Chicago fans of professional sports are just as likely to talk about their favorite teams’ stadiums as they are about those teams’ performances these days.

The Chicago Bears have pitched a $3.2 billion proposal for a new domed stadium on the lakefront. At the same time, the Chicago White Sox are looking for $1 billion in public funding for a new $2 billion baseball stadium in The 78, a planned megadevelopment site that will create a new neighborhood south of downtown.

Given both the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois budgets — Chicago has the second-largest debt load of any U.S. city, and Illinois is in the top five among states nationwide — the path to publicly funded stadiums is going to be fraught. Read article

This article was discussed on Crain’s Daily Gist podcast and was a finalist for the Chicago Journalists Association’s 2024 Sarah Brown Boyden Awards.