News: Fire Moving to Soldier Field

Umm, no. There was a single tweet that has been circle jerked around and around until Paul Tenerio called the single tweet "multiple sources."

 

Jeff Carlisle: "Sources have confirmed to ESPN . . ."
http://www.espn.com/soccer/chicago-...fire-mull-name-change-return-to-soldier-field

 

Can confirm all of this. Stadium move not finalized yet. Rebrand also not a sure thing. There are several layers to this. #cf97 https://t.co/n4QLIYZe3c

— Guillermo Rivera (@FireConf) April 5, 2019

 

The only "source" mentioned in the article was Vlahakis (hopefully, he has others).
Also,Vlahakis tweeted it happened. This article states there are "talks."
The Fire refused to comment.

 

So, he can "confirm" that things are not done and the rebrand may not happen.

That is NOT confirming anything.

Any one of us could "confirm" the same things, since it has not happened.

Is there truly no journalism anymore? Carlisle and Rivera claim to be soccer journalists (not like Hot Time in Old Town), but they are almost as awful.

One lists the as his "sources" the same erroneous tweet we have all seen and specifically states the Fire have not said anything.

The other "confirms" that nothing has been confirmed.

As much as I would like a move back to Soldier Field to happen, as I think it could kick start local interest in the Fire, I will remain skeptical until there is some actual news or an actual announcement.

 

21st Century Journalism - better to be first than to be accurate.

See also: MSM reporting on the Barr memo.

 

To be clear, that there are talks IS news

 

Gotta admit on a day like today with nothing else to do being on the lake front for a fire game sounds great.

 

I should really go outside today.

 

I should walk to taco bell

 

At first I was real doubtful but as more mainstream media report this I'm starting to believe although as they say nothing signed yet.

 

Has anyone actually looked at what it would take for Mansueto to:
1. Buy out the lease at Bridgeview,
2. Buy out Hauptman, and
3. Build a replacement in the City, as Soldier Field isn't a likely long-term solution?

Back of the envelope:
1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...g-cut-to-junk-over-stadium-debt-idUSKBN1722WC Bridgeview issued $135MM in bonds for the stadium. Let's assume that there is only $100MM or so remaining, and Bridgeview would be happy to halve that. I'll guess this to cost MLS/Mansueto $50MM.

2. https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...-billionaire-joe-mansueto-20180711-story.html Mansueto bought 49% of what Forbes called a $240MM "asset" back in 2016. We'll call this another $120MM.

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Field Now, to replace Seat geek stadium. Illinois, Cook County, and Chicago are all broke. Audi cost ~$400 - $500MM to build. Let's even use a slight discount on that figure, and call this another $300MM.

All in, for the dream of moving the team into a new venue, firing Hauptman, and getting into new digs in the city, we're looking at north of $400MM, right?

Does this rumor still make sense?

 

That assumes that JM assumes 2 and 3 are necessary, which they may or may not be. For 2, he'd only need 1.001% more to have a majority, and he can let Hauptman ride along for the SUM gravy train. For 3, it'll all depend on the type of lease they can get from the city, and the level of cooperation out of SMG, which remains to be seen.

 

I thought Bridgeview “refinanced” at some point, heavily increasing their outlay. The buyout number may be double that. I fear construction costs might be more as well.

All that said, the fear of losing the Chicago market to an extremely well funded USL side is/was real. The upfront cost to Mansueto and MLS is inconsequential to the potential value lost by losing in Chicago.

 

And oh yeah, SMG... If I have one reservation about moving back to Soldier Field, it's them. I don't remember if they were in charge back when the Fire last played downtown, but when it comes to management of Park District facilities, their level of "don't give a f-ck" is almost impressive.

 

You really do have a death wish.

 

Mansueto doesn't need to buy 51%, he just needs 2% more.

 

Hey random question: Does ESPN+ let you pause live games?

Edit: Shit, meant to post that in the game thread... oh well.

 

Yes, you can.

 

Yes

 

True about buying out Hauptman, but do you really think that NSF is a long-term solution?

I certainly don't. So, call it ~$300MM or so "just" to replace seat geek, and what, another ~$50MM or so to get out of Bridgeview, on a back of the envelope guess. It might be well more than ~$350MM, we simply don't know.

[As an aside, we can't guess at what operating losses might be @ NSF on an annual basis, nor what it would take to buy 1.001% of the fire from Hauptman.]

Does this rumor make sense?

 

He's worth 3.3 billion, so if that's what he wants then he can afford it.

 

That may be, but is this the type of investment a hedge fund type [~10% of his net worth] into this sort of venture?

And again, I'd like for all of this rumor to be true. But does it make sense?

On it's face, I'd argue that, in the absence of other information that we may not yet know, I'd say "no," at this point...

 

Sorry, but if this happens Hauptman better not be involved at all. So either he buys out the remaining 51% or brings in another investor, but he has the wealth to own 100% of the team.

 

Like I said if that's what he WANTS, that's all the matters.