Another NFL Team? Probably Not.

By Marcus Gilmer in Miscellaneous on Mar 4, 2010 7:20PM

It's not a new topic but an visit from former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue has people (well, CBS 2) once again discussing the possibility of a 2nd NFL team in the city. Tagliabue was in town to discuss the city's failed Olympic bid with Mayor Daley but it naturally brought out questions. Even though Tagliabue himself says he has nothing to do with the NFL anymore. Besides, as the CBS 2 story itself points out, Soldier Field's size (the smallest capacity in the league) makes it highly unlikely a second team will be brought in. Daley himself, though, still sounds warm to the idea: "San Francisco has two teams, New York has two teams. Of course, anybody would love to have a second national football league franchise here in Chicago. That would be perfect."

Sure, but that's overlooking some important details about those two-team markets. While the Bay Area has two teams, the second team is actually in Oakland, technically another city entirely, with their own stadium. As for New York, while the two teams have shared Giants Stadium (the capacity of which is 20,000 seats more than Soldier Field) in the past, they'll now be sharing a brand, spanking new stadium with a slightly larger capacity than the old Meadowlands. Not that we'd be shocked if the Mayor revived some of those 2016 plans and tried to shoehorn in a new NFL stadium down in Washington Park. But with all the other things the city has to worry about - massive debt for the city, CTA, and schools just to start - we don't see a new stadium and new team becoming a priority any time soon.