Well, da Bears have had enough, and theyâre leaving crime-riddled Chicago, and this decision is a huge blow for failed Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who one year ago, was actually laughing off the idea of the Bears leaving the Windy City⌠Well, here we are a year later, and the Bears just said âgoodbyeâ and are packing their bags and heading to the much-safer suburbs. This came after Lightfoot started bending herself into a pretzel to try to get them to stay. But it didnât work. Da Bears said, âBye Felicia.â
The Daily Caller reported that the Chicago Bears have rejected Mayor Lightfootâs billion-dollar offer to improve their home stadium and are determined to relocate to a calmer, less crime-ridden area, the City of Chicago announced in a Tuesday press release.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered an incentive with a value of up to $2.2 billion in renovations to the Soldier Field stadium in hopes of convincing the Bears to stay in the city, according to the release.
The upgrades included installing structures in both end-zones that support an enclosed domed roof over the stadium, adding additional seating to accommodate an extra 8,500 fans and quadrupling the venueâs food and beverage square footage.
The Bears dismissed Lightfootâs upgrades to Soldier Field and made it clear that the only location for their new home turf would be in the cityâs calmer suburbs, the team said in a statement reported by the Daily Herald.
âAs part of our mutual agreement with the seller of that property, we are not pursuing alternative stadium deals or sites, including renovations to Soldier Field,â the Bears said in a statement according to ESPN.
The Bearâs leaving Chicago is gonna hurt something fierce. They are the 7th most valuable franchise in the NFL and the Soldier Field stadium rakes in $166 million dollars in revenue for the city of Chicago, according to Forbes. But this isnât the only âfond farewellâ thatâs happened lately⌠businesses are packing up by the truckload and bailing. Also, Illinoisâ population declined by 113,776 from July 1, 2020, through July 1, 2021, according to an Illinois policy report. Although people are fleeing Illinois from all around the state, the City of Chicago lost a total of 45,175 residents from July 2020-July 2021, the third-highest of any city in America.
Lori Lightfoot is up for reelection. She could be in some big trouble.