building it for other economic wealth.
04:37The National Football League is now in the stadium business, my friends.
04:43They're in the entertainment business.
04:45They're in trying to get WrestleMania.
04:48They're trying to get the Democrat or the Republican conventions at their stadiums.
04:54This is why you're in that business.
04:56Caring about the fans, building a great environment for your fans to go and watch games.
05:02That's a long-gone thought that the NFL cared about their fans.
05:07Because if they did, why are you raising ticket prices?
05:10Why are you lowering the opportunity, again, at the end of the day, with more corporate suites and lower seats
05:17for fans?
05:18The new stadium proposal in Tampa, there's going to be more corporate suites and less seats for fans to enjoy
05:26their favorite team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
05:29It's all about money, my friends.
05:30And that's where the Chicago Bears are heading as well.
05:33I think you're going to have the backdrop of the city of Chicago all you want.
05:37This is all about money with the league.
05:39We all know that.
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