“Sports stadiums [in the US] tend not to pay off. Without exception the return on public investment is negative,” says JC Bradbury, a sports economist who has studied public funding of US sports venues. He takes issue with some of the Bears’ figures and lack of detail — such as the projection that the project will have a regional economic impact of $8bn. “For a city that already has a team, in exactly the same location, that’s ridiculous,” he says.
My dad is vehemently against the city paying towards a new stadium (and even more against the Arlington Heights location given he lives in that direction).