Why not?
In the theater of the absurd, seven Iowa state legislators want to spend public money to build a stadium that would house the National Football League’s Chicago Bears franchise. Iowa State Senator Kerry Gruenhagen said “if their home state doesn’t want them.” He continued. “Bringing an NFL team to Iowa would attract jobs, tourism and fans to our state and give us the opportunity to showcase what Iowa really has to offer. Iowans have dedicated themselves to our college sports teams, and we’re ready to attract a professional team to our great state.” Iowa is not getting a National Football League franchise. Where would the stadium be built? Davenport? Bettendorf? Those two towns are part of the Quad Cities market that includes Moline, and East Moline in Illinois. The area has around 400,000 people and is about 150 miles west of Chicago.
Iowa has never hosted an NFL team. Iowa did have a National Basketball Association franchise in the very early days of the league. In 1948, the Waterloo Hawks basketball team entered the National Basketball League. In 1949, the National Basketball League was absorbed by the Basketball Association of America, forming the National Basketball Association. The team lasted one year. Iowa may have some government support to build a Bears’ stadium. But a sports franchise has three levels of need to be successful. Government support, a strong TV contract and corporate support. The NFL depends on network TV and streaming platforms so the need for a strong local TV deal is not as important as it is for other leagues. But network executives probably don’t want Davenport or Bettendorf replacing the country’s third largest market, Chicago. But the Field of Dreams was in Iowa. An NFL in Iowa is a pipe dream.
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Kerry Gruenhagen
