Chicago Bears Pitch Plan to Depart Soldier Field for Suburbs

Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey kicked off opening day of the National Football League’s season Thursday by pitching a new stadium and entertainment district to residents in the Windy city’s Northwest suburbs as the team explores possibly leaving Soldier Field.

The team has already agreed to buy a 326-acre property in Arlington Heights, Illinois, that was the site of a horse racecourse owned by Churchill Downs Inc. The deal has yet to close but the agreement has spurred intense debate about the future home of the Bears, who have played at Chicago’s Soldier Field for half a century.

McCaskey told ...