MOORE’S SUMMARY: Gov. JB Pritzker said there were “all the right players at the table” Thursday as he sat down with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Chicago Bears minority owner Pat Ryan and key state legislative leaders to discuss keeping the team in Illinois.
“I think it was a helpful meeting,” Pritzker told my colleague Ben Szalinski and I in an interview at his Loop campaign office Thursday afternoon, saying action “should happen” in the fall veto session that begins next month.
THE PLAYERS: It was the first known in-person meeting between Pritzker and Goodell, who have exchanged calls and text messages over the past nine months as the Bears worked to secure legislation in Illinois that would grant the team the property tax certainty it needs to build a stadium on land it owns in Arlington Heights.
Also in the meeting was Ryan, a Bears part-owner and board member with a net worth of $9 billion, according to Forbes. Ryan, the retired CEO of Aon, is the primary funder of Northwestern’s $875 million New Ryan Field, which opens Friday.
Capitol News Illinois reported last month that Ryan joined an August meeting between Deputy Gov. Andy Manar, who oversees the state’s budget and economic development efforts, and Karen Murphy, the Bears’ executive vice president of stadium development and chief operating officer.
On the legislative side, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and the top Bears stadium bill negotiators, Rep. Kam Buckner and Sen. Bill Cunningham, both Chicago Democrats, were also present.
STATE OF PLAY: The Bears’ board of directors, which includes Ryan, in June “voted to advance” a stadium project across the state line in Hammond. It came after a spring legislative session in which the Illinois House and Senate passed competing packages that would have given the team tax certainty in Illinois but couldn’t agree on the same bill.
Bears President Kevin Warren in August acknowledged team officials had “occasional” meetings with Illinois lawmakers over the summer but cast them as “minimal” while reiterating their “sole focus” on building in Indiana.
However, public records obtained by CNI as well as statements from key players involved suggest a greater degree of engagement on the Illinois side.
In a text message to Manar on June 26, just over two weeks after the team announced it voted to advance a project in Indiana, Murphy confirmed that the Bears “continue to work on changes we would need with the existing proposed legislation.”
In addition to the meeting that included Ryan, the pair met virtually in August to discuss public infrastructure that would surround a stadium.
The following week, Goodell confirmed he had recently met with Illinois lawmakers and the team was still “looking at” the 326-acre site it owns in Arlington Heights.
NFL STATEMENT: “The NFL appreciated the opportunity to meet with Governor Pritzker and legislative leaders today. Timely action is essential as the Bears work to find a long-term stadium solution for the club and their fans.”
TIMELY: Reading between the lines, “timely” means the fall veto session — two weeks after the Nov. 3 election. Lawmakers are set to return to Springfield Nov. 17-19 and Dec. 1-3. Pritzker told us “that’s when it should happen.”
“It is something that I think would be very important for us to advance sooner rather than later, and, indeed, I think the veto session is exactly the right time,” Pritzker said.
CONNECTION: Ryan’s involvement in Bears stadium talks has ramped up this summer. He’s viewed as a helpful conduit given his understanding of the Bears organization and relationships with key Illinois officials. Most obviously, there’s the Northwestern connection — Ryan is one of the university’s largest donors and Pritzker and Welch are both alums. The governor and Ryan also run around in the same Chicago business and civic circles.
“Remember: He’s an owner of the Bears, so I think it’s a big positive to have him at the table,” Pritzker said of Ryan. “And the Bears want to have all the options that they can have on the table. And having him in the room was very important.”
Goodell, he said, was “listening and trying to be helpful.”
Not in the room? Warren or Chairman George McCaskey. But Pritzker said not to read too much into that.
“They were very well aware this meeting was happening, and so I think the fact that they had their people there was an indication that conversations continue and there’s a real opportunity,” Pritzker told us.
WHAT’S NEXT? Multiple sources have conveyed that conversations throughout the summer have been constructive but have yet to lead to any breakthroughs.
Translation: There’s been some talking but not much in the way of legislative movement. Pritzker and legislative leaders have expressed a desire to have an agreement worked out before rank-and-file lawmakers return to Springfield in November. Negotiating and crafting legislation takes time, so a high-profile meeting like Thursday’s more than six weeks before the fall session could be taken as a sign of progress.
But remember, it is still possible that the Bears take the deal in Indiana, where lawmakers have promised more than $1 billion for construction of a publicly owned stadium.
