Chicago Bears stadium reveal plagued in embarrassment rather than excitement

There was some initial backlash on Tuesday when the Chicago Bears issued a press release on Tuesday that the team would be conducting a formal press conference on Wednesday at Soldier Field to reveal their stadium plans for the lakefront in the City of Chicago.

Before diving into the comedic spectacle that was Wednesday's press conference for the Bears, there is a need to separate the backlash from the idea of the Bears having a stadium reveal the day before the most important draft in the history of the organization, and, the backlash over the idea that the Bears seemingly are moving further away from their original plan of building the new stadium in Arlington Heights.

The backlash over the Bears remaining in the City of Chicago is unwarranted. Sure, Arlington Heights would have been a great venue for not only the Bears' next stadium but also the entertainment district that was also planned. Having said that, there are very few qualms to be had if the Bears were to remain in the City of Chicago as long as the new stadium on the lakefront meets the the goals of their business operations.

The issue is that the Bears' business operations under Kevin Warren, at least in regard to the stadium developments, have often been met with more questions than answers. Perhaps, that is the reason why Wednesday's press conference opened with something that many are calling the weirdest sequence in the history of press conferences across professional sports.

The Chicago Bears stadium reveal was great humor with very little substance.

It was an odd start but to the Bears' credit, the stadium renderings were visually stunning.

There is no doubt that video should garner excitement from Bears' fans but some of the finer details are not adding up. One of the most important details is that the new stadium will hold approximately 65,000 fans.

Not only would that approximate number still be among the smallest stadiums in the NFL, but it doesn't meet the NFL's requirements for hosting a Super Bowl. The NFL has a minimum requirement of 70,000-capacity in order for a venue to host a Super Bowl. Exceptions can be had and as long as the new stadium has the backing of the NFL, it's likely that the Bears will be granted one in order to host a Super Bowl.

Regardless, the fact that the Bears would even float a number that does not meet the requirement shows how rushed this press conference was and that the plan may not have been fully thought out. To that end, it's important to include that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker pushed back on the current proposal.

Pritzker wasn't the only one to poke holes in the flawed stadium plan rollout by the Bears. Friends of the Park, one of the main reasons why the Bears originally were aiming to move to Arlington Heights, also took issue with the Bears' theatrics.

Wednesday was such an odd day for the Bears that never had to happen. Rather than the disorganized chaos that was the stadium reveal's press conference, all the Bears had to do was release the video. To which the reaction would have been, "Cool video, now what about Caleb Williams." Instead, the Bears are once again a laughingstock thanks to their own doing.