The Bears Arlington Heights Stadium Campus

The Bears should be leaving Soldier Field, and if they do, they have plans in place for a new stadium in the suburbs. When they go to Arlington Heights, they’d build their campus on a former Arlington Park racetrack. An Arlington Heights business boom coming.

Ahead of the meeting and a subsequent announcement, the team has released renderings for the new campus design. Said to cover 326 acres, the Arlington Heights stadium and surrounding campus will be a new hub for entertainment, which would include commercial retail sites, multi-purpose entertainment ventures, office space, a hotel, park areas, and a fitness center along with a housing district. 

To put this plan in motion, they will rely on government funding. Should the project move forward, it could potentially create more than 48,000 jobs in the area and could have a $9.4 billion economic impact. 

As for why they want to move? Soldier Field is known as the smallest capacity stadium in the NFL, which makes moving locations appealing. The Bears are also tenants of the Park District, which means they have to pay rent and split revenue streams.