Bulls move practice facility to downtown Chicago Options

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Press release

The Chicago Bulls today announced that the team has committed to move its practice facility to downtown Chicago from its current location in Deerfield, Ill. The team has practiced at the Sheri L. Berto Center since 1992.

During recent conversations, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pitched Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf on the idea to relocate the team’s practice facility to a downtown Chicago location.

“Mayor Emanuel has done a tremendous job promoting investment in the City of Chicago,” said Jerry Reinsdorf. “The Mayor stressed that the Bulls brand is important to the city, nationally and internationally, and that the Bulls represent the spirit and competitive grit of Chicago. He thought centralizing our team assets inside the city limits would be a show of our ongoing commitment to Chicago. We have been contemplating how to address the growth limitations of our practice facility for awhile, so the Mayor’s timing and ours seems to make sense.”

The team is in the process of exploring a variety of site locations throughout the city. A specific timetable has not yet been established for the project, which will be privately funded.

“We have been happy at the Berto for many years,” said Bulls President and COO Michael Reinsdorf. “However, for us, the time is right for a move from both a basketball and a business standpoint. Our basketball operations group has been incredibly resourceful, but there is no longer space available to grow where we are now. And, strategically, we are taking a more integrated approach to our business, and decreasing the physical distance between our two main facilities will naturally create more opportunities for collaboration among all departments.”

The team’s current facility, the Berto Center, has hosted the majority of team practices, gameday shootarounds and summer workouts for the last 20 years. The building is also the home of the Bulls’ coaching and basketball operations staff offices.