When USA Today ranked the 30 NFL stadiums last year from worst to first, Soldier Field was 29th, ahead of only FedEx Field. Compared to 21st-century, multi-billion-dollar stationary spaceships such as SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California; Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the Bears’ home field is an anachronistic and ungainly blending of the past and the recent past, with the 2002 renovations gleaming awkwardly atop the iconic base, like a giant shiny party hat plunked atop Lincoln on Mount Rushmore.
It is more than probable now that the ship has sailed on any reboot or expansion or upgrade to Soldier Field, with the Bears having plunked down $197 million to purchase a 326-acre Arlington Park property in the hopes of constructing a state-of-the-art stadium that not only would be home to Chicago’s NFL team but also host top-tier events such as the Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four, with an ambitious entertainment complex and residential development also in the mix.
