A Chicago Bears move to Arlington Heights may leave thousands of fans with worthless Soldier Field seat licenses
When Chicago attorney Jerry Latherow paid $18,000 to buy four permanent seat licenses at Soldier Field last year, the Bears season ticket holder upgraded from a nearby section to get a better view of the scoreboard.
He may soon need a telescope, after the Bears signed a $197.2 million purchase agreement in September for Arlington International Racecourse, presaging the team’s move to a new stadium — 30 miles from his 50-yard-line seats at Soldier Field.
“I understand why the Bears would want to move,” said Latherow, 69. “And I know this will cost me money.”
Latherow is far from alone. The Bears sold 26,000 permanent seat licenses, or PSLs, priced between $765 and $10,000 each, to help fund the 2003 renovation of Soldier Field. While many of those seats have since changed hands, thousands of current PSL owners now face the prospect of their investments expiring worthless if the team packs up for the northwest suburbs.
The Soldier Field seat license terminates at “the end of the final home game of the last season in
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