Reinsdorf considers moving White Sox out of Guaranteed Rate Field or selling team

[South Side Hit Men]

6 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

I moved to Florida 30 years ago but I thought I read somewhere that the area around the United Center and the near West Side is the next hot spot in the city.

I suggest a helicopter or car with manual transmission if you're going to live there.

CPD 12th District Boundaries: NS Division to Cermak/River & EW Western / Kedzie to the Kennedy/River.

https://home.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/18_PDFsam_CompStat-Public-2023-Week-34.pdf

• Motor Vehicle Theft: Aug 14-20: 65; Year To Date 1,439 (147% YOY increase, 367% from 2019 YTD).

[The Mighty Mite]

3 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

I suggest a helicopter or car with manual transmission if you're going to live there.

CPD 12th District Boundaries: NS Division to Cermak/River & EW Western / Kedzie to the Kennedy/River.

https://home.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/18_PDFsam_CompStat-Public-2023-Week-34.pdf

• Motor Vehicle Theft: Aug 14-20: 65; Year To Date 1,439 (147% YOY increase, 367% from 2019 YTD).

Yikes.

[Texsox]

46 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

I suggest a helicopter or car with manual transmission if you're going to live there.

CPD 12th District Boundaries: NS Division to Cermak/River & EW Western / Kedzie to the Kennedy/River.

https://home.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/18_PDFsam_CompStat-Public-2023-Week-34.pdf

• Motor Vehicle Theft: Aug 14-20: 65; Year To Date 1,439 (147% YOY increase, 367% from 2019 YTD).

Motor vehicle sharing programs are very trendy. 

[southsideirish71]

2 hours ago, WBWSF said:

This whole situation is really odd. The old Comiskey Park had to be replaced. It was falling apart. There is nothing wrong with the present park. It is not falling down. There is no reason to leave it, none.  You would think at 87 years old JR would not concern himself with a new stadium.  I do know that if JR wants a new stadium and doesn't  get one he definitely has a backup plan. He would move the team out of state if he  received  an offer from some other city who provided him with a stadium.

The owners of the park would want a long term lease in 6 years.  So that would lock them into a property for what 20 years.  Do you think that the park is going to be great when the park is 50 years old.  

[Lip Man 1]

18 minutes ago, southsideirish71 said:

The owners of the park would want a long term lease in 6 years.  So that would lock them into a property for what 20 years.  Do you think that the park is going to be great when the park is 50 years old.  

If it is maintained properly by the owners, yes...it will be fine. 

[South Side Hit Men]

2 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

If it is maintained properly by the owners, yes...it will be fine. 

The maintenance budget, paid for by the ISFA, not Jerry, is far greater than his rent payments. 

There is absolutely zero reason or need to build a new stadium in terms of need.

[Sarava]

A better stadium situation will help the team sell for more money. I think this is all about that. Jerry has shown his interest over the years in the $$ that will come back whether its sold by him or his family after he passes away.

The current park is ok, adequate at best probably, and definitely not in the greatest location, and it won't move any needles in a sale.

[WBWSF]

I talked to some Oakland fans at the game last night and they're not too  happy about losing their team to Vegas. They pointed out  that the owner of the A's is paying for  two thirds of the new stadium in Vegas.  If he would have done the same thing in Oakland the team would not be moving to Vegas. Obviously he wanted to move the team to Vegas and didn't want  to stay in Oakland.

[bmags]

Suffering thru reading a boob article so you don’t have to

jR trying to latch onto other public funding projects and keep the cut to himself. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

I think an AH shared sports complex and entertainment area would actually be pretty awesome..

[ThirdGen]

34 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

I think an AH shared sports complex and entertainment area would actually be pretty awesome..

I'd love that- plus it cuts the infrastructure costs in half.  Not being an AH resident I can't speak toward how they would feel having an additional 81 events, but I would assume it could be worked in a manner that doesn't disrupt their lives.  Nothing against the southside, but I really don't think enough tickets are being sold to those within easy walking or rapid transit distance.  I see the people walking back and forth to the 35th street red line, doesn't seem like many compared to the parking lots.

[fathom]

There are minimal Sox fans in that part of the suburbs.  

[Tnetennba]

81 games at Soldier Field... and they think attendance is low now...

 

[Chicago White Sox]

I don’t get how the logistics would work with Soldier Field.  I suffer through it for a Bears game or concert once a year, but I definitely wouldn’t make that trek 10 to 20 times a year.

Arlington Heights would work great for the Bears, but probably not ideal for our fanbase.

West Loop would probably make the most sense of those three options.

[ron883]

People keep mentioning Roosevelt and Clark. Unless things have changed, there was a plan for a massive development on that land. Keep in mind this was way back in 2016 when I heard about it. With the economy and how hard the Lightfoot administration made it for developers, this may have changed by now. 

As cool as it would be to have a stadium in the West loop, south loop, or near the UC, the traffic would make me want to gouge my eyes out. In my experience the Dan Ryan is the least shitty and traffic jammed of the major city highways. Keep the Sox traffic on there. Diverting more traffic to those other areas 81 days a year would be just awful. 

[ron883]

21 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I don’t get how the logistics would work with Soldier Field.  I suffer through it for a Bears game or concert once a year, but I definitely wouldn’t make that trek 10 to 20 times a year.

Arlington Heights would work great for the Bears, but probably not ideal for our fanbase.

West Loop would probably make the most sense of those three options.

I completely agree regarding Soldier Field. That would be an absolute nightmare. I drive on Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lakeshore Drive often, and this would make it absolutely blow. 

[Texsox]

The impact on the fan base is interesting. My first thoughts are

Soldier Field or UC area - no change

Arlington Heights - net gain. Instead of Northside versus Southside it would be city team versus suburban team. I doubt many Sox fans would suddenly embrace the Cubs so they lose a few but pick up some.  Losing the Southside identity makes me sad.

I'm wondering if somewhere around Bolingbrook or Oak Lawn would work? 

[Panerista]

12 minutes ago, Texsox said:

The impact on the fan base is interesting. My first thoughts are

Soldier Field or UC area - no change

Arlington Heights - net gain. Instead of Northside versus Southside it would be city team versus suburban team. I doubt many Sox fans would suddenly embrace the Cubs so they lose a few but pick up some.  Losing the Southside identity makes me sad.

I'm wondering if somewhere around Bolingbrook or Oak Lawn would work? 

Most of the communities on the south side simply can't complete from a public money standpoint and you know if the Sox are leaving Chicago they're going for the public money.

[Sarava]

1 hour ago, fathom said:

There are minimal Sox fans in that part of the suburbs.  

That's not really true, but it's also irrelevant. If they moved to the burbs they would largely be creating a new geographical fanbase and it would probably explode way beyond what the southside ever did in terms of team support.

[Texsox]

14 minutes ago, Vacheron said:

Most of the communities on the south side simply can't complete from a public money standpoint and you know if the Sox are leaving Chicago they're going for the public money.

Great point I didn't consider. 

[Ducksnort]

20 minutes ago, Vacheron said:

Most of the communities on the south side simply can't complete from a public money standpoint and you know if the Sox are leaving Chicago they're going for the public money.

That's the thing that sucks, the neighborhood loses the team. This would be such a blow to the southside. Their resources and business are already limited as is.

[Texsox]

3 minutes ago, Sarava said:

That's not really true, but it's also irrelevant. If they moved to the burbs they would largely be creating a new geographical fanbase and it would probably explode way beyond what the southside ever did in terms of team support.

I assume they have mapped the home addresses of the season ticket buyers and probably surveyed single game buyers. That data would be interesting. 

For most of my career I had offices in Schaumburg and Elk Grove. That was solidly Cub territory. I wonder how many the team could flip if they played on AH.

[bmags]

I think for the Sox to be near the UC you’d need to make a train line that connects the green/pink/blue lines that runs temporarily.

UC capacity is half the Sox. Not many places to route it.

Clark/Roosevelt would be good. Otherwise…anyway you cut it near where the Sox play now will be tops

Im a big bears AH supporter, but huge difference in how we consume those games.

[WBWSF]

If the stadium was built in the City of Chicago would they just keep and extend the hotel/motel tax that paid for the present White Sox stadium?

[The Grinder]

Is it feasible to construct a retractable roof at current location?