Arlington Heights open receiver of stadium pitch

George McCaskey vowed Thursday the Bears would "be good neighbors" with Arlington Heights residents if the team follows through with a plan to build a massive stadium in the northwest suburb — but the chairman cautioned "we will need help" from taxpayers to fulfill their complete vision for the football mecca.

Putting a preliminary price tag of at least $5 billion on the ambitious development slated for the shuttered Arlington International Racecourse, McCaskey noted that most of his family's wealth is vested in the team — so they'd need some of the costs subsidized to cross the goal line.

"We are not financiers," McCaskey said during a public meeting hosted by the team at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, the Bears' first direct pitch to residents of their potential new host city.

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Bullish on the Bears? Arlington Heights open receiver of stadium pitch: 'I'm extremely excited to know they could be coming'

Residents started lining up outside the high school two hours prior to the team's tightly orchestrated public relations presentations. Many filed into the gym wearing Bears jerseys and carrying signs calling on the team to "rise to new heights in Arlington."

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