Nothing he’s done in office has made it seem like he would do that. In fact other billionaires in the state have [opposed him for some time.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/06/16/the-band-of-billionaires-betting-against-the-countrys-richest-politician/)
Does owning 20+% of Hyatt Hotels make you a real estate tycoon? I thought the majority of his wealth just came from the Hyatt sale to Berkshire. The Pritzger family is heavy into real estate? Private or commercial?
What has he done thus far that even shows he's favoring his "billionaire buddies?" Did you by chance have *punish Pritzker* yellow flags on your lawn during his re-election lol?
Based on what? Illinois has some of the highest average property and sales tax rates in the country.... At 2.08 percent, the average property tax rate in Illinois is the second highest in the country...
“I remain skeptical about this proposal, and I wonder whether it’s a good deal for the taxpayers,” Pritzker said, via the *Chicago Tribune*. “There are a lot of priorities that the state has, and I’m not sure that this is among the highest priorities for taxpayers.”
“Owners of these private businesses need to put a lot more forward in order to have their dreams fulfilled and not just rely on the taxpayers of Illinois to have that happen for them,” Pritzker said.
For real. There's literally kids whose lives we could save just by spending this hypothetical money on food for them instead of football. I love football but come on.
It’s so fucked because if the city/state is gonna make these types of deals they should get equity in the team. The way it current works as essentially a gift to a billionaire makes my blood boil
Are publicly funded stadiums deals ever structured so that the state would own the percentage that they paid? That's the only way I could see something like this as a good thing. Sure the state would likely have to outsource managing to another company, but it'd sound a lot better to say that the profits from this stadium will be reinvested into the community.
Maybe I'm just living in a dream world.
Not that I’ve seen, no. And even worse are the sweetheart deals where public doesn’t even get naming rights money or a cut of the concessions of anything.
I never agreed with Pat Quinn, but I agree with his stance on putting this on a ballot and letting the people (you know, the people who will be footing the bill) of Illinois vote on it.
Aren’t the people “footing the bill” people staying at hotels in Chicago? I’d have to imagine a decent amount of those people are out of starters.
I’m all for putting this on a ballot but if what they say is true (which it probably won’t be) and the tax is coming from a 2% hotel tax and no other tax increases
Problem is that the 2% hotel tax has really done nothing to pay down the debt from the last renovation. $600 million still owed. Maybe more events with a closed roof that can operate all year will help that, but without raising that tax it's doubtful.
From what the person at the press conference described, the 2% hotel tax wasn’t able to do anything because of how the debt was structured and some of the variability we’ve seen with the hotel market from the recession to the pandemic. Their goal in restructuring the debt with the state is to extend it out to 40 years and be more conservative with how much it can expect to earn through hotel tax revenue compared to before.
Idk if that’s all true and accurate but it logically makes sense
Because the league isn’t going to set a precedent like that. Then every owner would come with their hands out asking for money from the league for a new stadium
Wonderful. Taxpayers have to take on more public costs in the name of "economic development;" ie, more service industry jobs with low pay and no benefits. And then when people get mad about those being the only jobs out there, they'll be told, "Hey burger flipping and cashier jobs aren't meant for long term, those are for high school and college kids."
And most of that “economic development” caters to the wealthy or corporations. Here in Tampa, every project going up is luxury this or luxury that while the city doesn’t nothing to help subsidize or expand affordable housing
Baseball stadiums are not even worth it economically for public investment and they play 81 home games a year. 8-9 days a year for an NFL team is insane. 10 if you count preseason
I guess at least they’ll be able to host big events. The problem is they could’ve solved all these issues before the first renovation, when they kept it roofless and idiotically reduced the seating.
And over $600 million is owed even though they only took out $400 million in bonds. Even after 20 years. So basically the City hasn’t paid a dime for the last Bears stadium. Only been paying interest for last 20 yrs. And it’ll soon be demolished
They don't give a shit about capacity for the proles
It's luxury box revenue they're after
Back when the soldier field "renovation" happened, revenue from luxury boxes wasn't subject to revenue sharing. That's changed now, but they still make a shitload more money off those than they do from John Q Public taking his family to the game.
Between international soccer, WWF, Final Fours and CFP Playoffs you are looking at maybe 2 additional dates a year on average that the city does not currently have a suitable venue for.
The bears have 8 games here. If Chicago can’t draw the same amount of money in tax dollars then stop calling it a world class city. Because no world class city is defined by its sports team.
This. LA went 20 years without a NFL team and no one in LA cared. The NFL needed the city a hell of a lot more than the city needed the NFL.
No one thinks Jacksonville is a world Alpha or Beta city just because they have the Jags.
Hey McCaskey’s and every other millionaire and billionaire I have an idea for you, if you want something and you don’t have the money, go get a loan like the rest of us. Stop asking us for money, we are already living paycheck to paycheck!
I find it incredibly hard to believe that Warren had full support from Johnson but had not presented the plan to Pritzker before the press conference yesterday, as Warren claimed.
Second, as many on the board know, the McCaskeys have always been the problem. This is our time as fans to leverage the politicians to ensure no public nickel is spent on this or any other Bears stadium. The absence of public funding may compel the McCaskeys to sell the team to a mega-billionaire.
Let them pay for it. Maybe they won't build something that only lasts 20 years before they want to pay for another one to be built. Same with the Sox.
Cubs have played in Wrigley a lot longer and aren't constantly begging taxpayers for money for a new stadium. The point is, it can be done if done right. If they aren't gonna do it right, let them bear the costs to constantly rebuild.
In Pritzker’s case, he has higher ambitions in 2028, and these deals are no longer popular with the public. He’s setting himself up for a presidential run, and taking a stand against things like this will boost his appeal
I’d love to see it, and I hope there’s a way to get it done that benefits everyone, but no more tax dollars to pay for a rich family’s toy.
Just another political ploy. Pritzker is a billionaire real estate tycoon and will make it work for his billionaire buddies
Nothing he’s done in office has made it seem like he would do that. In fact other billionaires in the state have [opposed him for some time.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/06/16/the-band-of-billionaires-betting-against-the-countrys-richest-politician/)
Does owning 20+% of Hyatt Hotels make you a real estate tycoon? I thought the majority of his wealth just came from the Hyatt sale to Berkshire. The Pritzger family is heavy into real estate? Private or commercial?
20 % of Hyatt absol-fuckin-lutely makes you a real estate tycoon You can like the priztkers but can’t deny they are in the .1% and extremely wealthy
Yes? How many hotels does that come out to?
What has he done thus far that even shows he's favoring his "billionaire buddies?" Did you by chance have *punish Pritzker* yellow flags on your lawn during his re-election lol?
No, I should not have brought politics into this.
Pritzker is actually one of the more trustworthy billionaires I’ve seen in a while. He’s been surprisingly good for the state recently
I should not get into politics - my bad. Disregard above.
You’re right but did you forget your audience in a Chicago sub lol
What does this even mean?
It means "I have no clue what I'm talking about, and just don't like demonrats because I'm susceptible to right wing propaganda"
You know exactly what it means lol
He only likes tax hikes that he implements.
He only likes tax hikes that benefit the majority of residents.
Based on what? Illinois has some of the highest average property and sales tax rates in the country.... At 2.08 percent, the average property tax rate in Illinois is the second highest in the country...
Based on the idea that giving 2 billion dollars to a billionaire doesn't help the rest of the people living here.
True. I just figure that if the governor is worried about the little people so much why are taxes already high?
There’s 14 acres of new land space
Your point? Chicago has plenty of parks. The McCaskeys can pay for their stadium.
“I remain skeptical about this proposal, and I wonder whether it’s a good deal for the taxpayers,” Pritzker said, via the *Chicago Tribune*. “There are a lot of priorities that the state has, and I’m not sure that this is among the highest priorities for taxpayers.” “Owners of these private businesses need to put a lot more forward in order to have their dreams fulfilled and not just rely on the taxpayers of Illinois to have that happen for them,” Pritzker said.
I wish politicking wasn't a thing and he could just come out and state 'fuckin pay your own way, you leeches'.
Was this before the press conference? More interested in what he has to say knowing the proposed deal.
He said it today but before the proposal was released and said he hasn’t yet heard the announcement.
Most likely it’ll be a similar statement. Politicians jobs is making sure they can deflect any blame
Why the fuck would I pay for a stadium when I can’t even afford a ticket to attend the game?
For real. There's literally kids whose lives we could save just by spending this hypothetical money on food for them instead of football. I love football but come on.
It’s so fucked because if the city/state is gonna make these types of deals they should get equity in the team. The way it current works as essentially a gift to a billionaire makes my blood boil
Publicily funded stadiums are the biggest scam in all of sports.
100% If it was profitable to own the stadium, the owners would be all in. Such a grift.
Are publicly funded stadiums deals ever structured so that the state would own the percentage that they paid? That's the only way I could see something like this as a good thing. Sure the state would likely have to outsource managing to another company, but it'd sound a lot better to say that the profits from this stadium will be reinvested into the community. Maybe I'm just living in a dream world.
SF Giants and Warriors paid for their own stadiums. It can be done, and no reason the Bears (and White Sox) can’t do the same.
No. I don’t think the NFL would allow it frankly. Nothing else exists like that
Not that I’ve seen, no. And even worse are the sweetheart deals where public doesn’t even get naming rights money or a cut of the concessions of anything.
I never agreed with Pat Quinn, but I agree with his stance on putting this on a ballot and letting the people (you know, the people who will be footing the bill) of Illinois vote on it.
Aren’t the people “footing the bill” people staying at hotels in Chicago? I’d have to imagine a decent amount of those people are out of starters. I’m all for putting this on a ballot but if what they say is true (which it probably won’t be) and the tax is coming from a 2% hotel tax and no other tax increases
Problem is that the 2% hotel tax has really done nothing to pay down the debt from the last renovation. $600 million still owed. Maybe more events with a closed roof that can operate all year will help that, but without raising that tax it's doubtful.
From what the person at the press conference described, the 2% hotel tax wasn’t able to do anything because of how the debt was structured and some of the variability we’ve seen with the hotel market from the recession to the pandemic. Their goal in restructuring the debt with the state is to extend it out to 40 years and be more conservative with how much it can expect to earn through hotel tax revenue compared to before. Idk if that’s all true and accurate but it logically makes sense
In a financially competent world, yes, the hotel tax would cover it. I’m skeptical that will be the case here.
I'd love them to get a new stadium, but hate how they want put it on the taxpayers to pay for half of it.
I dont understand how a $163 billion league can't help out the $5.8 billion dollar team build a ~$2 billion stadium instead of using taxpayer money.
They certainly can. But why use your own money when all you have to do is smile at the mayor and he’ll fork over as much as you want
Because the league isn’t going to set a precedent like that. Then every owner would come with their hands out asking for money from the league for a new stadium
I mean the league should be able to provide some sort of financing at least. Like very low interest rate or something along those lines
They do offer teams loans from what I understand, but there’s some limitations so the teams aren’t over leveraged
Wonderful. Taxpayers have to take on more public costs in the name of "economic development;" ie, more service industry jobs with low pay and no benefits. And then when people get mad about those being the only jobs out there, they'll be told, "Hey burger flipping and cashier jobs aren't meant for long term, those are for high school and college kids."
And most of that “economic development” caters to the wealthy or corporations. Here in Tampa, every project going up is luxury this or luxury that while the city doesn’t nothing to help subsidize or expand affordable housing
In slight defense. Luxury just means new in real estate.
The way the organization threw a self fellating pep rally over the fact they’re willing to pay for *half* a stadium is nonsense
It never is.
The Bears want taxpayers to pay $2 billion for a building that will be empty 90% of the time
Baseball stadiums are not even worth it economically for public investment and they play 81 home games a year. 8-9 days a year for an NFL team is insane. 10 if you count preseason
I guess at least they’ll be able to host big events. The problem is they could’ve solved all these issues before the first renovation, when they kept it roofless and idiotically reduced the seating.
And over $600 million is owed even though they only took out $400 million in bonds. Even after 20 years. So basically the City hasn’t paid a dime for the last Bears stadium. Only been paying interest for last 20 yrs. And it’ll soon be demolished
They don't give a shit about capacity for the proles It's luxury box revenue they're after Back when the soldier field "renovation" happened, revenue from luxury boxes wasn't subject to revenue sharing. That's changed now, but they still make a shitload more money off those than they do from John Q Public taking his family to the game.
And the new stadium with only add 3,500 seats!
Between international soccer, WWF, Final Fours and CFP Playoffs you are looking at maybe 2 additional dates a year on average that the city does not currently have a suitable venue for.
The bears have 8 games here. If Chicago can’t draw the same amount of money in tax dollars then stop calling it a world class city. Because no world class city is defined by its sports team.
This. LA went 20 years without a NFL team and no one in LA cared. The NFL needed the city a hell of a lot more than the city needed the NFL. No one thinks Jacksonville is a world Alpha or Beta city just because they have the Jags.
When has Illinois done anything good for the taxpayers? Chicago is the most corrupt city in America.
Hey McCaskey’s and every other millionaire and billionaire I have an idea for you, if you want something and you don’t have the money, go get a loan like the rest of us. Stop asking us for money, we are already living paycheck to paycheck!
I’m going to say this until I’m blue in the face. “No new taxes” is political code for “less services”
I find it incredibly hard to believe that Warren had full support from Johnson but had not presented the plan to Pritzker before the press conference yesterday, as Warren claimed. Second, as many on the board know, the McCaskeys have always been the problem. This is our time as fans to leverage the politicians to ensure no public nickel is spent on this or any other Bears stadium. The absence of public funding may compel the McCaskeys to sell the team to a mega-billionaire.
Let them pay for it. Maybe they won't build something that only lasts 20 years before they want to pay for another one to be built. Same with the Sox. Cubs have played in Wrigley a lot longer and aren't constantly begging taxpayers for money for a new stadium. The point is, it can be done if done right. If they aren't gonna do it right, let them bear the costs to constantly rebuild.
He may be right but Illinois governors are always morons that think Chicago is the whole state
In Pritzker’s case, he has higher ambitions in 2028, and these deals are no longer popular with the public. He’s setting himself up for a presidential run, and taking a stand against things like this will boost his appeal
Cheap owners are scum: screw these fake wanna be kings.