They were a potent force in Soderfield, really helping establish a home field advantage. They were loud. They were passionate. They were loyal. They were disruptive to the opposition. They endured some pretty harsh conditions and brought everything they had. And not just the fans in the stands. They say that only 7% of a team's fans, some 100 million people globally, will actually be in the stadium for a game. So thank you to all those people at home, in the bars, in the moose lodges, all the viral videos, people running out of their houses, shirtless as my favorite niece said at dinner last night, strangers, hugging strangers. Just unbelievable passion for their bears. It was very gratifying to see. So thank you to them. Also want to thank the people who stand behind all of our people at the Bears. And I'm thinking in particular of the spouses of our employees and especially the people, the best example I could think of is Jessica Johnson, who came to a strange city, was hoping to be embraced, had to look after three little ones while her husband is devoting his time and attention to realizing his dream of being a head coach in the National Football League. And the sacrifices that she made to support him, I just want to thank her in particular, and all of the people behind the scenes at the Bears. They're the heartbeat of our organization. They keep us going, and we're very appreciative for all the sacrifices that they make. Since Kevin has exhaustively answered all of your questions about the possibility of a new stadium, I can't see that you have any questions for me. I would suggest that we join in a public service to your readers, your listeners, and your viewers, and avoid the trite and tired football analogies that one initiative is on the five-yard line going in. Another initiative has the ball down by three out of timeouts, 70 yards away. The fact of the matter is we don't have a deal to consider right now. In Indiana, we have a great site. There's some due diligence that needs to be completed before we can fully evaluate the site, and we have a legislative framework in place. In Arlington Heights, we have a site shovel ready, but we don't yet have a legislative framework. There are prudent and wise and responsible public servants in Indiana working on it, and there are prudent and wise and responsible public servants in Illinois working on it. If I could offer one football analogy, just as the course of a game, things ebb and flow. They go back and forth. Sometimes there is great momentum on one side. Sometimes the momentum shifts suddenly to another side. I've said to our family, we need to be patient and let the deal come to us. We think a deal will materialize somewhere. We're comfortable with either site, and we have people at the Bears working with public servants in both Indiana and Illinois trying to get this done. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Chief, believe it or not, I do have one stated question. Your awareness and focus on legacy is very important to you. How does that factor into your evaluation of the next step for this day? It's an important decision. It's going to impact the Bears for decades to come. But the Bears board is empowered and entrusted by the shareholders to make this decision. We're fully informed. Kevin's been doing a great job keeping us up to date. And both sites are in the Bears' home territory, as defined by the NFL. So I think we'll be good either way. What's your emphasis on patience? How much longer are you willing to wait for deals to come to you? Well, Kevin has said, and the commissioner has said, we need to make a decision sooner rather than later when the process is completed. In one place or the other, and we have a deal to consider, then we'll look to see where we are with the other situation, and we'll make a decision. Kevin, excuse me. George, how's the jump too far back? But to 2021, when you purchased the land, why was property tax certainty not secured at that point? We've been working on property tax certainty ever since we acquired the land. But to within the era, and what Kevin had just mentioned, that's something that's already, you don't even purchase land in Indiana, but that was secured before even considering buying land there. How come with Illinois, it was purchased the land at the same time working towards tax certainty? It wasn't tax certainty first, then by the way? Well, we didn't control the timing of the acquisition of our Indian Park. Churchill Downs was in a position where they were ready to sell. So they largely determined the timing. What do you think, George Hallis, what do you think about the stadium in Indiana? Well, he played for the Ham and All Stars in 1919. So that's where he got his start in football. The Ham and All Stars happened to play many of their quote unquote home games at Cubs Park. He was on a decades long quest himself to find the proper stadium solution. I think the first Mayor Daley's first blue ribbon stadium commission was established in 1956, which happened to be the year I was born, so I haven't known, that was a long time ago. George, what type of a strategy, personally, considering your family's legacy, the Bears' strategy at the site were in Indiana? I don't think in the end it's going to matter to people. Back in 1976, the New York football giants went across the state line to New Jersey. They've been there ever since. The Jets joined them shortly thereafter. And then 35 years later, both teams had an opportunity to reevaluate their situations and recommitted to New Jersey. And somehow, the Republic has survived. When the Bears moved from Wrigley Field to Slaughterfield, it required an adjustment. When we went to Champaign, it required an adjustment. And whether we go to Arlington Park or to Hammond, there is going to be an adjustment period. People are going to have to be allowed some time to get used to it. I think Bears fans are up to it. George, big picture financially. How does the money needed and allocated for stadium purposes impact the finances used for roster building? In your world, two completely different worlds from an organizational financial... I'm sorry, liberal arts major. I don't understand your question. What do you say? From a financial health of the organization's standpoint, the money that you will need to use to build a stadium, how does that impact what you have available for roster building? Oh, it'll have no impact whatsoever. This is a significant risk for the family and for the organization, but it's on the business side. It won't impact what's available for football operations whatsoever. And from the outset, it's the $2 billion private funding promise has been out there. Where will that money originate? We're going to have to borrow it because we don't have it. That's where the risk comes in. George, it seems like the organization wants to make a superbowl bid. They made that clear. Do you feel like the Indiana site would have the surrounding amenities, the footprint, to attract a superbowl bid? Yeah, both sites are in Chicagoland. They're both in our home territory. And people will decide to stay wherever it is that they decide to stay and get to the site. So we think it's going to work out either way. You mentioned that you guys have to borrow the money. You haven't had to borrow money a whole lot in the history of the bears. How comfortable have you personally grown with the idea of that? And was that something that at first was pretty intimidating? Might still be intimidating. Well, I've got George Halis' blood coursing through my veins. So the family is risk averse, debt averse. But we feel that this is a necessary step to secure the bearer's future. Do you feel like the new Cunningham situation and the compensatory piece, do you feel like that's within the spirit of the running role, the decision that you've been in a relationship by at this point? We think what we did is what the league wants every member club to do. We identified diverse talent. We recruited him. We created a position for him. We allowed him access to the general manager role to work hand in hand with Ryan Poles. We allowed him to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes. We gave him supervisory duties. We gave him training. We made him ready to be a general manager in the NFL. And he's getting his opportunity. And we're thrilled for him. George, in the meeting you had on that topic in New York, what was your sense of the responsiveness of Commissioner Padello? I don't want to speculate on that. I mean, I think we made a pretty compelling case. And we'll just have to see what the decision is. When you guys are arguing, stating your case in Atlanta with the accounting team is also saying publicly, they think you should get the picks. Who's against this? What's the opposition here? The league has to think big picture. What are the consequences of us ruling in a particular way in this particular case? And how would that be applied to the other 30 teams in the future? So it's a big question. It's not a narrow inquiry. They have to broaden the scope of their inquiry. Do you have a sense from possibly this week or before of what the support for your argument is beyond just you and the Falcons? Are there other teams that agree with you? We haven't really lobbied other teams' support. You've heard the public comments of Arthur Blank, Matt Ryan, Ian himself. But I don't think that the league in making its decision looks at the comments of any particular individual to our friends in the media on forming the basis of their decision. How long will you keep the appeal process going? Until they make a decision. Do you have any thoughts about the Florida AGS comments? Do you think those actions are a threat to the new rule itself? The Bears philosophy is we're committed to diversity, and we will continue our efforts. We're very proud of what we did with Ian, and we're very much looking forward to the next opportunity to do something similar. Two of the teams. That's one here, Ben. And you're going to play on the road or playing internationally and have an open opponent right now. Do you know whether you're going to go this year at all? We haven't heard. You haven't heard? Do you think you would know by now if you were? Typically, the league will feel you out on a particular destination, and we haven't heard anything. That hasn't happened. Are you open to going? We go where they tell us to go. Thanks, guys. I've spoken to Ben, and we're on the same page.
