as a Chicago native and a huge Bears fan, I think this is a horrible idea


Chicago doesn't need another football team just so city council can waste more money by building a new dome. they're not gonna fucking give you the 2016 Olympics you idiots. you're just gonna build the dome, the team will struggle to win/fill the seats and they'll be looking to relocate ten years later.

12/23/2005 9:15:32 PM

mayor daley is a piece of fucking garbage

12/23/2005 9:25:05 PM

he's done some good shit for Chicago


and my ultra-cool uncle likes him, so I'll take his word for it



but THIS 2nd team would wind up like the Clippers

12/23/2005 9:26:29 PM

what percentage of Chicagoans are WHite SOx fans?

take that, devide it by 3, then you'll get the number of people cheering for a new NFL team there...

12/23/2005 9:31:23 PM

out of the 8+ million Chicagoans, I'd say that MAYBE 1 million of them would claim to be Sox fans (circa 2004....there are obviously more now)


so 333,000 fans of this new team....


sounds about right

12/23/2005 9:35:18 PM

LA needs a team way more than Chicago needs a second one

12/23/2005 9:37:26 PM

Raleigh needs a baseball team just as much as Chicago needs another football team



hey Meeker, why don't you build a dome in an attempt to lure the Olympics to the fine city of Raleigh

12/23/2005 9:45:14 PM

its not like they could support a second team...its chicago, its a diehard sports town

they could probably support a 2nd team better than LA could support one...that being said, i think it would be a tough sell due to the great loyalty bears fans have

the city being divided sox/cubs is enough division as it is...heres hoping on the olympics though

12/23/2005 10:23:47 PM

Can I get a link to where you read that! That sounds insane to try and undermine a team with some of the most die hard fans in the country. Bears fans went to games while they have sucked for a while, in Champagne, and at shitty, pre renovation, Solider Field! Long Live The Bears Fans!

[Edited on December 23, 2005 at 11:02 PM. Reason : .]

12/23/2005 11:02:03 PM

Quote :

"they could probably support a 2nd team better than LA could support one"

not true at all

at least half of the Chargers' fanbase drive down from orange county or LA because they love football

USC and UCLA have huge fan bases

Chicago doesn't need another football team

[Edited on December 23, 2005 at 11:13 PM. Reason : asdf]

12/23/2005 11:12:05 PM

Quote :

"LA needs a team way more than Chicago needs a second one"

best statement in this thread so far imho

12/23/2005 11:14:08 PM

Quote :

"USC and UCLA have huge fan bases"

i guess you didnt watch the USC/UNLV game at USC this year

12/23/2005 11:40:51 PM

link:

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_357173759.html

12/23/2005 11:45:31 PM

Quote :

"out of the 8+ million Chicagoans, I'd say that MAYBE 1 million of them would claim to be Sox fans (circa 2004....there are obviously more now) so 333,000 fans of this new team.... sounds about right"

8+ million people... not 8+ million baseball fans. All that matters are the number of people willing to support a team. The midwest is not big on change and Bears fans are pretty hardcore so I don't see there being hardly any people at all switching from a historic franchise to something brand new. Besides, football takes a much bigger commitment than baseball. You can see a game fromt he bleachers fro under $10 but you usually can't get into an NFL stadium for under $100. THey need season ticket commitments (like Panthers PSL's) and there is no way they can pull that much vested interest. Don't forget that Chicago also has Packers and Lions fan bases.

LA seems like a logical choice. I wouldn't be surprised to see Oregon get one in the near future, they are growing like crazy there. I just want to see a baseball team in Vegas.

12/24/2005 12:14:15 AM

Quote :

" USC and UCLA have huge fan bases"

false...USC has always struggled selling out their stadium

i was watching the 1999 rose bowl today (ucla vs wisco)...there was twice as much red in the crowd

LA is a shitty sports town, they had football a few times, it didnt work

12/24/2005 12:21:26 AM

Quote :

"Don't forget that Chicago also has Packers and Lions fan bases."

wait...what?

12/24/2005 12:22:35 AM

San Francisco is going to renovate Stanford Stadium to get the Olympics in 2016, from what I hear.

And yes, this is a very stupid idea. What team is going to move now, anyway? New Orleans?

12/24/2005 12:22:59 AM

new orleans

potentially the vikings

the stupidest part of this thread is the notion of a dome in chicago

12/24/2005 12:25:31 AM

d

[Edited on December 24, 2005 at 12:26 AM. Reason : double vision]

12/24/2005 12:26:19 AM

Quote :

"Quote : "Don't forget that Chicago also has Packers and Lions fan bases." wait...what?"

Chicago is a huge metro area. People move there from surrounding states where they were just as likely to pull for the Packers and Lions. These are significant fanbases that draw fans regardless of the hometown team so them being relatively close byonly magnifies this presence. Its like how you will find a shit ton of Cardinals fans in Chicago and northern Illinois in general.

12/24/2005 12:35:04 AM

i think you are exaggerating that factor a little bit

the lions barely have fans in their own city and the % of packers/cardinals fans is very miniscule

if anything its the opposite, lots of bears fans scattered through wisco

12/24/2005 12:41:04 AM

Quote :

"i think you are exaggerating that factor a little bit the lions barely have fans in their own city and the % of packers/cardinals fans is very miniscule if anything its the opposite, lots of bears fans scattered through wisco"

The lions do just fine fan wise. They have been one of the worst franchises in the last decade, easy, yet still have respectable attendance (actually better than Chicago). Packers fans are prominent everywhere they are just one of those all-american teams. Cardinals fans are prominent in northern Illinois, at least they definitely were when I lived there. Watch the Cardinals at Wrigley and you'll see PLENTY of red (and those aren't commuters from St. Louis).

My point was not how strong the presence was anyways, simply that the fan bases are pretty well set with significant franchises in that area and the midwest is not big on change as it is.

[Edited on December 24, 2005 at 12:49 AM. Reason : .]

12/24/2005 12:47:35 AM

dont stereotype my midwest like that!

outside the cornfields, there are some of the most progressive cities in this great land

Quote :

"Watch the Cardinals at Wrigley and you'll see PLENTY of red (and those aren't commuters from St. Louis)."

been to plenty of those games...lots of those are commuters i would say...sure there are cardinals fans in the city, but its not like they are plotting to take over or anything!

12/24/2005 12:53:46 AM

^^ isnt Soldier Field small as shit though? or did you mean the Lions have higer % of seats filled?

[Edited on December 24, 2005 at 12:55 AM. Reason : f]

12/24/2005 12:54:40 AM

i looked it up, he was right

which i dont understand because bears tickets are impossible to come by

12/24/2005 12:55:58 AM

cause the stadium is so small. I think its like 65000-70000.

12/24/2005 12:57:45 AM

its not even that big, i dont understand how the attendance numbers are listed how they are when it is impossible to get tickets

12/24/2005 12:59:53 AM

i think the dome stadium is a great idea (if they have one super bowl, a couple of final fours, some years with the earlier rounds of the NCAA etc it will pay for itself. not sure all the concert venues in Chicago but that would help too) but I just dont see another team there.

12/24/2005 1:03:36 AM

plenty of concert venues

if a football team from chicago ever played in a dome i would probably cry myself to sleep

chicago is not a pussy town, no need for a pussy dome

12/24/2005 1:07:50 AM

not a dome fan either, but the NFL would never put a super bowl on in a city that cold without a dome

12/24/2005 1:13:33 AM

Quote :

"been to plenty of those games...lots of those are commuters i would say...sure there are cardinals fans in the city, but its not like they are plotting to take over or anything! "

I lived in the northern half of Illinois and it still took 3.5 hours to drive to Chicago... no way in hell you regularly commute to Wrigley (considering the number of games they play there) when you can just watch 'em in St. Louis. You have to take into account the frequency of games in baseball. And again I never tried to say that these prominent other franchises were going to be king of the city, simply that they take up all the non-Chicago fans pretty much so you simply don't have much available fan base to grow with. I mean look at how diificult it is for the Sox to compete with the Cubs for notoriety and they are a legendary franchise themselves, no way a new team competes with "Da Bears!"

Oh and fuck a dome.

[Edited on December 24, 2005 at 1:20 AM. Reason : .]

12/24/2005 1:19:55 AM

we have always considered anything below I-80 southern Ill

12/24/2005 10:38:44 AM

se virginia
puerto rico
birmingham

the largest gaps in pro sports america in order

12/24/2005 8:10:51 PM

south east virginia?

they've got the tides, and thats plenty

12/24/2005 8:18:21 PM

virginia beach
richmond
norfolk

if you put around williamsburg you have 2 metro areas around it, 3 large cities, all of northeastern/eastern nc, at least half of virginia

its mindboggling that virginia doesnt have a proteam. even if you argued dc being there dc is 3-4 hours from tidewater

12/25/2005 2:26:58 AM

dude that is about the dumbest thing i have ever read

yet another rubbish post from socrates

12/25/2005 2:48:57 AM

please explain

12/25/2005 11:41:07 AM

How bout we give the Quad cities in Iowa a pro sports team?

12/25/2005 12:53:30 PM

i dont know if thats a joke or what

vb is the 38th most populus city in the us at about 500k surrounded by chesapeke newport news and norfolk at about 200k a piece. richmond is prolly 1-2 hours away at about 200k and none of this includes military in maybe the most dense military area in teh us. raleigh and dc are how far they have to go to see a pro team (both prolly 3.5-4 hours away). norfolk-vb-newport news was the 30th most populus metro area in 2000 and richmond is at 50 . you act as if theres an obvious reason so please explain.

find 2 other metro areas within driving distance of each other and without a pro team IN THE WHOLE STATE.

http://www.demographia.com/db-usmet2000.htm

12/25/2005 1:38:48 PM

First of all Richmond is about 90 miles from DC-but you're an idiot so I'll assume you didnt know that. Richmond could NEVER compete with DC's fanbase. The DC Metro Area is about 7 million people...Richmond is smaller than Raleigh.

As for your SE Virginia argument, Virginia Beach's population figures are grossly inflated. Did you forget that it's a big tourist destination, where people own a summer home, condo, or time share? It's also, like you said, a military town. How bout you ask San Diego how great military personel are as fans.

It's a cute thought, but it will NEVER happen.

Besides, the majority of Virginia's economy is in Northern Virginia. Taxpayers who live in Fairfax County would laugh in your face if you told them THEY should foot the bill for some shitty team in Virginia Beach.

12/25/2005 2:03:38 PM

i thought census numbers only counted a persons primary residence. if not then the census is pointless.

richmond is 2 hours from dc. and probobly almsot 3 from the redskins. pple would probobly rather support a va team a little bit closer anyway. even without richmond the tidewater area is much bigger than the triangle and many other protowns (that have other pro teams close by)

[Edited on December 25, 2005 at 2:21 PM. Reason : i]

12/25/2005 2:20:24 PM

you have to look at more than just census data anyways

green bay wisconsin, by the numbers, would be a shitty shitty place to locate your pro football team, but they don't have problems selling tickets
conversely
los angeles would seem to be the ultimate football city, and look how good thats worked out...

as someone who was born in virginia beach, let me tell you you're over estimating "Hampton Roads"

i'll say it again: they have the Tides, thats enough

[Edited on December 25, 2005 at 2:23 PM. Reason : census data]

12/25/2005 2:20:35 PM

Quote :

"How bout we give the Quad cities in Iowa a pro sports team? "

GG

12/25/2005 2:55:51 PM

i wasnt necessarily talking about an nfl team (i know thats the thread) i was saying a pro team period.

12/25/2005 7:31:08 PM

they have the Tides, thats enough

12/25/2005 8:11:31 PM

Las Vegas > all

12/27/2005 8:47:03 AM

QUAD CITIES!!!!1

12/27/2005 12:09:58 PM