Chicago Bears Eyeing New Home With a Sportsbook

If you’re a sports fan, you get used to saying goodbye to classic home stadiums. Whether it’s due to a team relocation or simply an organization looking for an upgrade, you can’t get too attached to home field. Some NFL teams have seen major upgrades to their home turf recently. The Las Vegas Raiders, for example, now call Allegiant Stadium home after leaving the Oakland area years ago. They now play at home in a stadium that cost nearly $2 billion to build, has its own full sports betting lounge, and seats 65,000 fans. Well, another pro football team is looking to move on from their home turf, and there’s some pretty interesting reasons involved. Let’s take a look at why the Chicago Bears are planning on saying goodbye to Soldier Field.

Chicago Bears Eyeing Move to Arlington Park

The Chicago Bears players might want to get their moving boxes ready. The Bears have been looking for a new home for years now, and they made their move by purchasing Arlington Park, over 30 miles away from their current Soldier Field home. While it hasn’t been officially confirmed, that very well could be the team’s new home.

The team has played at Soldier Field for decades now. The Bears first called Soldier Field home in 1971, and since then have seen plenty of ups and downs, with a major highlight being their 1986 Super Bowl championship. Chicago also won their only game at Soldier Field this year, a 20-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Why Are The Bears Leaving Soldier Field?

There are a few reasons the Bears are planning on moving on from Soldier field. First off, Soldier Field simply isn’t large enough for a city of three million residents. Currently, it is the smallest active NFL stadium in the league, housing only 61,500 fans. This explains their interest in Arlington Park, but it’s not the only reason.

The Bears want to get into the sports betting business. It’s no shock, as the team already has deals with the BetRivers betting platform. They’d also like to have a sportsbook inside their stadium, which has been a difficult process as the Chicago Parks District has held the team back from any sports betting opportunities.

State of the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears currently sit at 1-2 on the season, coming off a blowout loss against the Cleveland Browns. While there was plenty of hope for rookie quarterback Jusin Fields from Ohio State, the young passer hasn’t shown much so far and had a disastrous performance against the Browns. Head coach Matt Nagy is essentially fighting for his job right now, and he’s going to need to do better if he wants to join the team on its possible move to Arlington Park.

This week, the Chicago Bears host the Detroit Lions at home, with Fields hoping to prove more against a team that sits at 0-3. The Bears lead the all-time series against the Lions, with a 102-75-5 record throughout the years.