If one had been to ask which NFL proprietor owned a house closest to Soldier Field, the proper response wouldn’t be Virginia McCaskey. In reality, it wouldn’t be anybody with an possession stake within the Chicago Bears. The appropriate title can be Jacksonville Jaguars proprietor Shahid Khan, whose Gold Coast condo sits mere miles from the well-known marble pillars.
When Mayor Lori Lightfoot insisted that quite a few NFL franchises can be open to setting roots in a renovated Soldier Field if the Bears left the town, many had been incorrect to have scoffed. Khan, a graduate of the University of Illinois, is the optimum candidate to maneuver his franchise to Illinois. As Chicagoland and the Jaguars close to their respective inflection factors, it’s clear that the 2 can chart a relationship.
Always the experimenter, Khan absolutely is aware of that his Jacksonville Jaguars are in determined want of refreshment. Unfortunately for the billionaire, gone are the times when nice concepts might thrive in small markets. Jacksonville, a metropolis with out a crew in any main sports activities league moreover the NFL, hasn’t lived as much as the expectations established on the time of the Jaguars’ inaugural season almost three many years in the past. TIAA Bank Stadium, the sun-stained venue that at present homes Khan’s crew, is getting old. To make issues worse, the crew itself has perpetually struggled to realize a foothold on the sector. Just as Khan gained a recent begin in Illinois as a younger immigrant, so can his soccer crew.
Chicago clearly doesn’t need Soldier Field to grow to be a lakefront sarcophagus ought to the Bears depart for Arlington Heights. While the Chicago Fire Football Club and occasional big-name concert events would supply a good stream of income for a Bear-less metropolis, it wouldn’t be sufficient to justify the continued long-term existence of Soldier Field. Hence, Lightfoot’s understandably determined pleas.
Luckily for Chicago, Khan has proved to be as artistic a capitalist as there’s within the NFL. He co-owns All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a wrestling firm whose quaint Jacksonville area rests simply throughout from Khan’s soccer stadium. He additionally holds a controlling stake in Fulham Football Club, a London-based soccer franchise that would very properly tour within the United States as its Premier League friends have. Clearly, Khan desires to realize synergy along with his three sports activities entities, and, merely put, Jacksonville is simply too small of a pond.
It received’t be as straightforward as renting U-Hauls, nevertheless. It’s true {that a} new Chicago crew would possible fail to overhaul the Bears in market share. Such was the case when the Chargers moved to Los Angeles in meek trend, failing to stay as much as the hype of the extra profitable Rams. The synergetic potential of Khan’s franchises might problem standard knowledge, nevertheless.
Consider a renovated Soldier Field that guarantees weekly wrestling occasions, quite a few NFL video games and cyclical Premier League exhibition matches. Khan’s entities would add life to the lakefront, assist fund the deliberate renovations and earn the town regular income. Khan would want the oxygen {that a} bigger market brings, and a slice of the Chicago lakefront would grow to be his canvas.
There is, nevertheless, one other approach through which Khan might transfer his crew to Chicagoland with out negotiating with Lightfoot. Just as two franchises partnered financially to construct their state-of-the-art venues within the New York City and Los Angeles markets — with MetLife and SoFi stadiums, respectively — Khan might supply the McCaskey household a second tenant for its Arlington Park property. After all, extra personal funding for the undertaking would assuredly elevate the chances of success.
Such an association can be helpful to the state of Illinois too, as they would want to lean on taxpayers much less if two house owners had been to undertake the undertaking. Additionally, Khan would profit from the expanse of land that the Arlington Park property brings. Khan’s different endeavors, together with an AEW area, would match proper in with the deliberate leisure district the McCaskey household is trying to finish. Whereas the Bears and McCaskeys would fail to draw crowds year-round, Khan’s quite a few endeavors and higher wealth would draw a bigger amount of tourists outdoors the soccer season.
Regardless of the means, Khan’s soccer crew is in determined want of recent surroundings. Fortunately for him, the nation’s third-largest metropolitan space occurs to be out there for brand new, invigorating leisure prospects. As Chicagoland provides itself up as a clean canvas, Khan can be smart to seek out alternative in Illinois as soon as once more.
Connor Wielgos is a contract journalist whose work has been revealed in The Progressive and Human Events.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com