Redevelopment of Arlington Park to $5 billion stadium district moves closer as Chicago Bears complete land purchase

Arlington Park has been sold to American Football team Chicago Bears for $197.2 million (£163.7m) in a notable step forward for plans to redevelop the land as a 326-acre stadium complex.

In a statement released by the NFL team, it was stressed there is "no guarantee" that the 95-year-old track would be transformed, with potential tax costs and infrastructure funding for the $5 billion project still to be confirmed. The Bears will pay for the stadium but are seeking a public-private partnership to assist with infrastructure costs on the sport and entertainment complex, which will include restaurants, bars, retail, public spaces and homes.

The racecourse is famously home to the Arlington Million, the first thoroughbred race in the world to offer a seven-figure purse, but the race was moved to Churchill Downs last year and is reportedly set to become part of Colonial Downs' programme. The Million is one of three Grade 1 races traditionally staged at Arlington along with the Beverly D Stakes and Secretariat Stakes.

The racecourse was sold by Churchill Downs Inc, which owned the track for more than two decades. It also sold Hollywood Park in 2005 for a reported $257.7 million and the land has since been developed into the SoFi stadium used by Los Angeles' two NFL teams, the Rams and Chargers.

Arlington Million: first race to carry a seven-figure purse Credit: Coady Photography

In a statement released on the Chicago Bears website, there was no direct mention of the future of racing at Arlington or in Chicago. Arlington staged its last meeting in 2021.

Describing the project as "a new and exciting chapter for the Bears, our fans, the Chicagoland community and the State of Illinois," the statement said: "While this closing [of the purchase] marks a major development in the ongoing evaluation, there has been no decision that the development of the recently acquired property will occur. But today’s news is nonetheless an exciting update and positions our state and the Chicagoland region to be able to host world-class entertainment and sporting events on an unprecedented scale."

The Bears stressed there was still a large amount of work to determine the feasibility of constructing the stadium and entertainment district. If the project goes ahead, it is projected to create more than 48,000 jobs and generate $9.4 billion in economic impact for the area.

The Chicago Bears have played at the 61,500-seater Soldier Field since 1971, but it was built almost 50 years earlier and is the oldest stadium in the NFL. It also hosted matches at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and was used for speeches by US presidents during the second world war.

Read these next:

'If Stone Age wins it'd be like a dream' - David Milnes sees excitement build for Qatar's big weekend 

Julie Harrington: whip rules had to change for Cheltenham - this can make the sport look better 

Race to the Kentucky Derby: premier US Classic to be subject of Netflix docuseries 

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.