Bear Down and Out, Chapter 2: The Other Stadium | NBC Sports Chicago

Bernstein at home 10-2 noon at 6 70 the score I was watching NBC 5 and I saw you do the feature about going to Sofi Stadium why we wanted to see a

stadium

that was built with private money when we walked into Sofi Stadium I couldn't believe it , it's gigantic, a billionaire developer named Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Rams, built Sofi with his own money, it was a five billion dollar

stadium

. people hold about 70 240 fixed seats but you can put about a hundred thousand people in this building for a foreign WrestleMania or something tell me about that that's our Infinity screen it's center hung so it's 4K 70,000 square feet and four stars tall, we have 28 fixed cameras inside our stadium giving that board shocks separate from the feed that all of our fans get into and it's the best Fantasy Football

sports

bar setup we you've seen, you can watch all the games in high definition but the goal is to add to the experience, not take over. this is our club patio, which is the main space of our club, so it's still under the roof, you can see the pillars that hold up the edges of the roof. but this is our main space for fans to congregate before the game.

In fact, I think we qualify as a Botanical Garden. We have almost all native California trees except for one redwood in Chicago. its our owners club this is our champagne bar not everyone needs a champagne bar in their stadium but this is a pretty packed place come game day this was designed as you see in most kitchens modern homestays with a center island for people to gravitate to. around for all the food and drink to come sit on this island this is one of the closest angles to the field you'll ever see in the NFL so these are our Bungalow Suites which are our end zone suites these are essentially suites for 12 people so they have kitchens behind them where you can have your own food when you're standing right here your proximity to the field and the game is pretty close you could have a guy looking for a pass in the end zone coming right our way he never knows no one has fallen we've had players jumping in every

other

stadium we've ever played in the locker room had already been built so we have to design this one from scratch so the first thing you notice is this is the locker room that's in the It is shaped like a horn and you can see it in blue on the ceiling.

It's supposed to say that this is where you really get an idea of ​​how vertical the stadium is. Every seat in our building is the closest seat comparatively in the NFL. The most fascinating things. about the stadium it's the largest stadium in the world 3.1 million square feet but there's an intimacy because of the vertical nature where it doesn't feel cavernous and expansive stan krocky had the ability to move in here and build the stadium because it's dirty rich but we couldn't stop coming back to los angeles which guarantees success deep pockets and someone who isn't afraid to spend stan cronky was that guy in the state of california we don't give public money to build stadiums just don't do that if you're going to play ball in this state you better have the capital to do it one two three thank you there we go keep in mind that that Inglewood site is the size of Vatican City the stadium is only one part there are retail stores there are commercial, residential, all of that is going up, so he's a real estate guy who was able because he had the money to move his team to this pristine piece of land, the old Hollywood Park racetrack, and develop it all, that's really exactly what the Bears want to do in Arlington Park Stan Crock is the only person I know of who could have done this.

We were very lucky. In 2014 this piece of land that used to be the Hollywood Park Race Track was put up for sale and we all sat down and said. we want to build the best

sports

and entertainment district on the planet and stan kronkey's one message to kick off the meeting was that if we're going to go to los angeles we can't ignore los angeles' conversation with mayor of inglewood james t butts and As Stan was talking to the mayor, he was saying, "You know the NFL basically asks cities to participate, that's how we do it and I'm pretty sure the mayor's line was Stan, you can never spend all your money before than you".

He dies, we're not going to give you a penny. How much money did you put into this deal to get the Rams to zero when we went to see the mayor? The one thing I wanted to know more than anything else is how you did this. Did you make this happen and what did you have to offer? I said hey can I call you Stan? He said yes. I said call me Jim. I said Stan. we couldn't we won't come together for half a billion dollars and this is what doesn't work for the city of Inglewood it doesn't work for any city actually put yourself in a situation where you're chasing bail and we had no intention of doing that , there are streets that had to be built, there are sewer systems that need to be connected, however, all of that money was loaded up front by the Rams, so there is a bill, probably in the area of ​​250 million or something, that eventually it's over. time that the city will pay at a time when we receive more than 25 million in any given year in taxes generated from development that excess 25 million will go towards the retirement of that infrastructure debt, which means that we pay it with money that we never The Rams have returned to Los Angeles.

It has been a success. I would say a resounding yes. The stadium is an amazing stadium. give the

bear

s free advice from the guy who helped make all this happen if you could if you could just sit down and have a cup of coffee with mccaskey's what would you tell them the mccaskeys and the

bear

s are so woven into the fabric of

chicago

that i've done a great job being one with the city and I think his vision has always been to get a stadium that truly reflects the potential of the Bears. Build a stadium and a project that reflects your vision, your brand and your market.

Don't try to be nobody.

other

wise trying to be would have made the Chicago Bears one of the best franchises in the League for nearly a century, that's where they should focus.