Controversy over WNBA facility deal

What started in July 2024 as a $38 million Chicago Sky practice facility is now being described in fresh reporting as a roughly $60 million project partly financed with taxpayer-backed village money in Bedford Park. A new lawsuit and local criticism have turned what was sold as a women’s sports upgrade into a fight over who got the better end of the deal. (sky.wnba.com) (therealdeal.com) The team’s original announcement promised more than 40,000 square feet, two courts, player lounges, a film room, a chef’s kitchen, and a December 2025 opening next to the Wintrust Sports Complex near Midway Airport. The pitch was simple: move players out of a shared suburban recreation center in Deerfield and into a private building closer to downtown Chicago. (sky.wnba.com) (frontofficesports.com) That move made basketball sense because WNBA teams have been in an arms race over training space since 2023, when the Las Vegas Aces opened the league’s first dedicated facility and the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury followed. By February 2026, the Chicago Sun-Times said the Sky’s Bedford Park building could give the franchise a short-term recruiting edge before a bigger wave of team facilities arrives around the league. (frontofficesports.com) (chicago.suntimes.com) The problem is the financing structure. The Sun-Times reported in September 2025 that Bedford Park would own the building and cover about $32 million while the Sky paid the rest, and The Real Deal reported this week that the village is covering roughly 72 percent of construction costs for a facility described as being for the team’s exclusive use. (chicago.suntimes.com) (therealdeal.com) That is where Bedford Park itself becomes part of the story. Front Office Sports noted that the village had 602 residents in the 2020 census but has spent heavily on sports marketing and sports facilities, which means a tiny suburb is helping bankroll a major-league amenity for a Chicago team with a much larger regional fan base. (frontofficesports.com) The numbers also kept moving. The team announced a $38 million, 40,000-square-foot building in July 2024, the Sun-Times reported an expected $40 million to $43 million cost in September 2025 and a nearly $46 million price tag in February 2026, and The Real Deal now reports a project measured at about 80,000 square feet with a cost near $60 million. (sky.wnba.com) (chicago.suntimes.com 1) (chicago.suntimes.com 2) (therealdeal.com) The delays followed the same pattern. The facility was first scheduled for December 2025, then shifted to spring 2026 after design changes that included reorienting the courts and revising interior plans with player input. (sky.wnba.com) (chicago.suntimes.com 1) (chicago.suntimes.com 2) Now the ownership fight is feeding the public fight. The Chicago Sun-Times reported on February 1 that minority investor Steven Rogers sued principal owner Michael Alter, and The Real Deal says that suit alleges the Sky’s contracting entity contributed nothing to the facility even as village money carried most of the cost. (chicago.suntimes.com) (therealdeal.com) That does not mean the facility is fake or unnecessary. It means the political question changed from “Should women’s pro athletes get a first-class building?” to “Why is a public body carrying so much of the bill for a private team’s exclusive workspace?” (sky.wnba.com) (therealdeal.com) Bedford Park and the Sky can still argue the project brings prestige, tournaments, spillover traffic, and a long-term tenant tied to the Wintrust Sports Complex expansion. But once the public share climbs, the private share looks smaller, and the cost jumps from $38 million to about $60 million, every handshake starts to look less like partnership and more like favoritism. (chicago.suntimes.com) (frontofficesports.com) (therealdeal.com)