What’s New

Team executives and other health officials around the NBA said they expect that more players will have to enter health and safety protocols after Christmas and New Year’s due to the likelihood of increasing cases of COVID-19 nationwide as people gather indoors for the holidays.

Looming over the current uptick is the spread of the Omicron variant nationally, though one league source said it hasn’t yet been detected in the NBA. Entering the season, infectious disease experts told ESPN that the winter months would be the most challenging.

“Most of us consider it a matter of when, not if,” a Western Conference general manager said of the Omicron variant spreading through the NBA.

As of Monday afternoon, 46 NBA players have entered health and safety protocols this season, 41 of whom have missed games. Over the past two weeks, 31 players have entered the protocols, including 10 Chicago Bulls in the past week, leading to two Bulls games being postponed this week, the league announced Monday.

Two G-League games were postponed on Friday and Saturday because too many players were in health and safety protocols. Team executives and team health officials across the league had previously said they didn’t expect the NBA to cancel or postpone games because of recent outbreaks.

As this surge continues, with 21 players remaining in health-and-safety protocols, general managers and team health officials across the league describe a sense of resignation and uncertainty as to what could slow the rising number of players in protocols.

“It doesn’t feel like eradication is on the table,” said the Western Conference head athletic trainer. “I think at some level, we’re going to have to live with it.”

Many team officials said that while they’re concerned about anyone testing positive for COVID-19, the situation isn’t considered as dire as it was last season, when 31 games were canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks around the league.

“This is so much more manageable than it was a year ago,” one Eastern Conference general manager said. “In general, the urgency is not there like it was then. [But] things can change in a week or two. The NBA has made that clear.”

The NBA has said that about 97% of players are vaccinated and the league has encouraged all eligible players and team staff to receive booster shots. Through Monday, about 200 players have gotten booster shots and it’s expected that number will increase in the days ahead, according to a league source. The NBA has imposed a Dec. 17 deadline for players who are eligible to receive booster shots. For eligible players who don’t receive the booster, they’ll be faced with stricter protocols, including game-day testing. Staffers who haven’t received booster shots by Dec. 17 will face restrictions on their interactions with players and their access on the court and team travel.

“This was expected,” the Eastern Conference GM added of the recent uptick of players entering the health and safety protocols. “We were told weeks ago, because of the holiday, that there was going to be an uptick — not only in the NBA but in general. So it’s not out of the blue.”

“Expected but worrisome numbers,” said a second Eastern Conference general manager.

Said a Western Conference head athletic trainer, “The concern is around those people that either got [the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine] or have not received a booster and are more than six months out. There’s concern about the vaccines waning.”

The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The league has found that J&J recipients have a higher rate of breakthrough infection, and roughly 30% of NBA players received the J&J shot, league sources have told ESPN. Infectious disease experts also told ESPN before the season that waning immunity from vaccine doses would potentially lead to more breakthrough cases and more urgency for booster shots.

Citing its high vaccination rate, the NBA has not mandated daily testing of all vaccinated players and staff this season. But acknowledging concerns about increased cases around the Thanksgiving holiday, the NBA and NBPA agreed for every player and Tier 1 staffer (anyone working within 15 feet of players) to be tested daily from Nov. 28-30, including those who are vaccinated. Such increased testing was temporary and didn’t apply to any team that didn’t play or practice during that time frame.

Entering this season, the NBA and NBPA agreed on far fewer restrictions for players who are vaccinated while those who are unvaccinated faced many of the same restrictions as last season.

It’s unclear if the NBA would return to testing every player and staffer daily or would further restrict what those who are vaccinated are allowed to do outside of a team setting — such changes, including a booster mandate, would have to be made in agreement with the NBPA — but few team officials said they expected either change to occur because it would be hard to get full buy-in across the league.

“If restrictions come back, it would be hard to sell that to everybody especially since the vaccine rate is so high in the league,” said one veteran Western Conference front office executive.

There have been breakthrough cases across the league, but several general managers said they haven’t seen high numbers of players or staffers suffering from severe symptoms, which has lessened concerns.

“We’ve got a lot of guys sitting at home with no symptoms,” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan told reporters Saturday.

That’s not to say that breakthrough cases haven’t led to symptoms. Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers told reporters last Thursday that star center Joel Embiid and other 76ers players who had COVID-19 are still struggling physically.

“I really thought I wasn’t gonna make it,” Embiid told reporters recently. “It was that bad, so I’m just thankful to be sitting here.”

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Bears quarterback Justin Fields runs Sunday night at Lambeau Field. | Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

A half-hour after the Bears’ 45-30 loss at Lambeau Field on Sunday, rookie quarterback Justin Fields uttered the most meaningful six words of the night.

A half-hour after the Bears’ 45-30 loss at Lambeau Field on Sunday, rookie quarterback Justin Fields uttered the most meaningful six words of the night.

“That’s the one positive we are going to take out of this loss, is that we are continuing to get better each and every week,” he said. “And we’re going to continue to do that, and hopefully build, not only next game, next game, next game — but also this next year, too. Just keep on building and kind of change the culture around here.”

Those words — “But also this next year, too” — have been widely ignored, at least publicly, at Halas Hall, all season long.

Bears coach Matt Nagy has consistently rebuffed questions about developing young players for the sole purpose of 2022 — be it Fields or fellow rookies Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom and Khalil Herbert. The reason, Nagy said: he’s worried about this week, this opponent, this game.

What goes unsaid, though, is this: Nagy doesn’t figure to be around next year. He won’t focus on next season until the Bears are officially eliminated from playoff contention. And they’re not yet, technically — per Football Outsiders, they have a 0.2 percent chance of making the postseason.

When Fields talks about the future, as he did Sunday night, his teammates better listen. He’ll be inside Halas Hall in 2022, after all. His coaches and general manager aren’t certain to say the same.

Until then, Fields plans to keep his teammates engaged during the last four games of the season.

“Show them physically and tell them verbally,” Fields said. “Keep on telling them, ‘We’re getting better.'”

Only in that context can Sunday night be considered a success. Fields wasn’t impressive in his first game back from a ribs injury. He completed 18-of-33 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Even those statistics make his night look better than it was. Jakeem Grant’s 46-yard shovel pass touchdown was caught four yards deep in the Bears’ own backfield. Damiere Byrd’s 54-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the second quarter came on a Fields pass that flew five yards in the air.

Fields had a 70.8 passer rating, threw two interceptions — including the 55-yard Rasul Douglas pick-six — and fumbled the ball away after Jenkins was whipped by the Packers’ Preston Smith. The rookie tackle held Smith yet allowed him to sack Fields and force the ball out. The Packers scored one play later on a 23-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers to running back Aaron Jones — meaning two of Fields’ three turnovers led to 14 Packers points within seconds.

Fields chose to focus on the good.

“I think that’s one of the hardest things when you are losing,” Fields said. “There’s so many people saying this and that, but you kind of just have to look at the positives and build on that. And just know that this isn’t going to change overnight. You just have to keep building. It’s going to be hard, but you just have to find the positive.”

For three quarters Sunday night, the Bears had to squint. They scored 24 points in that frame — and six in the rest of the game combined.

Fields was harassed most of the night. Per Pro Football Focus, Fields was pressured on 22 of 43 dropbacks. When pressured, the rookie averaged 3.2 yards per pass attempt. When he wasn’t, he averaged 10.2.

While Nagy said that tight ends helped block on half their dropbacks, the Bears didn’t help Fields nearly enough in his first game back from injury. When he was in an empty formation, Fields completed 6-of-11 passes for 45 yards and a ghastly 26.7 passer rating, per PFF. Fields bruised his left, non-throwing hand Sunday night — Nagy said Fields should be fine to play against the Vikings — and said his cracked ribs felt about 90 percent.

Asked specifically what he saw that Fields translate to next season, Nagy pointed to the three-step process on Fields’ dropbacks: reading his pass progressions, using his legs and being smart about sliding.

“He didn’t take a lot of hits, right?” Nagy said.

Fields ran nine times for 74 yards Sunday.

“When he has that and defensive coordinators know that, that’s scary, you know?” Nagy said. “That’s scary. Because he can make some special throws. He does that. He’s proven it. But now when you throw that element of using his legs on extended plays, that’s hard. That’s hard. That’s going to be a big weapon for him.”

Whether Nagy’s here to see it is a different question. But it’s clear Fields is starting to think about next year — and the springboard the next four games can be toward it.

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The Bears’ third quarter: eight plays, nine yards, no first downs, no points, one turnover and a 17-0 run by the Packers. | Getty

The offense imploded with a turnover and two three-and-outs as the Packers flipped the game and ended coach Matt Nagy’s “fun” night.

There hasn’t been a more joyous moment for the Bears than running to the locker room at Lambeau Field on Sunday with a 27-21 halftime lead.

They’d been up 10 twice, their biggest lead on the Packers since coach Matt Nagy’s lone win in the rivalry three years ago. The offense was rolling, special teams were surging and it was just enough to stay ahead of Aaron Rodgers. No wonder Nagy was having “so much fun.”

Then the party balloons popped.

By the end of the third quarter, the Bears were down 11 and bracing for Rodgers to hammer them. He ultimately delivered a 45-30 pounding.

Rodgers’ barrage was inevitable. The Bears knew it would take 40-plus points to contend with him and for a spell looked capable of it. But, as has often been the case under Nagy, their success was unsustainable and they bottomed out offensively in the third quarter.

They ran just eight plays for a total of nine yards in 3:59. They had no first downs, no points and one turnover as the Packers flipped the game with a 17-0 run.

Here’s where the fun ended, along with any sliver of possibility that Nagy could keep his job:

Offensive crumble begins

After the Packers opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive to go up 28-21, the Bears imploded in two snaps. They began with a five-yard run by Jakeem Grant, then turned the ball over when rookie left tackle Teven Jenkins allowed Packers pass rusher Preston Smith to hit quarterback Justin Fields for a sack and jarred the ball loose for a turnover.

The Bears had tight end Jimmy Graham chip Smith at the line, but it wasn’t enough. He plowed through Jenkins, who committed holding in his desperation, and smacked Fields’ arm as he went to throw.

Jenkins never had any kind of handle on Smith, which illustrated why Nagy has insisted on sticking with 39-year-old Jason Peters as his starting left tackle.

While the Bears think Jenkins is their left tackle of the future, he missed most of the season recovering from back surgery and can’t be expected to play as well as Peters has been. Plus, Nagy is far more incentivized to make the most he possibly can out of the rest of this season rather than help lay the groundwork for a future that won’t include him.

Jenkins only played because Peters exited with an injured right ankle after 13 plays, leaving Jenkins the other 49.

Nagy said Monday the team had yet to ascertain the severity of Peters’ injury, but if he is healthy, he will start against the Vikings next week. If Peters is out, he is considering moving right tackle Larry Borom to left tackle and playing Jenkins on the right side.

Abandoning Montgomery

Even with that brutal turnover to open the second half, the Bears were still very much in the game and trailed just 35-27. But they ran into what has been a recurring problem for Nagy.

The Bears opened this possession at their own 8-yard line after Deon Bush’s holding penalty on the kick return, and handed the ball to running back David Montgomery for a two-yard gain. With more than 22 minutes left in the game, that was Montgomery’s final carry.

“It wasn’t on purpose,” Nagy said. “We didn’t have many plays in that second half, and then when you get behind you obviously are throwing the ball. He probably had a little more catches in that situation.”

The possession ended with Fields scrambling for two yards and throwing incomplete to Graham for a net gain of four yards on three plays over 1:47 before punting.

The Bears have said all season that Montgomery is the spearhead and identity of the offense, yet when the pressure rose, they stopped giving him the ball and he finished with 10 carries for 42 yards. He also had six catches for 39 yards.

Montgomery has gotten fewer than 15 rushes in 21 of 40 games with the Bears.

Final failure

Fields opened at his own 13 with a nice play by scrambling to his left and throwing what would’ve been a 13-yard pass to Jakeem Grant, but he was unable to bring the ball down in bounds.

The Bears went for a wacky play on the next snap by lining up their tackles on the outside. If there’s one thing Jenkins probably didn’t need in what was essentially his NFL debut (he played two snaps on special teams the week before), it was a trick play that took him completely out of his normal responsibility.

He committed holding while trying to block cornerback Chandon Sullivan by taking him to the ground, and the would-be eight-yard pass to Grant was nullified.

From second-and-16, the Bears were cooked. Fields managed a five-yard pass to tight end Cole Kmet and threw incomplete to Montgomery for three yards on third-and-11.

Every drive crashed because of problems that have persisted throughout the last three seasons under Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace, and that’s why their jobs are in jeopardy.

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A sports betting ordinance poised for approval could result in allowing fans to bet on games near Wrigley Field as early as 2023. | Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

The Committee on Zoning and License advanced the stalled ordinance to the full council after the addition of a clause aimed at promoting diversity — but with little teeth — to appease the Black Caucus.

After furious lobbying behind the scenes and a clash of the titans in public, a joint City Council committee agreed Monday to lift the Chicago ban on sports betting to allow sportsbooks in and around five stadiums.

The City Council’s Committee on Zoning and License advanced the stalled sports betting ordinance to the City Council floor after the addition of a clause without real teeth aimed at appeasing the Black Caucus.

The language articulates the city’s promise to “actively seek to achieve racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity when issuing primary sports licenses” and “encourage” minority and women-owned businesses to apply.

With those changes, the joint committee approved the mayor’s ordinance by a vote of 19 to 7.

Before the final vote, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said his team is “ready to go today” on its $100 million partnership with DraftKings that will pave the way for Wrigley Field to house the first stadium sportsbook in Major League Baseball.

“With your approval of this ordinance, construction would begin immediately with the aim of opening a restaurant with a sportsbook in time for the 2023 season. This will create construction jobs and revenues now and permanent jobs in just over a year,” Ricketts said.

Ricketts said the ordinance would “provide additional resources to the city’s professional sports teams that will help them compete.”

“This is not a casino or even a mini-casino. It’s a sports bar-restaurant. … It only allows for fans who wish to place a wager to have a window to do so. I expect many fans will come to the sportsbook and never place a bet,” he said.

White Sox and Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf essentially accused casino magnate Neil Bluhm, owner of Des Plaines-based Rivers Casino, of talking out of both sides of his mouth.

“What is perplexing is that Neil Bluhm, who does not want our buildings to have sportsbooks, met with us on several occasions seeking to operate sportsbooks in our buildings. And that was long after the casino was approved for Chicago,” Reinsdorf said.

“At that time, he had no assurance he would be chosen to operate a casino in Chicago and was not concerned that these books would, in any way, cannibalize whoever was chosen to operate the casino. It makes me wonder if he had gotten his way back then, would we be having this meeting today?”

Bluhm made no mention of that earlier meeting.

He simply reiterated his longstanding claim that what he calls the “five mini-casinos”– at Wrigley Field, Guaranteed Rate Field, Soldier Field, the United Center and Wintrust Arena — would “take visitors and money away” from a Chicago casino.

“The city could lose $10 million to $12 million per year and potentially make the new Chicago casino less successful if we are right,” Bluhm said.

“Why take a chance like this? There’s a big risk with no reward. I urge you to vote no for this ordinance.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot all but acknowledged the minority set-aside clause has no teeth. But she argued that the city is precluded from going further.

“The state law doesn’t give us a lot of flexibility,” she said.

Still, Lightfoot characterized the “commitment” made by sports moguls as “historic, given where they typically are,” adding, “We’ll continue to work with them and push them to make sure that they make good on those promises.”

The mayor’s promise was enough to satisfy some, but not all, joint committee members.

Nor was the study conducted for the city by Union Gaming Analytics that concluded, at worst, sports betting in and around five stadiums would cost a Chicago casino “no more than $4.3 million” and the city $843,000 in gaming taxes.

“Don’t vote for the banana in the tailpipe. This ordinance has not changed. We held it up last week because there was nothing in it [for minorities]. And there’s still nothing in it. So, don’t go for the Okie Dokie once again,” said Far South Side Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), one of Lightfoot’s most outspoken City Council critics.

Budget Committee Chair Pat Dowell (3rd) agreed, saying the revised ordinance includes “zero benefits that I can see for minority ownership or involvement or community benefits.”

She remains concerned about the potential impact on casino revenues and about a 2% city tax on sports betting that she has said would yield “peanuts” for Chicago.

Ethics Committee Chair Michele Smith (43rd) noted that revenues from a Chicago casino will be used to shore up police and fire pension funds hovering dangerously close to insolvency.

“That means that, if anything cannibalizes it, people are gonna ask more of the property taxpayers,” Smith said.

“So, I am very hesitant to approve this — certainly at this time. Maybe if it came up closer to when the casino opened that would be OK. But I’m very, very concerned about protecting our property taxpayers.”

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Curie’s Shawn Brown (3) keeps the ball from Leo’s Christian Brockett (2). | Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times

All the scores from around the area.

Please send scores and corrections to [email protected].

Monday, December 13, 2021

CHICAGO PREP

Rochelle Zell at Ida Crown, 7:45

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

ACERO-Cruz at Waldorf, 6:30

METRO PREP

Islamic Foundation at Universal, 5:30

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-WEST

Austin at Perspectives-MSA, PPD

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – EAST

Plainfield South at Joliet Central, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Sandburg at Lincoln-Way West, 6:30

NON CONFERENCE

Amboy at DePue, 7:00

Beacon at North Shore, 6:00

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Plainfield Central, 6:30

Bulls at Loyola, 5:30

Butler at Noble Academy, 7:00

Chicago Academy at Steinmetz, 5:00

Christian Life at Durand, 7:30

Comer at Dyett, 5:00

Elk Grove at Leyden, 6:00

Fieldcrest at Dwight, 7:00

Glenbard North at Addison Trail, 7:00

Harlan at DuSable, 5:00

Harvest Christian at Marengo, 7:00

HmSch Resource Center at Chesterton Holy Family

Horizon-McKinley at St. Francis de Sales, 6:00

Horizon-Southwest at Spry, 5:00

IMSA at Joliet Catholic, 7:00

Johnsburg at Round Lake, 7:00

Libertyville at Carmel, 7:00

Marian Central at Crystal Lake Central, 7:00

Neuqua Valley at Plainfield East, 6:30

Northtown at Lake View, 5:00

Ogden at Senn, 5:00

Palatine at Grant, 6:30

Prosser at Raby, 7:00

Reed-Custer at Clifton Central, 7:00

South Beloit at Earlville, 7:00

St. Laurence at Mather, 5:00

Urban Prep-West at Juarez, 5:00

Westlake Christian at Christian Heritage, 6:30

Woodstock North at Rockford Christian, 7:00

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Anjanette Young discusses her civil case against the city of Chicago during a news conference outside the James R. Thompson Center in the Loop on June 16. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

In recent years, the city has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and judgments to plaintiffs alleging police abuse.

On Monday, the City Council added millions more to the enormous tab it keeps paying out for police misconduct. We can almost hear Chicago taxpayer’s wallets groaning under the strain.

Mayor Lori Lightwood and the Chicago Police Department have got to rein in cop misconduct before its cost becomes an overwhelming burden, along the lines of our city’s underfunded pensions. It’s been said before but bears repeating every time another costly settlement adds to the tab.

Misconduct also causes irreparable personal harm to victims of bad police work.

In recent years, the city has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and judgments to plaintiffs alleging police abuse. On Monday, the Chicago City Council Finance Committee approved a $2.9 million settlement for social worker Anjanette Young for a botched police raid, in which police broke into the wrong apartment and Young was forced to remain naked in front of officers as they milled around. The Finance Committee also approved settlements for more than $2 million in three other cases. The committee’s recommendations will go to the full Council for a vote on Wednesday.

It also bears repeating that the city’s habit of financing police settlements by selling bonds drives up costs even more, because bond sales include fees and interest charges. And all those settlement and bond costs don’t even include the millions of dollars the city shells out to private attorneys to handle some of these cases.

All of this comes out of taxpayers’ pockets because the city is self-insured.

Getting these costs under control can’t be done quickly. Some of the costs that are coming up now are for cases that are decades old. In October, for example, a federal jury awarded $25 million to a man, Eddie Bolden, who sued the city and two police detectives after being wrongfully convicted of murder. Bolden spent nearly 23 years in jail.

After the raid on Young’s home, the police department instituted some reforms, including requiring bureau chiefs to sign off on any no-knock warrants. But that’s not enough. The only way out of signing huge checks for misconduct, like clockwork, is to invest in police reform, which means more supervision and oversight.

The financial savings from reforming police practices won’t show up immediately. City officials can’t implement reforms now and hold a victory press conference in a couple of months. The benefits will be reaped further in the future.

The more the city invests in reform now, the less it — meaning taxpayers — will have to pay later.

Send letters to [email protected].

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Two people were shot Dec. 13, 2021, at a Jewel-Osco in West Elsdon. | Adobe Stock Photo

It wasn’t immediately clear if the shooting happened inside or outside the store.

Two people were shot near a Jewel-Osco in West Elsdon on the South Side Monday afternoon.

The shooting happened about 4:50 p.m. in the 5300 block of South Pulaski Road, according to Chicago fire officials. It wasn’t immediately clear if the shooting happened inside or outside the store.

One gunshot victim was taken to Christ Medical Center, while the other was being treated at the scene, officials said. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Chicago police didn’t immediately release details.

This is a developing story.

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This month’s conversation starters.Read More

The Las Vegas Raiders will be searching for a new head coach this offseason and the Chicago Bears are among teams that are expected to join them in that situation.

Following another loss to rival Green Bay, head coach Matt Nagy’s time in the Windy City is very likely coming to an end over the next four weeks and the oddsmakers agree. Even with the odd reports coming out of Jacksonville with Urban Meyer, it’s Nagy that is the odds on favorite to be the first head coach fired according to the latest odds released on Monday.

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The City Council’s Committee on Zoning and License advanced the stalled sports betting ordinance to the City Council. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times file

The City Council’s Committee on Zoning and License advanced the stalled sports betting ordinance to the City Council floor after the addition of a clause without real teeth aimed at appeasing the Black Caucus.

After furious lobbying behind the scenes and a clash of the titans in public, a joint City Council committee agreed Monday to lift the Chicago ban on sports betting to allow sportsbooks in and around five stadiums.

The City Council’s Committee on Zoning and License advanced the stalled sports betting ordinance to the City Council floor after the addition of a clause without real teeth aimed at appeasing the Black Caucus.

The language articulates the city’s promise to “actively seek to achieve racial ethnic and geographic diversity when issuing primary sports licenses” and “encourage” minority and women-owned businesses to apply.

With those changes, the joint committee approved the mayor’s ordinance by a vote of 19 to 7.

Before the final vote, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said his team is “ready to go today” on its $100 million partnership with DraftKings that will pave the way for Wrigley Field to house the first stadium sportsbook in Major League Baseball.

“With your approval of this ordinance, construction would begin immediately with the aim of opening a restaurant with a sportsbook in time for the 2023 season. This will create construction jobs and revenues now and permanent jobs in just over a year,” Ricketts said.

Ricketts said the ordinance would “provide additional resources to the city’s professional sports teams that will help them compete.”

“This is not a casino or even a mini-casino. It’s a sports bar-restaurant. … It only allows for fans who wish to place a wager to have a window to do so. I expect many fans will come to the sportsbook and never place a bet,” he said.

White Sox and Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf essentially accused casino magnate Neil Bluhm, owner of Des Plaines-based Rivers Casino, of talking out of both sides of his mouth.

“What is perplexing is that Neil Bluhm, who does not want our buildings to have sportsbooks, met with us on several occasions seeking to operate sportsbooks in our buildings. And that was long after the casino was approved for Chicago,” Reinsdorf said.

“At that time, he had no assurance he would be chosen to operate a casino in Chicago and was not concerned that these books would, in any way, cannibalize whoever was chosen to operate the casino. It makes me wonder if he had gotten his way back then, would we be having this meeting today?”

Bluhm made no mention of that earlier meeting.

He simply reiterated his longstanding claim that what he calls the “five mini-casinos”– at Wrigley Field, Guaranteed Rate Field, Soldier Field, the United Center and Wintrust Arena — would “take visitors and money away” from a Chicago casino.

“The city could lose $10 million to $12 million per year and potentially make the new Chicago casino less successful if we are right,” Bluhm said.

“Why take a chance like this? There’s a big risk with no reward. I urge you to vote no for this ordinance.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot all but acknowledged the minority set-aside clause has no teeth. But she argued that the city is precluded from going further.

“The state law doesn’t give us a lot of flexibility,” she said.

Still, Lightfoot characterized the “commitment” made by sports moguls as “historic, given where they typically are,” adding, “We’ll continue to work with them and push them to make sure that they make good on those promises.”

The mayor’s promise was enough to satisfy some, but not all, joint committee members.

Nor was the study conducted for the city by Union Gaming Analytics that concluded, at worst, sports betting in and around five stadiums would cost a Chicago casino “no more than $4.3 million” and the city $843,000 in gaming taxes.

“Don’t vote for the banana in the tailpipe. This ordinance has not changed. We held it up last week because there was nothing in it [for minorities]. And there’s still nothing in it. So, don’t go for the Okie Dokie once again,” said Far South Side Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), one of Lightfoot’s most outspoken City Council critics.

Budget Committee Chair Pat Dowell (3rd) agreed, saying the revised ordinance includes “zero benefits that I can see for minority ownership or involvement or community benefits.”

She remains concerned about the potential impact on casino revenues and about a 2% city tax on sports betting that she has said would yield “peanuts” for Chicago.

Rules Committee Chair Michele Smith (43rd) noted that revenues from a Chicago casino will be used to shore up police and fire pension funds hovering dangerously close to insolvency.

“That means that, if anything cannibalizes it, people are gonna ask more of the property taxpayers,” Smith said.

“So, I am very hesitant to approve this — certainly at this time. Maybe if it came up closer to when the casino opened that would be OK. But I’m very, very concerned about protecting our property taxpayers.”

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