Bears Release Renderings of Proposed Arlington Heights Stadium in New Photos

Two new renderings of the Chicago Bears' proposed stadium in Arlington Heights were shared Tuesday by design firm Manica Architecture, Bret McCormick reported for Sports Business Journal.

The new images show the proposed inside of and entrance to the stadium, adding to a rendering of a mixed-use distract around the stadium released last week by Manica Architecture.

The renderings show some changes from the waterfront stadium proposed by the Bears in April 2024, which would have been built just south of Soldier Field.

The Bears announced plans to instead relocate to Arlington Heights in an open letter shared earlier this month by president and CEO Kevin Warren.

Manica Archicture president and owner David Manica said there was "some redesign required, primarily having to do with access to the building and the site" when updating the 2024 proposal.

"The building is going to flow more smoothly and efficiently now, people will be able to get into the building now from different angles," Manica said, per McCormick.

Warren wrote in his open letter that the Arlington Heights venue "will require zero state money for construction," and that the team hopes to finalize new stadium plans this year in order to bid for a Super Bowl "as soon as 2031."

The Athletic's Jayna Bardahl, Kevin Fishbain and Dan Wiederer reported that, based on other stadium timelines, the Bears would need to start building the venue by 2026 and playing in it by 2029 in order to be in the running to host that Super Bowl.

The Bears could break their lease at Soldier Field in 2026 for an $84 million damages fee, Bill Ruthhart previously reported for the Chicago Tribune.

Whether or not the Bears are able to break ground by then could depend on Warren's success in pushing for property tax breaks on the project, Bardahl, Fishbain and Wiederer reported.

Potential plans to build in Arlington Heights date back to February 2023, when the Bears purchased the former Arlington Park Racetrack.

The new renderings of the stadium come the same day as a new economic impact report shared Tuesday by Arlington Heights officials, per Christopher Placek of the Daily Herald.

The report found that the proposed stadium and mixed-use area would generate "at least $15 million" in new annual revenue, but concluded that additional studies were needed to "assess costs for infrastructure, traffic and transportation," per Placek.

According to Placek, leaders in Arlington Heights "maintained that they won't approve the Bears' project at the old racetrack unless there is a net fiscal benefit."

The Bears may need to prove that the new stadium will bring in more revenue than it will cost Arlington Heights by next year in order to keep Warren's hopes of hosting the 2031 Super Bowl alive.