Bears make big additions to legal team in continued push for new lakefront stadium

The Chicago Bears have tapped Andrea Zopp, an established leader in the world of Chicago business and politics, to serve as an adviser in the team’s continued push for a new lakefront stadium.

Zopp, most recently a managing partner at venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue, will join the Bears as a senior adviser of legal and business affairs.

Zopp was not the only strategic hire made this week, as the team also announced Krista Whitaker as the club’s new executive vice president of legal and business affairs and chief legal officer.

“We are thrilled to welcome both Krista and Andy to the Chicago Bears family,” Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement released by the team. “Their combined expertise and dedication to excellence will be invaluable as we navigate complex legal issues, develop innovative programs and drive strategic initiatives, including the development of a new Chicago Bears stadium.”

Zopp was not made available for an interview Thursday as she had not yet been brought up to speed “regarding stadium discussions,” according to a team spokesperson.

Rich Hein/Sun-Times file photo

Before joining Cleveland Avenue, Zopp served as CEO and president of World Business Chicago for three years. Prior to that, Zopp was Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s deputy mayor and chief neighborhood development officer.

Zopp also ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, losing in the Democratic primary the incumbent, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.

Zopp has her work cut out for her as the Bears appear to be moving quickly on their proposal for a domed stadium just south of Soldier Field — to the dismay of advocacy groups who have long worked to protect the lakefront.

After meeting with Bears leadership late last month, Gin Kilgore, acting executive director of Friends of the Parks, said he’s not buying Warren’s hurry-up approach to a stadium deal.

Kilgore believes the city should invite the team to consider other locations, such as the lakefront site a little to the south of McCormick Place once occupied by Michael Reese Hospital.

In an interview last week, Kilgore would not say whether Friends of the Parks would file suit to block construction of a domed lakefront stadium.

Aside from location, there is also the issue of funding. Both the Bears and White Sox want new stadiums — the Sox envision a $1.5 billion ballpark in the South Loop — and both teams hope some of the money will come from bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, created to build Guaranteed Rate Field, which opened in 1991. Bonds issued by that state agency are paid off with a portion of city hotel taxes. Both teams have stepped up efforts to hammer out a deal with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.

Warren claims construction costs could escalate by as much as $200 million for every year the team waits before starting work on a new home.