The Bears have yet to break ground on a new stadium, which wouldn’t open any sooner than the 2028 season, but are feeling out their fan base’s appetite for amenities and staggering prices.
The organization sent out a survey last week regarding an “enclosed stadium located in Chicagoland,” which presumably would be on its 326-acre vacant property in Arlington Heights. The Bears have gone back and forth between the former site of the Arlington Park racetrack and a spot on the Chicago lakefront just south of Soldier Field, but the focus now seems squarely on the suburbs.
The Bears floated the idea of membership for buying season tickets, similar to a personal-seat license, with one-time fees ranging from about $1,400 to $116,000 per seat. They emphasized that no determinations on pricing have been made.
Key questions before that part were about respondents’ zip codes and income levels.
Modern suites and clubs were one of the other main focuses of the survey. The Bears inquired about fans’ plans before and after games as they consider surrounding the stadium with retail stores, restaurants and other attractions that would be open all year.
On game days, the survey pitched turnkey and VIP tailgating options. One proposal would be an all-inclusive option costing $600 per person, which would be $6,000 per season, in addition to the cost of a game ticket. The Bears used images of a similar option offered by the Dolphins as an example.
There also was an idea of a members-only club inside the stadium called The Vault, which would cost $3,250 per person for the season, plus an extra $2,000 charge to make it all-inclusive. Again, there was a disclaimer about pricing being purely hypothetical, but those numbers weren’t simply pulled out of thin air.
There were other parts regarding parking, transportation to games and food options.
The Bears repeatedly have mentioned a desire to build a year-round destination — they play only 10 home games per season, including the preseason — by including park space, restaurants and shops. The survey also gauged interest in a museum of any kind and a Bears Hall of Fame.
Soldier Field opened in 1924; the Bears began playing there in 1971. It was renovated in 2002 and ’03, though the project was widely panned, and it remains one of the most outdated facilities in the NFL. Traffic and parking are a nightmare, the concourses are far too narrow and the Bears’ revenue from home games is limited because the stadium is owned by the Chicago Park District.
The organization began its long, wandering effort to build a new stadium back in 2021, when it had a different team president, general manager and coach. The process ramped up when chairman George McCaskey hired Kevin Warren as team president in 2023, and he has repeatedly vowed to begin construction before the end of this year.
Warren pivoted the Bears to a site just south of Soldier Field, which would turn the current stadium into a park. He, McCaskey and Mayor Brandon Johnson unveiled designs at an announcement just before the draft last year, but after failing to secure state legislative backing, the Bears went back to Arlington Heights. Team officials have indicated that there would be little change to the design if the stadium is built in the suburbs.
