Report: Bears to ask for over $2 billion in public assistance for new stadium

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears are expected to unveil a multi-billion-dollar plan for a new lakefront stadium in the City of Chicago on Wednesday, and according to a new report in the Chicago Tribune, that plan will ask taxpayers to kick in about half of the costs to build the new stadium.

Per the Tribune’s reporting, sources spoke to the news outlet on conditions of anonymity, telling them the plan is estimated to cost $4.6 billion to execute, with $3.2 billion directed toward building the new stadium itself, and another $1.4 billion dedicated to infrastructure improvements around and outside the stadium.

Sources told the Tribune the Bears plan to put forward $2.3 billion in private capital, which would include some financing coming from the National Football League, But the Bears plan will also ask for $2.3 billion in public financing, along with refinancing outstanding debt from previous publicly-financed stadium projects for the Bears at Soldier Field, and the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Taxpayers would be charged with paying for the proposed infrastructure improvements to the new stadium, as well as about $1 billion in new borrowing to finance the new stadium being built south of Solder Field, according to the Tribune’s sources.