In an hour-long talk over lunch today, Reinsdorf consistently argued that his goal is not to make money but field a winning team — in Chicago. Along the way, he dropped also shed light on the state of play with the Chicago Bears. But more on that in a bit.

Regarding his own team’s fortunes and his hopes for a state-sponsored stadium, Reinsdorf notably:

• Said financing the stadium would require not only $1.1 billion in subsidies from an existing tax on Chicago hotel rooms but also up to $900 million in infrastructure work that already has been authorized but not funded by a tax-increment financing district that covers The 78 property. Such a move, however, will require legislative and possibly City Council approval.

• Indicated he’s on a fast track, hoping to begin preliminary construction work later this year and play in the new stadium by the 2028 season.

• Conceded that the Sox and the Chicago Bears may be competing for the same public-revenue source, the hotel tax, to pay for new Chicago arenas, but said the two family-owned teams are trying to work out a mutually beneficial deal.  One thing that’s off the table: Sharing a stadium. “It doesn’t work,” Reinsdorf said. “You end up having a stadium that is no good for football or baseball.”

• Said he’s unsure what will happen to Guaranteed Rate and adjoining parking lots if the Sox move downtown. Constructing hundreds of new housing units and retail space is one possibility, and converting the stadium itself into a smaller home for the soccer Chicago Fire is another possibility, he said.

Making his case

The Reinsdorf interview, which came a day after the sports mogul and Related began shopping their plan to legislative leaders in Springfield, focused on why the team wants to move and why such a move in his view is in the public interest — so much so that the move merits spending public money. Crain’s first reported last August that the American League baseball club was looking to move after its lease at Guaranteed Rate expires later this decade.

Reinsdorf today gave three major reasons.  

One, the team in his view cannot succeed where it is located now, even though Guaranteed Rate Field is just a few decades old. 

“The economics of baseball have completely changed,” with top ballplayers signing contracts worth as much as $700 million, Reinsdorf said. “At the location we’re at now, we cannot generate the revenue needed to pay those salaries,” said Reinsdorf, referring to the team’s heavily-residential Bridgeport home. A new space in a livelier downtown area with shops, bars and other entertainment venues within walking distance should do better, he contends.

Reinsdorf denied that the real problem is poor performance by his team. Even after winning the World Series in 2005, “we didn’t crack the 3 million (attendance) mark,” something that Series winners routinely accomplish.

Nashville-bound?

Reason two, according to Reinsdorf: The team almost certainly will be sold after this death, and “the big money” is the hands of outsiders who want to move the team to Nashville or another location.

Noting that he’s about to turn 88, Reinsdorf said that “when I’m gone,” his son Michael Reinsdorf, president of the Chicago Bulls, which the family also owns, “will have an obligation to do what’s best” for other investors in the Sox. “That likely means putting the team up for sale. . . .The team will be with more out of town.”

Reinsdorf said his ownership share is “more than” the 19% recently estimated by Forbes magazine, but wouldn’t give a figure. Michael Reinsdorf sat in on the lunch but didn’t comment on what his father had to say.

Reinsdorf’s prediction that the city will lose the team without a new stadium may give him some leverage with lawmakers who are reluctant to offer subsidies to a wealthy man. However, it is reminiscent of what happened 30 years ago, when then-Gov. James Thompson agreed to use state funds to build what is now Guaranteed Rate Field next to the team’s longtime Comiskey Park home amid talk the team was ready to move to Florida.

An ‘anchor’ for The 78

Jerry Reinsdorf said his specific plan is build the new stadium and sign a long-term lease with its legal owner: the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the agency that financed Guaranteed Rate and the rehab of Soldier Field where Chicago Bears play — which is also the agency that would issue bonds backed by the hotel tax to build the stadium. The lease would require the team to play its games in Chicago, saving it for the city, and Reinsdorf said he believes he can get his investment partners in the team to go along.

Reinsdorf’s third reason why a subsidy is arguably in the public interest: The stadium would serve as an “anchor” for the now-stalled The 78, providing a projected $4 billion in economic impact and $200 million each year in tax revenue.

“At the end of the day, the benefit to the city and state are going to outweigh the cost,” Reinsdorf asserted. “This is not (just) a ballpark. This a development of which the ballpark is the anchor.”

The economic impact and tax figures come from Related Midwest. A spokeswoman for the real estate developer said the estimates are based on private studies but declined to immediately say who did the studies or to release copies.

A $4 billion tab

Reinsdorf said the “first phase” of The 78 project now being proposed will involve about $4 billion in investment — about half for a hotel, apartments and other projects and $1.8 billion to $2 billion for the stadium and needed infrastructure, such as parking and relocating nearby Metra tracks. Though the latter spending is already detailed in the TIF deal between the city and Related, Reinsdorf conceded the entire cost of the stadium, if his plan comes to fruition, would be financed by ISFA and the city TIF district.

Reinsdorf said the construction bond ISFA issues would be retired with proceeds from the hotel tax. The tax will pull in an estimated $52 million to $56 million this year — better than last year but still below the pre-COVID level, the ISFA disclosed at its monthly board meeting today. With ISFA still having $489 million in outstanding debt as of last June 30, it’s not clear that income is sufficient to pay off both that debt and finance a new Sox stadium.

Reinsdorf said all of those payments — retiring the old Soldier Field debt and the new Sox stadium debt — would be feasible by issuing new bonds with 30- to 35-year maturities.

As previously reported, Reinsdorf also is seeking to capture state sales tax from The 78 property. He said that would be as a backstop in case revenues from the hotel tax were insufficient to meet debt service, but that either way the proposed deal would “continue” rather than impose any new taxes.

What about the Bears?

As for the Bears, Reinsdorf said he’s had continuing “conversations” with team owners in an effort to keep from getting in each other’s way. “I don’t want to be in competition with the McCaskeys,” Reinsdorf said. He declined to elaborate, but political insiders are discussing rumors of a possible hike in the city’s amusement tax as a revenue source.

The Bears recently have redirected their focus from building a new stadium in suburban Arlington Heights to one on the parking lots just south of Soldier Field. 

Reinsdorf said he has not yet had a chance to brief Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who was tied up on state budget matters this week, but hopes to do so now. Pritzker has been skeptical of public subsidies for sports facilities, but has not completely closed the door on such a possibility.