Soldier Field a moneymaker with or without the Bears, retiring park district CEO says

Soldier Field is a thriving moneymaker for Chicago and will remain so, even if the Bears pull up stakes for Arlington Heights, retiring Chicago Park District Supt. Rosa Escareno said Thursday.

Less than two weeks before handing the reins to Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), Escareno shed no new light on a long-running Bears stadium saga that may end with the Bears building a new domed stadium on the site of the shuttered Arlington International Racecourse they bought in 2022 for $197.2 million.

She simply said whether the Bears stay or go, Soldier Field is a “great asset for the city” and will be just fine, even if the stadium loses its “No. 1 tenant.”

“We had a record-breaking year of revenue last year and … 2025 will be an even stronger financial year for Soldier Field,” Escareno told the Sun-Times.

“We are a key provider of concerts. We’re the largest venue with multiple concerts. That revenue … goes right back into supporting the district. Soldier Field is strong. Soldier Field is solid going forward.”

Hoping to keep the Bears in Chicago, developers of the old Michael Reese Hospital site went public last week with their dazzling plan to build a Bronzeville stadium and an adjacent mixed-use development — with a great lawn extending over Du Sable Lake Shore Drive all the way to Lake Michigan.

Scott Goodman, principal of the Farpoint Development team that purchased the 48.6-acre Reese site from the city, had been warned privately that if he went public, it would nix any chance of persuading the Bears to take their Chicago sights off the lakefront parking lot south of Soldier Field and push them to Arlington Heights.

But Goodman took a chance anyway, fearing the Bears could be as good as gone.

“I feel like it’s already gone to Arlington Heights. ... I kind of fell into, ‘You should at least show your pictures. ... You should Hail Mary this,’” Goodman said.

Escareno was asked what should become of Soldier Field if the Bears do end up leaving.

Should the much-ridiculed design that cost the lakefront stadium its landmark status be deconstructed into a smaller soccer stadium? Or should everything but the historic colonnades be torn down and replaced with an outdoor amphitheater that would create more lakefront park space?

“Soldier Field is a solid structure providing many benefits to Chicago. … We have another tenant, the Chicago Fire. We also have many concerts. It’s a multiuse facility. It is active all year long. We can demonstrate the value of Soldier Field,” Escareno said.

“There is so much benefit to having Soldier Field, our Museum Campus and all that we do to bring vibrancy to the city. It’s something that must continue into the future. It’s not only essential to the operation of the park district. That entire area is a huge revenue generator … essential for our local economy and our tax base here in the city.”

The Bears lease at Soldier Field expires in 2033. It calls for the team to pay roughly $7 million in annual rent and pocket all game-day revenue from tickets, concessions, merchandise and 4,250 parking spaces.

The park district collects on the remainder of nearly 8,000 parking spots. On non-game days, including concerts, soccer matches and college football games, the talent keeps ticket revenue and the park district gets all food and beverage and parking revenue.

That revenue amounted to a bonanza during the summer of 2023 when Taylor Swift played to sold-out crowds for three nights, with thousands more Swifties camping out and buying merchandise and refreshments outside the stadium.

Beyonce also played Soldier Field for two nights that summer to sold-out crowds that included Bears President Kevin Warren.

Warren made future concerts part of his pitch for a domed stadium a year ago, when he stood with Mayor Brandon Johnson to unveil their preferred lakefront stadium proposal on the Museum Campus.

The lakefront dome has been stuck in the mud in Springfield and could face legal challenges due to the city’s Lakefront Protection Ordinance.

Although a new domed stadium would be built on lakefront parkland and owned by the Chicago Park District, the Bears were seeking to dramatically sweeten for themselves the terms of a stadium lease that has been an almost constant source of contention between tenant and landlord over the years.

"They’re asking to keep all of the revenue from other events that might take place at the stadium,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said then.

“If there’s a Beyonce concert, they want all of that revenue, too, and everything else that might happen there. There are aspects of this that are probably nonstarters.”