By: Robert Klaus
October 15, 2021
With the White Sox’s playoff hopes prematurely dashed, attention turns to Bears drama, both on and off the field.
At the end of September, the Bears organization signed a purchase agreement for the now-closed Arlington Park racetrack, bringing them another step closer to leaving Soldier Field and Chicago. The news seems to have changed the mayor’s tone on the issue: initially dismissing the Bears potential move as “noise,” Mayor Lightfoot has since expressed her commitment to keep the team in the city. With this in mind, we asked Serafin Power Pollers if Chicago’s reputation as a city would be damaged if the Bears moved to Arlington Heights. A majority of respondents (60%) said the city would suffer no reputation hits from a move, while 40% said it wouldn’t look good if the Chicago Bears were no longer in the city.
One of the arguments for a Bears move to the burbs is the possibility of a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium, which the Tribune has estimated could cost up to $2 billion. When renovations were made to Soldier Field in 2002, taxpayers spent upwards of $430 million for the improvements, leaving many to wonder if tax dollars would cover a significant amount of a new stadium in Arlington Heights. 82% of Serafin Power Pollers say that public tax dollars shouldn’t be used in moving the Bears to a new stadium, while 18% say that it should.
Major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are facing continued controversy as the sites are investigated by Congress and whistleblowers question the companies’ desire to tackle hate speech and misinformation. We asked Serafin Power Pollers if social media giants should be held to the same accuracy standards as traditional news media outlets. Nearly 82% said that social media companies should be held to the same standards, while 18% said the standards should not be the same for the different entities.