Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren had a grim message for Arlington Heights residents hoping for a new stadium complex in their town: The effort is at a “stalemate,” and team officials don’t know if it will be revived.

Meeting with local residents at a public forum organized by business leaders advocating for a Bears’ move to Arlington Heights, Warren said an ongoing tax dispute has stopped stadium development efforts there after the team purchased the former Arlington International Racecourse property in February for $197 million.

“We’ve had a stalemate and a lack of communication, and it’s a little more convoluted at this point in time than I thought it would be,” Warren said. “If we’re not communicating, which we haven’t been, there’s not going to be much progress made.”

Over the past month, the Bears have met with public officials in Naperville, Illinois, and the city of Chicago, while government leaders in suburban Waukegan also made a pitch for the Bears. Warren says he is still receiving inbound calls from other Chicagoland municipalities.

A now-challenged assessment on the racetrack land would raise the annual property tax from $2.8 million to $16.2 million.

“This has nothing to do with personal feelings,” Warren said. “This is strictly business.”

The initial proposal at Arlington Heights involved a domed stadium and entertainment district capable of hosting major events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four — and carried a projected cost of $5 billion.

Professional hockey is taking over Nashville this week. 

ESPN broadcasts the 2023 NHL Draft on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET from a sold-out Bridgestone Arena — the culmination of an interesting experiment bringing the league’s annual awards show to the draft’s host city for the first time since 2006.

The NHL Awards are typically held in Las Vegas but took place Monday night at the Predators’ arena, kicking off a week of festivities including three nights of concerts and a Broadway shutdown.

NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer told Front Office Sports that representatives from two NHL cities came to the league after the awards and expressed interest in also hosting a future awards-draft combo. “We got some quick inquiries,” Mayer said.

Last year’s draft was held in Montreal, and the event visited different cities like Vancouver, Dallas, and Chicago before the pandemic. “We don’t have a formal bidding process in place on these events, but it could get to the point where it becomes that,” Mayer added, pointing to the dual-hosting model. “I don’t know whether or not we’re going to do it like this, but we did get some interest [Monday] night already.”

Mayer said any evaluation will begin right after the draft, which will see generational talent Connor Bedard go first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks.

The influx of new talent is an opportunity to “educate those in [the arena] and those watching at home about the players that are getting drafted,” Mayer said. “There’s a lot of responsibility in terms of trying to get our fans engaged on every level.”

On Tuesday, the WTA made its boldest step yet in a decades-long battle for gender pay equity on tennis’ top tours — but in some cases, women’s players will need to wait as long as another 10 years for the shift to fully take effect.

The new structure will offer full pay equity for combined WTA and ATP 1000- and 500-level events — the sport’s top competitions outside of the majors — by 2027. Non-combined 1000- and 500-level events will offer equal prize money by 2033.

“Equality, including equal compensation, is a fundamental principle of the WTA, and it is crucial to attain at this level,” said Steve Simon, WTA chair and CEO.

The effort seeks to correct a situation where men play for far higher purses at many leading tour stops, such as the key U.S. Open tuneup Western & Southern Open. At that tournament last year, women’s players competed for $2.53 million, while the men vied for a $6.3 million prize pool.

Full pay equity was established at tennis’ four majors in 2007 and will remain in place at Wimbledon 2023, which starts July 3. As part of the “solidified pathway” to equal prize money, the WTA also revised its tour calendar to include more 1000- and 500-level tournaments.

The effort is thematically similar to FIFA’s ongoing push to achieve player pay equity in men’s and women’s World Cups by 2027.

International fans attending next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris may be in for a rude awakening if they hope to enjoy a beer or cocktail while taking in the action.

Alcohol won’t be sold to the general public at competition venues in France, as the organizing committee has opted against seeking an exemption from a longstanding French law prohibiting alcohol sales at stadiums.

Fans lucky enough to make it into a VIP area will be able to buy alcohol, though, in accordance with the law.

Reminiscent of Qatar

The vibe at the Paris Games could be similar to last year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which abruptly banned beer sales just two days before the tournament began after originally saying they would be allowed. Qatar also sold alcohol in VIP areas.

Organizers can seek exemptions to sell alcohol for up to 10 events per year — as the Rugby World Cup in France will do this fall. The Olympic organizing committee cited the Games’ 700-plus competition sessions over 15 days as a reason for not seeking a waiver.

French fans will be used to this relatively conservative environment: The 80,000-seat Stade de France offers alcohol-free beer to the general public.