Soldier Field Is 2nd-Worst NFL Stadium: Report

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears may well be headed to Arlington Heights in the future, but as the Bears look for a fresh start under a new regime, their Soldier Field home continues to rank among the worst NFL venues, according to a new report.

Soldier Field ranked 29th out of 30 NFL stadiums in a report put out by For The Win this week. Despite its glorious lakefront surroundings, the stadium, which has been the subject of studies and renovation plans as set forth by a committee appointed by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, is a major eyesore, according to the published report.

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The stadium, which is owned and operated by the Chicago Park District, has long been ridiculed after its most recent renovation added what many characterize as a spaceship design to its once classic-looking exterior. But the editors at For The Win took the criticism a step further in the report, calling Soldier Field a “bizarre mix of past and present.”

“Like if Laura Ingalls Wilder had married a cyborg,” the site said in its review.

“The reverence for the history of the field means there’s limited leg room and entryways, leading to long wait times to see whichever underwhelming quarterback happens to be getting sacked that day,” editors wrote. “The present-day additions make the whole thing feel a little like Cincinnati, which, huh.”

Only Washington, D.C.’s FedEx Field ranked worse than Soldier Field on the For The Win list, which was topped by (brace yourselves, Bears fans) Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

Editors said the Packers home is “every bit the old-school experience you want it to be, rising from the suburban grid of Green Bay to welcome NFL pilgrims to its hallowed grounds.”

Lightfoot’s Museum Campus committee recently released its findings and renderings of a newly imagined Soldier Field. One option called for a dome to be added to the venue, which would come with a price tag of between $900,000 and $2.2 billion, architects said.

The hail-Mary attempt is being made, of course, to try and convince the Bears to stay in its downtown home rather than bolt for the suburbs. The Bears have signed a $197 million purchase agreement for the former Arlington Racecourse site in Arlington Heights.

As Lightfoot is attempting to keep the Bears from leaving the city, the Bears have indicated they are focused solely on Arlington Heights and that nothing — including a dome — is likely to change their mind.

One leading stadium expert has said that a dome will do little to improve Soldier Field, saying the addition would be like "putting lipstick on a pig."

Lightfoot and her committee are hoping to make improvements to Solider Field to attempt to boost tourism in the museum campus area. Pundits have said that a dome would be needed to lure major events like a Super Bowl, Final Four, and Wrestlemania to Chicago.