Alexander Lacherbauer
@lacherbauer • 5,233 subscribers
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No Austin Berg, Chicago made the wrong call by walking away from the World Cup. Rahm Emanuel’s alleged “dealbreaker” was a potential $50–100 million expense if FIFA ever exercised its right to require a dome at Soldier Field. Even taking that figure at face value, in the context of Chicago’s budget and economic development spending, it’s a trivial amount. The city’s new hotel tax increase (supported by local hospitality industry itself) is expected to generate roughly $40M annually to fund promotional efforts through World Business Chicago. In other words, Chicago passed up a once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase itself to the world for the equivalent of just 2-3 years of marginal hotel tax revenue. The benefits would have extended far beyond the tournament itself. The World Cup generates millions of dollars in earned media exposure, global television coverage, social media visibility, tourism, and word-of-mouth promotion. We’re already seeing viral posts from visitors discovering Chicago while in the US for the tournament. Its difficult to believe that any advertising campaign purchased by World Business Chicago (ads in Texan newspaper or mayoral vacations to London or the Vatican) could match the global exposure that comes with hosting World Cup matches. Nor is the comparison to the Olympics or the parking meter deal fair. Hosting the World Cup is not remotely comparable to hosting the Olympics, which requires massive investments in new venues, athlete housing, and infrastructure. Chicago already had a suitable stadium and the necessary hospitality base. And unlike the parking meter deal, the World Cup was not a decades-long privatization of a public asset. The economic benefits were real. The 1994 World Cup generated an estimated $300M in added sales for Chicago. A 2026 tournament would almost certainly have produced substantial hotel, restaurant, retail, transportation, and entertainment spending while boosting tax revenues and supporting local businesses. I supported Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid and still believe losing it was one of the city’s great missed opportunities, though that outcome was ultimately beyond Chicago’s control. Chicago chose to walk away from the World Cup. This was a shortsighted decision. City Hall passed up a rare opportunity to elevate Chicago’s global profile, attract visitors and new businesses, and generate economic activity. The costs were manageable. The missed opportunity enormous.
Alexander Lacherbauer158,962 views • 13 days ago
3:13
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GOOD RIDDANCE! At best, the private security stood around doing nothing, at worst they caused more problems. The contractor and its owner should be blacklisted by the city from future contracting. CPD should patrol/monitor CTA. SEIU Local 1 Mayor Brandon Johnson
Alexander Lacherbauer173,603 views • 2 months ago
Brandon Johnson is set to testify tomorrow in Congress. He spent $630M on the migrant scam, meanwhile black neighborhoods on Chicago’s West side look like a garbage truck exploded in them. Trash & filth everywhere, sidewalks that haven’t been repaved since before Civil Rights. Shame on Mayor of Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin Alderman Jason Ervin (his ward) for prioritizing Migrants over Americans.
Alexander Lacherbauer200,621 views • 1 year ago
I’d never believe if I hadn’t seen it in person. Self-organized MAGA rallies happening on Chicago’s South & West sides, in Englewood & Garfield Park — “We’re not all on welfare! We’re marching for jobs, for generational wealth, to have businesses. We don’t want to be in perpetual poverty!” @MsJessicaJacksn Zoe Leigh 🇺🇸🌹 P. Rae of ChicagoRED🇺🇸🧚🏿 Donald J. Trump Donald Trump Jr. @margommartin Corey R. Lewandowski Benny Johnson End Wokeness End Tribalism in Politics TONY™
Alexander Lacherbauer101,136 views • 1 year ago
1:09
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FACT. 🎥 Ferris Bueller’s Day off is one big feature-length commercial for Chicago. Hughes’s films had a huge cultural influence, even influencing Tina Fey’s (an alumni of Chicago’s Second City) choice to set millennial HS movie “Mean Girls” in suburban North Shore as an homage.
Alexander Lacherbauer24,504 views • 11 months ago
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