Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Admits He Left Bears-Packers Game Early While Pushing for New Stadium
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson picked the worst possible week to admit he doesn’t sit through Bears games. With negotiations heating up over a new stadium for the franchise, Johnson casually conceded that he left a Bears-Packers matchup early. The timing could not be worse for a politician trying to convince the Bears to stay in town.
For a city that lives and dies with its football team, this is the kind of own goal that ends up on every sports radio show in the country. The Bears are openly exploring Arlington Heights and other suburban options for a new stadium, and the mayor’s office is supposed to be the lead negotiator keeping the team in the city proper. Admitting you bailed on the fourth quarter is not exactly a strong pitch.
Johnson, who has had a rocky relationship with the Bears organization since taking office, tried to play it off. He noted he had obligations. That’s the kind of explanation that flies in city hall and gets laughed off everywhere else. Bears fans don’t leave games early. Bears mayors definitely shouldn’t.
The optics matter because the stadium fight is real. The McCaskey family and team president Kevin Warren have been pushing for a deal that includes significant public investment. Johnson has resisted, citing other priorities and pushback from the City Council. The relationship was already chilly.
Now layer in the fan perception. Chicagoans are protective of their teams, and the idea that the mayor doesn’t even bother to watch the Bears finish a game against their oldest rival lands like a slap. The Packers rivalry isn’t just any game. You stay until the gun.
The Bears organization has not commented publicly on Johnson’s admission, but you can bet it will come up in private negotiations. Warren is a savvy executive who knows leverage when he sees it. Every time Johnson appears uninterested in football, the Arlington Heights option gets more attractive.
The political reality is that Johnson is dealing with a budget crisis, a school funding fight, and a wave of pension obligations. Football is not the top priority. But that’s exactly why this admission is so damaging. It confirms what Bears ownership has suspected for two years: the mayor doesn’t see the team as a city priority.
If the Bears do eventually bolt for the suburbs, this little soundbite will be in every retrospective. The mayor who let the Bears walk is the mayor who left the Bears-Packers game early. That’s the headline, and Johnson handed it to everyone for free.
The clock is ticking. The lease at Soldier Field has a finite runway, and Warren has signaled the team is ready to move forward with or without the city. Johnson has limited political capital left to make this work. Maybe he should start by staying for the whole game.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
