Chicago Was Told to Get Ready.

Cunningham and Buckner told City Hall to prepare a stadium proposal. Today's Crain's reporting also puts a revised lakefront plan back in view. Chicago is being asked to compete, not disappear.

By Dear Kevin Warren · 2026-10-30

The two legislators leading Illinois stadium negotiations have told City Hall to get a Chicago proposal ready.

Sen. Bill Cunningham and Rep. Kam Buckner met with Mayor Brandon Johnson and his top staff in recent weeks, Justin Laurence reports in Crain's Chicago Business, October 30. Cunningham's instruction: "Chicago needs to be ready with a proposal that would fit within that structure."

The structure is a municipal stadium authority. The city is Chicago.

The lakefront is still there

Laurence reports that Johnson has worked for over a year with One Central developer Bob Dunn on a revision of the Bears' 2024 lakefront proposal. Johnson's senior adviser Jason Lee confirmed the mayor's office has met with Dunn, but would not disclose details.

The city is working on it. The Bears have made no new commitment to the lakefront. The earlier financing proposal was unacceptable to Gov. JB Pritzker, and a revision still needs to meet the public's cost test.

But the lakefront has not vanished because another rendering arrived from Bridgeport. A Chicago solution does not require the White Sox to move first. The Bears already play beside the lake.

Our preference remains an improved Soldier Field and better Museum Campus access. We do not need a dome to recognize what that location is worth. Public infrastructure spending should make the city easier to use, including for people who never buy a Bears ticket.

The bill has to include Chicago

Cunningham told Crain's that Arlington Heights-specific legislation cannot pass. He said the right proposal could put Chicago sites back in the mix. The Senate negotiator is asking the city to make its case.

There is contrary reporting. Laurence's sources say the Bears and Arlington Heights are comfortable with the authority model, pending its final details. Sports Business Journal's October 29 account of Greg Hinz's reporting calls Arlington Heights the most likely destination. The Bears declined to comment to Laurence.

A preferred site is still a preference. A bill that permits Chicago to compete has not awarded the stadium to Arlington Heights.

Nor does public ownership erase the public bill. Cunningham said the proposal "does not explicitly rule out" local taxes backing the bonds. Tax exemptions and infrastructure spending still cost something. Chicago deserves the financing terms before anyone calls this a deal.

Our read is that this ends in Chicago. That is our argument, not a report of an agreement. The city has the place worth improving, and the legislators writing the framework have told it to prepare.

Springfield is telling Chicago to get ready.