Bard selects new Sox location

[fathom]

30 minutes ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Arlington would be next-level stupid. Sox would have 0 built in fanbase there.

Orland/Tinley makes more sense

[GreatScott82]

The White Sox were pretty close to moving to Addison back in the day in the late 80's. I do think people are over analyzing the geographic pride dymnamic. As mentioned on this board earlier, if it makes more financial sense to move to a suburb, I think they'll make the move. The Arlington Heights idea to link up with the Bears on all of that land makes sense. If the idea of landing that far north really does deter fans from following the team, Naperville makes a ton of sense. That suburb just keeps growing and growing. Regardless, it does actually seem like the 2029 season will indeed be the final year the Sox play at GRF. I think the idea of a new ownership group and a potential new stadium in the chicagoland area is actually quite exciting. If the Rays announced their stadium plans 3.5 years before the end of thier lease at Tropicana, the time is near for the White Sox to announce thier stadium plans. We are talking a decision should be made near the end of the 2026 season the latest. I'm not so sure a 90 year old owner should be leading the charge on this at that time. 

[ThirdGen]

6 minutes ago, GreatScott82 said:

The White Sox were pretty close to moving to Addison back in the day in the late 80's. I do think people are over analyzing the geographic pride dymnamic. As mentioned on this board earlier, if it makes more financial sense to move to a suburb, I think they'll make the move. The Arlington Heights idea to link up with the Bears on all of that land makes sense. If the idea of landing that far north really does deter fans from following the team, Naperville makes a ton of sense. That suburb just keeps growing and growing. Regardless, it does actually seem like the 2029 season will indeed be the final year the Sox play at GRF. I think the idea of a new ownership group and a potential new stadium in the chicagoland area is actually quite exciting. If the Rays announced their stadium plans 3.5 years before the end of thier lease at Tropicana, the time is near for the White Sox to announce thier stadium plans. We are talking a decision should be made near the end of the 2026 season the latest. I'm not so sure a 90 year old owner should be leading the charge on this at that time. 

The whole "southside" team issue is based on a decision the Sox made over 120 years ago. Their fanbase hasn't been there for decades now.  Move out to the west/ southwest suburbs and make the drive 30 minutes or so for a huge number of potential ticket buyers and watch attendance soar.

The Soldier Field thing is nuts. Even assuming they tear it down and build a new park there it would be so inaccessible to the majority of the Chicagoland area it would be horrible. Many Sox fans would see their travel time increase 15 minutes or so, and it sucks now. Put it in the middle of the Chicagoland population to minimize travel time, not on the east edge of it.

[WBWSF]

I can't see the White Sox moving to the suburbs. 20% of White Sox attendance  comes via public transportation. Most suburbs have no or little public transportation.

[ThirdGen]

6 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

I can't see the White Sox moving to the suburbs. 20% of White Sox attendance  comes via public transportation. Most suburbs have no or little public transportation.

I doubt the 20% number, the CTA doesn't even run anywhere near enough trains to handle 4000 people before and after games.

Anyway even if true it would be easily replaced by those who are suddenly only 15-30 minutes away from the park. Lots of people in the suburbs don't want to battle the rush hour traffic on the expressways for an 60-80 minute slog to 35th St.

[South Side Hit Men]

I don't begrudge teams from building in the Suburbs, including the AHL Rosemont Wolves or other minor league teams. I've been to Kane County Stadium (for the Illinois High School Baseball Championship - Sadly Saint Patrick HS lost) and enjoyed it.

That said, any Chicago team that moves to the suburbs are dead to me. The Staleys or whatever they call themselves these days are from Decatur, then Wrigley Field and are garbage, so don't give a s%*# if they move to Arlington Heights, Decatur, Gary or Mogadishu beyond hoping Congress passes a law allowing Chicago to sue their asses if they try to appropriate our city's name. You want to move, fine, just own it you cowardly FBI raid denying, fake ass Monster of the Midway losers.

The Chicago White Sox are another matter. Unlike the Bears, Cubs or Bulls, I deeply care about the Chicago White Sox. They have been my favorite baseball team since I began following the sport in 1975. If they move to Addison, Naperville, or even Evergreen Park, they are dead to me unless they return. I will not become a Cubs fan, I will just give up MLB unless they rightfully restore a team to Montreal.

[WBWSF]

13 minutes ago, ThirdGen said:

I doubt the 20% number, the CTA doesn't even run anywhere near enough trains to handle 4000 people before and after games.

Anyway even if true it would be easily replaced by those who are suddenly only 15-30 minutes away from the park. Lots of people in the suburbs don't want to battle the rush hour traffic on the expressways for an 60-80 minute slog to 35th St.

I don't doubt the 20%  number at all. There are thousands of people taking the  CTA red line  every game. Between the Cta and the Metra there are a ton of people taking  public transportation to the games.

[South Side Hit Men]

5 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

I don't doubt the 20%  number at all. There are thousands of people taking the  CTA red line  every game. Between the Cta and the Metra there are a ton of people taking  public transportation to the games.

Don't forget hundreds if not over a thousand of game day staff (concessions, ushers, security, etc.) who rely on public transportation to work games.

It's one thing trying to staff 10 NFL games, another to staff 81 MLB games.

[The Grinder]

The topic of moving to near the UC, I used to attend Hawk games back in the day of the old stadium and I dont recall a lot of available real estate, I know JR bought was is 40 acres recently? Im not sure that would be a good move, how many acres does GRF occupy now?

[A-Train to 35th]

2 hours ago, The Grinder said:

The topic of moving to near the UC, I used to attend Hawk games back in the day of the old stadium and I dont recall a lot of available real estate, I know JR bought was is 40 acres recently? Im not sure that would be a good move, how many acres does GRF occupy now?

12, if you believe Google.

[South Side Hit Men]

7 minutes ago, A-Train to 35th said:

12, if you believe Google.

I blame Jim Kaat.

[A-Train to 35th]

A ballpark won't be going up on JR's UC land parcel.  It's too small and there's housing going up on the adjacent property.

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2023/08/04/jerry-reinsdorf-makes-17m-land-play-near-united-center/

Additional note:  That leads one to believe Reinsdorf's play could be expanding Stadium, a multi-platform sports network that he is the majority owner of. Stadium is currently housed inside the United Center, and adding facilities nearby would allow room for expansion in a growing streaming media market.

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by A-Train to 35th
sp

[TheBooneLoganEra]

14 hours ago, fathom said:

Orland/Tinley makes more sense

If they built out there and had a decent product they'd get 30k every night. A good portion of their fan base from the south side 30 years ago is out there. That being said I think they're fine where they are....sans the occasional falling bullet.

[Lip Man 1]

7 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

I don't begrudge teams from building in the Suburbs, including the AHL Rosemont Wolves or other minor league teams. I've been to Kane County Stadium (for the Illinois High School Baseball Championship - Sadly Saint Patrick HS lost) and enjoyed it.

That said, any Chicago team that moves to the suburbs are dead to me. The Staleys or whatever they call themselves these days are from Decatur, then Wrigley Field and are garbage, so don't give a s%*# if they move to Arlington Heights, Decatur, Gary or Mogadishu beyond hoping Congress passes a law allowing Chicago to sue their asses if they try to appropriate our city's name. You want to move, fine, just own it you cowardly FBI raid denying, fake ass Monster of the Midway losers.

The Chicago White Sox are another matter. Unlike the Bears, Cubs or Bulls, I deeply care about the Chicago White Sox. They have been my favorite baseball team since I began following the sport in 1975. If they move to Addison, Naperville, or even Evergreen Park, they are dead to me unless they return. I will not become a Cubs fan, I will just give up MLB unless they rightfully restore a team to Montreal.

You of course have to do as you think best. To me personally it's all the Chicago area... doesn't bother me at all. If that's where they go and if they actually have success all the better as far as I'm concerned. 

[South Side Hit Men]

44 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

You of course have to do as you think best. To me personally it's all the Chicago area... doesn't bother me at all. If that's where they go and if they actually have success all the better as far as I'm concerned. 

Living in Cubbuck, Idaho, or in Texas produces different opinions, same as those folks who have lived in the suburbs here previously or currently.

I don't think it's a smart decision to leave unless they are going to Tokyo or perhaps Mexico City. All I ask is if they move is to call themselves Naperville or Alsip or whatever place they end up and not cling to the city name they chose to leave or some sad variant (Chicago White Sox of Romeoville). Feel the same way about the ridiculous two New Jersey NFL teams and others.

Do it right, like New England (instead of Boston since they play in Foxboro, which is closer to Boston than Naperville is to Chicago). Would be fine with the Illinois White Sox as well, since it would be accurate, same as how the Rangers do it (and Marlins did it until they moved to Miami).

[WBWSF]

10 hours ago, A-Train to 35th said:

A ballpark won't be going up on JR's UC land parcel.  It's too small and there's housing going up on the adjacent property.

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2023/08/04/jerry-reinsdorf-makes-17m-land-play-near-united-center/

Additional note:  That leads one to believe Reinsdorf's play could be expanding Stadium, a multi-platform sports network that he is the majority owner of. Stadium is currently housed inside the United Center, and adding facilities nearby would allow room for expansion in a growing streaming media market.

 

If what you say is true the UC is not a possible site for a new baseball stadium. This  leaves the following stadium possibilities: 1) Soldier Field. 2) Arlington Heights. 3)  Stay at the present location. 4) Some other location in the Chicagoland area. 5)  Some out of state location.  Looking at these 5 possibilities, I'm starting to worry about them moving out of state.

[ThirdGen]

How about Hillside? Easy access from 88,290,294.  Blue line and Metra.near. Very central to entire area.

[A-Train to 35th]

10 hours ago, TheBooneLoganEra said:

If they built out there and had a decent product they'd get 30k every night. A good portion of their fan base from the south side 30 years ago is out there. That being said I think they're fine where they are....sans the occasional falling bullet.

There was a 280-acre site in Tinley Park that would fit a ballpark.

https://www.tinleypark.org/government/current_projects/state_campus_property.php

[Buehrle>Wood]

17 hours ago, ThirdGen said:

The whole "southside" team issue is based on a decision the Sox made over 120 years ago. Their fanbase hasn't been there for decades now.  Move out to the west/ southwest suburbs and make the drive 30 minutes or so for a huge number of potential ticket buyers and watch attendance soar.

The Soldier Field thing is nuts. Even assuming they tear it down and build a new park there it would be so inaccessible to the majority of the Chicagoland area it would be horrible. Many Sox fans would see their travel time increase 15 minutes or so, and it sucks now. Put it in the middle of the Chicagoland population to minimize travel time, not on the east edge of it.

Throwing away 120 years worth of branding is hardly nothing. The Southwest side is fine though. There's not much cultural demographic differences between at least one of the core make-ups of your fanbase between there and the southside (which they identify with anyways) besides a generation removed. Tinley/Orland would make some sense albeit leaving behind some of your core Latino base. Going to Arlington makes no sense though. You have 0 built in fanbase and are throwing away your entire brand to compete with an entirely entrenched brand already. At that point, moving to a new city makes more sense.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Buehrle>Wood

[KennyPowers]

Develop the South Side. 35th & Shields is a perfect location for a stadium - Red Line/Green Line/Metra Station/Dan Ryan Expy

This is what they should do.

https://afterburnham.com/armour-field/

 

[The Grinder]

Still like to know who going to pay for all these proposed moves, I remember when the new park was built, all the displaced residents and IIRC there was some protests to go along with the eminent domain thing

I dont think the Sox are leaving the Metro Chicago area, JR just doing some sabre rattling to advance his interests

[Lip Man 1]

11 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Living in Cubbuck, Idaho, or in Texas produces different opinions, same as those folks who have lived in the suburbs here previously or currently.

I don't think it's a smart decision to leave unless they are going to Tokyo or perhaps Mexico City. All I ask is if they move is to call themselves Naperville or Alsip or whatever place they end up and not cling to the city name they chose to leave or some sad variant (Chicago White Sox of Romeoville). Feel the same way about the ridiculous two New Jersey NFL teams and others.

Do it right, like New England (instead of Boston since they play in Foxboro, which is closer to Boston than Naperville is to Chicago). Would be fine with the Illinois White Sox as well, since it would be accurate, same as how the Rangers do it (and Marlins did it until they moved to Miami).

Just making sure you know I was born and raised in Chicago, in the Back of the Yards area, went to Brother Rice high school. I'm Chicago through and through, still doesn't bother me if they move to a suburb and continue to call themselves "Chicago" White Sox.  

And its Chubbuck, Idaho a suburb of Pocatello. I'm 2 1/2 hours north of Salt Lake City and 3 1/2 hours Southeast of Boise. 

Edited September 26, 2023 by Lip Man 1

[ThirdGen]

1 hour ago, KennyPowers said:

Develop the South Side. 35th & Shields is a perfect location for a stadium - Red Line/Green Line/Metra Station/Dan Ryan Expy

This is what they should do.

https://afterburnham.com/armour-field/

 

The Polo Grounds sucked the first time around, no need to replicate it here. Good luck signing power hitters with 420 foot power alleys, good luck getting MLB to approve 290 foul lines, good luck dealing with the sun in day games facing due north, good luck selling lots of outfield seats that appear to be 600 feet or more from home plate. There is a reason this wasn't taken seriously and none of the next 20 or so ballparks built took inspiration from this plan. As I recall, he also advocated no parking lots whatsoever.

[pcq]

1 hour ago, KennyPowers said:

Develop the South Side. 35th & Shields is a perfect location for a stadium - Red Line/Green Line/Metra Station/Dan Ryan Expy

This is what they should do.

https://afterburnham.com/armour-field/

 

Jerry is a real estate guy and what has he developed in Bridgeport? Not much but the area has improved a fair amount. They have a great location with potential and a lot of bad perceptions. Moving anywhere would require a lot plus a new plot of land like what the Bears picked up. The odds favor staying put.

[South Side Hit Men]

1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Just making sure you know I was born and raised in Chicago, in the Back of the Yards area, went to Brother Rice high school. I'm Chicago through and through, still doesn't bother me if they move to a suburb and continue to call themselves "Chicago" White Sox.  

And its Chubbuck, Idaho a suburb of Pocatello. I'm 2 1/2 hours north of Salt Lake City and 3 1/2 hours Southeast of Boise. 

Very nice. I hope you guys can repel the Californian invasion from ruining your area and state as they have Nevada, Colorado, Montana and other states.

Bankruptcy and forced external reforms is the only path to salvaging Illinois at this point.