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November 12, 2026

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Chicago real estate developers are making a renewed push to keep the Bears in Illinois after the team has recently given serious consideration to a site in Hammond, Indiana. The latest effort came Thursday as the Capri Investment Group and GRIT Chicago, a consortium of local developers, announced their plan for a $10 billion mixed-use development, anchored by a Bears stadium, at the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital in downtown Chicago.

—Eric Fisher

First Up

Ace pitcher Tarik Skubal is likely to sign a free-agent contract before the end of the month, his agent Scott Boras said—and perhaps for a record-setting amount.
Manchester United, which just fired head coach Michael Carrick, will have to pay U.S. Soccer roughly $12 million to pry away Mauricio Pochettino and his staff.
Madison Square Garden’s response to Shahana Hanif’s biometric-data bill was “ridiculous,” the New York City council member told Front Office Sports.
Athletes Unlimited Softball League and its softball players said Thursday that the sides had reached an agreement on the players’ nascent union.

Bears Stadium Saga Draws Flurry of Unsolicited Bids

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Commercial developers are swarming around the Bears, seeking to build a Chicago-based stadium for the club—even without any involvement or encouragement from the NFL team.

As Illinois holds a tenuous position in the ongoing Bears stadium saga, a run of developers has made formal proposals in recent weeks seeking to develop a facility within the Chicago city limits. That latest such effort arrived Thursday as the Capri Investment Group and GRIT Chicago, a consortium of local developers, announced their plan for a $10 billion mixed-use development, anchored by a Bears stadium, at the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital in downtown Chicago.

The Bears and the NFL long ago dismissed the idea of using that Reese parcel as being too narrow for a stadium, as well as being concerned about the active rail lines running through it. League commissioner Roger Goodell personally visited the locale in January as part of a broader tour of stadium site options, and he similarly rejected it.

But that hasn’t stopped the developers from pressing forward on a vision to keep the Bears in Chicago.

“We have an opportunity to make a decision that will shape Chicago for generations,” said Quintin Primo III, Capri founder and executive chairman. “We want the Bears to remain in the city whose name they carry. But we also want to accomplish something much larger: a transformative investment in housing and economic opportunity in neighborhoods that have waited far too long for investment on this scale.”

The Reese option joins similar offers, also unsolicited, made in recent weeks for stadium developments at the former South Works steel mill site on Chicago’s South Side, and the current site of Rate Field, the White Sox’ home ballpark, should the MLB club leave there to build its own new facility.

Looking Ahead

The Bears haven’t commented on any of the specific development proposals, including the latest Reese one. Rather, the Bears are keeping a close eye on an Illinois legislative veto session that begins Nov. 17. Newly reelected Gov. JB Pritzker said he intends to advance a Bears-related bill during that brief period, creating a pivotal juncture in the years-long stadium saga.

The team is particularly seeking property tax certainty and infrastructure assistance, and its focus in Illinois has been on team-owned land in suburban Arlington Heights. The recent rise in developer-related activity suggests a growing confidence that a bill in Illinois could pass, while also giving those urban parcels additional jolts of publicity.

As all this is happening in Illinois, the Bears still have their standing offer to move across the border to Hammond, Indiana. State leaders in Indiana approved a funding package nearly nine months ago, and due diligence has since been done on two potential locations in Hammond.

“We expect productive dialogue with both leadership teams in the coming weeks,” the Bears said last week regarding the two states. “We have a responsibility and obligation to explore every option available to the club, and we look forward to developing a transformational project that will attract global events and deliver jobs and economic growth to all of Chicagoland.”

The Reese proposal, meanwhile, highlights the delicate nature of Illinois politics amid the Bears’ deliberations and the existing divide between upstate and downstate legislators.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has actively sought to keep the team in the city, and he has actively lobbied for the Reese site. The Chicago-area delegation in the state legislature holds sizable sway over the passage of any legislation, and it has also favored an urban venue. A similar split between that Chicago group, the Bears, and the rest of the state delegation was a critical factor in sinking a stadium-related bill in the spring.

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ONE BIG FIG

Weeknight Ratings Boost

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18.3 million

The average viewership per NFL game through Week 9 of the season. The figure represents the second-highest audience average on record at this point in the season, up 2% from 2025. The NFL’s dominance across U.S. media remains firmly intact, as the league has the top 49 shows since the start of the current television season.

A key element in the league’s audience growth has been its two weekday game packages. ESPN is averaging 19 million viewers for its Monday Night Football package, up 24% from the comparable point in 2025, as it ramps up toward its first Super Bowl in February. Amazon, meanwhile, is averaging 17.2 million viewers for Thursday Night Football so far this season, up 13% from last year’s midseason.

EXCLUSIVE

Kenny Beecham Gets Expanded Season

Chicago Bulls

Popular digital creator Kenny Beecham and the Enjoy Basketball brand have expanded their content relationship with the NBA, the sides confirmed to Front Office Sports. Enjoy Basketball, which Beecham cofounded with Cody and Cole Hock, previously had a three-episode pilot deal for Enjoy the NBA Trivia Show. It has been expanded into an eight-episode season, distributed across NBA TV, the NBA app, and Enjoy Basketball’s YouTube channel.

STATUS REPORT

Three Down, One Push

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Highmark Stadium ⬇ The Bills’ new $2.2 billion stadium was singled out during a New York state Assembly hearing over high concession prices, including $11.63 hot dogs—the most expensive in the NFL. (By comparison, hot dogs cost $2 under the Falcons’ “Fan First” pricing model at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.) A recent analysis also ranked Highmark as the NFL’s most expensive stadium for a family of four, with an estimated game-day cost of $2,193.95.

Raleigh ⬇ UNC chancellor Lee Roberts has come out against bringing an MLB franchise to Raleigh, arguing a team would compete with local college sports for attendance and corporate sponsorship dollars. His opposition adds another hurdle to the city’s MLB ambitions after state lawmakers failed to advance a proposed $1.7 billion stadium financing plan earlier this year.

Daiyan Henley ⬆⬇ Before the NFL trade deadline Tuesday night, the Broncos agreed to send a fourth-round pick in the 2027 draft and a fifth-round 2028 pick for the Chargers linebacker. But a Wednesday night post from Denver’s official X/Twitter account said the trade “will not be finalized.” Neither team said why the trade wasn’t going through, but ESPN reported the Broncos discovered an issue with Henley’s knees when he underwent a physical.

Graduation rates ⬇ The NCAA released data suggesting athletes who transferred multiple times graduated from college at a substantially lower rate than those who stayed put at a single school or transferred only once. Among athletes who entered college in 2018–19, 88% of those who never transferred graduated within six years, while only 71% of those who transferred more than once graduated in the same time frame.