The Chicago Bears, who haven’t won a postseason game in thirteen years, are reportedly going to ask the city’s citizens to contribute $2.3 billion toward the construction of a new stadium to the south of their current Soldier Field location.

The NFC North team is set to unveil a new $4.6 billion plan for an enclosed stadium along the Chicago lakefront, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday. The stadium’s construction will cost $3.2 billion, and $1.4 billion more will go toward improving the infrastructure.

However, the Bears only plan to use some NFL financing to pay for $2.3 billion of that total. If the team’s plans come to fruition, the remaining $2.3 billion will come from taxpayers.

Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, there will be a press conference where more information about the plan will be revealed to the public.

This is the next phase of the team’s search for a possible new stadium; since Soldier Field’s lease expires in 2033, there isn’t really a deadline. According to a report published in the Chicago Tribune, team officials first consented to pay $197 million for the purchase of the former Arlington International Racecourse in the Arlington Heights suburb in 2022.

A $5 billion mixed-use complex with entertainment and an enclosed stadium was to be built. Nevertheless, the Arlington Heights local schools and the team were unable to reach a consensus on property taxes.

Downtown development received new attention after Ted Phillips, the former president and CEO of the Bears, was replaced by Kevin Warren as team president and CEO.

But there are many obstacles to overcome, such as mistrust and opposition to government funding:

Brown, Matt (@MattBrownEP)

We have a housing and public safety crisis, our trains are broken, and now they want the public to foot the bill for an NFL stadium? When they’re still not even done paying off the previous ones? unethical and brazen. Not a single penny.

Jeremy@JeromeyR0me

The thing(s) about a Bears stadium that is owned by the public are that it won’t raise the team’s value.- Field maintenance will probably still be up to the parks district and the City of Chicago.- It will cost a great deal for taxpayers, or residents of Chicago.

Conor McCormick-Cavanagh@ConorMichael28

The team owners should foot the entire bill for a new stadium. They also should make it an outdoor stadium. I refuse to watch the Bears play in a dome.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” sports economist J.C. Bradbury said. “The Bears aren’t going to leave one of the most iconic football markets in the country. Tell the Bears to pay for their own damn stadium, and if they don’t like it, to go jump in Lake Michigan.”

The Chicago Tribune report also explained that there are questions regarding whether the team can even legally build on the lakefront area due to Chicago’s lakefront protection ordinance that calls for public use of the land.

The nonprofit Friends of the Parks relied on that ordinance to prevent the building of a movie art museum from Star Wars creator George Lucas. The group also opposes the Bears building a stadium in that area.

All this comes on the verge of the Bears likely taking their next franchise quarterback in Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Chicago has built a roster that now includes DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, D’Andre Swift, Cole Kmet, Gerald Everett and a strong defense, and optimism is high with Williams set to arrive. However, there may not be that same level of optimism surrounding such an expensive tax bill.

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