Madison Street Agreement (Between Chicago Bears and Cardinals)

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No one knew it existed. But suddenly, there it was: a dusty, withered document, that brought a quick end to a daring rivalry, disrupted an NFL team’s plans for an economic revival, and may have even saved the NFL. That was then, but six decades later, no one knows where this incredibly valuable manuscript is hiding.

It was a key to what an NFL Commissioner called the “Most difficult decision I ever made.” But now, that outrageously important document has once again evaporated into history. Where is it? And does it even matter?

Probably not, but at one time, it was considered so powerful that the entire league debated its merits. It was simply called the “Madison Street Agreement” and it forever changed the balance of power of pro football in Chicago…and perhaps the National Football League. On this episode of “When Football Was Football,” we’ll share the unique story of the “Madison Street Agreement” and explain why it remains a mystery to this day.

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Cardinals Entertain Small Crowds

Our story begins in 1957 when the Chicago Cardinals completed a difficult 3-9 campaign under coach Ray Richards, including a woeful 0-6 home slate at Comiskey Park on Chicago’s south side. Attendance was low with only a mere 10,084 showing up for the final home game of the season, a sluggish 27-2 loss to the Steelers.

Except for the lone home game that year with the rival Chicago Bears that attracted over 43,000, the Cardinals were usually faced with crowds less than half that number, such as when the Eagles knocked off the Cardinals 38-21 on November 3 before 18,718.

Meanwhile, the neighboring, but not so neighborly, Chicago Bears playing at Wrigley Field on the north side of Chicago, stumbled through a rare losing campaign with a 5-7 record. However, the crowds still filled the old baseball park for each home game. Battles with Green Bay, Baltimore, and Los Angeles all attracted over 47,000 fans.

In fact, the smallest home attendance for the Bears in 1957 was 39,148 who witnessed a 14-3 loss to the Redskins on December 1. That number dwarfed the home attendance for the Cardinals for any non-Bears home game held at Comiskey Park.

And this is where our plot thickens…

With the Cardinals hurting at the gate, and revenue sharing in the NFL still an idea that would not begin until after Pete Rozelle became commissioner of the NFL in 1960, management began to seriously consider alternative revenue resources. The big bucks from television rights were years away as well, so the Cardinals were determined to adjust both their revenue and expenditure models.

The suggestion of moving the organization to another city was a possibility and one that would likely be warmly welcomed by other owners since the Cards’ low attendance at Comiskey Park forced visiting teams to accept the minimal league guarantee rather than a lucrative share of the gate which was more common at the time with teams, such as the Bears, who attracted large crowds.

In 1957, a gentleman named Walter Wolfner was the managing director of the Chicago Cardinals, a position bestowed upon him after his marriage to Violet Bidwill, the owner of the club. Violet, of course, was the widow of Charles Bidwill the owner of the Cardinals who passed away unexpectedly in early 1947 after putting together the roster of the club that would win the NFL title later that year.

Cardinals Plan to Move to Evanston, IL

Anyway, Wolfner came up with an idea—and it was a good one—that might help the Cardinals increase their home attendance. Wolfner proposed that the team move its home games to Dyche Stadium on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, a suburb just north of Chicago.

The Cardinals were dead serious about the move and quietly discussed this possibility with the administration at Northwestern, which seemed receptive to the idea. The team also did some local marketing, visiting with nearby residents and business owners and seeking their opinion on the potential relocation of the club. Again, there appeared to be support for the concept.

All the Cardinals now needed—and it was a big challenge—would be to secure the approval of the other owners in the National Football League, including George Halas of the Chicago Bears.

Struggle To Pay Visiting Team Guarantees

Halas and Wolfner were not buddies and often took their disagreements to the local media in Chicago. However, this suggestion would seem to be a win-win situation for both Chicago clubs. After all, a healthy bottom line for the Cardinals would strengthen the overall finances of the league.

Or, as the Chicago Tribune once wrote: “Eastern division owners in the National League, faced with expanding expenses, had sought for several years to have the Cardinals move out from under the shadow of the prosperous and successful Chicago Bears to some location where it would be possible for visiting clubs to come nearer to breaking even then on Chicago visits.

The Cardinals seldom were able to pay teams visiting Chicago more than the $20,000 guarantee. Some clubs actually lost that much when they went calling in the Loop.”

With the expected increase in attendance at Dyche Stadium, the Cardinals might regain their financial footing, and also be able to provide more than the bare minimum guarantee to visiting teams. 

But then, like the mythological god Thor, George Halas disrupted negotiations when he out-tossed a lightning bolt of a document that absolutely no one knew existed.

Except for George Halas.

Halas Blew His Stack!

It was indeed the previously mentioned, and mysterious, “Madison Street Agreement.” Its mere existence both shocked and surprised everyone involved in the Dyche Stadium discussions according to Roy Geraci of the Cardinals’ staff:

“The move was just about set to go. Halas got wind of it. He literally blew his stack because he knew that if [the Cardinals] went into Evanston, we’d have a better stadium and would probably become dominant in the market. So, lo and behold, he pulls out a document that he had signed with Charley Bidwill…no one in the Cardinal organization knew it existed. Mrs. Bidwill didn’t know. Wolfner didn’t know. Not even old Arch Wolf, who was there during Charley Bidwill’s era, knew about it.”

The agreement was originally signed by Dr. David Jones, the owner of the Cardinals back in 1931 and then renewed by Charles Bidwill a few years later. For some reason, both the Bears and the Cardinals agreed upon strict geographical limitations for holding their home games in the City of Chicago. Madison Street, an east-west thoroughfare that divides the downtown section of Chicago, was identified as the “separation” point for the two teams.

In other words, the Cardinals would not venture north of Madison Street to host games, while the Bears would not travel south of that divide to play any of their “home” games.

It seemed fair at the time, if not unnecessary, but the two clubs entered into this agreement which was designed to offer each Chicago NFL team its own protected territory within the metropolitan area. But there are a couple of holes in the document. The most obvious is that the Cardinals moved to Wrigley Field in 1931 and shared that stadium with the Bears throughout the decade.

Next, Dyche Stadium is in Evanston, not Chicago, so did the agreement stretch those carefully aligned borders into infinity—beyond the Chicago city limits? And what about Soldier Field, the current home of the Bears, which is definitely south of Madison Street? Would the agreement remain in place even after one team left the city?

Old Agreement Blocks Cardinals' Move

So now, 27 years later, Halas used the aging, and previously unknown, document to block the proposed move of the Cardinals to Dyche Stadium, which is definitely north of Madison Street.

Surprised by this refusal, but not wavering in their intent, the Cardinals then initiated a lawsuit in Superior Court in Chicago on September 26, 1958, that sought to void the “Madison Street Agreement” and thus pave the way for the team to move to Northwestern.

In correlation with the litigation, the Cardinals also asked NFL Commissioner Bert Bell to intervene in the dispute on behalf of the Cardinals. Surely this agreement signed by the previous owner of the team in 1931 would not be valid in 1958! Would it?

Bert Bell's Toughest Decision

It was a tough decision for Bell and he asked his brother, a justice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, for his advice and assistance. After both sides presented their cases before Bell at the NFL meeting on January 22, 1959, Bell was ready to announce his decision. Prior to sharing his determination, Bell admitted that this was the “toughest decision I have ever had to make.”

Much to the chagrin of Walter Wolfner and the Cardinals, Bell decided that the “Madison Street Agreement” was still valid. In addition, he explained that his careful consideration of all of the facts indicated that the agreement was one between two NFL member teams, not just the individual owners. 

As such, the proposed move by the Cardinals to Evanston was blown out of the water and there was little left for the team to do in 1959 except explore opportunities for other local facilities. Of course, there were few—if any—options available in the Chicago area, so the Cardinals elected to move their home games to aging Soldier Field on the Chicago lakefront.

However, two games were also scheduled for Minneapolis. Four games were played in Chicago while two other “home” games were staged in Minneapolis. Except for a home game against the Bears which attracted 48,867, none of the other five contests brought in more than 26,000 fans.

It was no surprise that the Cardinals finally moved to St. Louis in March of 1960, but one wonders “what if” the move to Evanston had not been undermined by the infamous “Madison Street Agreement?” Would the Cardinals have enjoyed an upsurge in attendance and return to prominence in the NFL? Instead, the team struggled financially and limped out of town for greener pastures. 

We Wouldn't Be Leaving Chicago

As it was, the unearthing of the “Madison Street Agreement” by George Halas really hurt the Cardinals, as Walter Wolfner told Sports Illustrated magazine in 1960: “That agreement wasn’t worth the paper it was written on,” said Wolfner, “but Bell gave it the force of law by stepping in and ruling that it was valid. If we had moved to Dyche Stadium, we wouldn’t be leaving Chicago now.”

The emergence of the “Madison Street Agreement” virtually ended the NFL’s oldest rivalry, damaged the Cardinals’ hopes for an improved economic presence, but also may have helped save the NFL against a new, well-funded rival—the American Football League (AFL). The AFL might have possibly placed a club in St. Louis which could have hindered any imminent NFL expansion plans. Instead, the wandering Cardinals finally found a home there. 

As the years have slipped by, the original “Madison Street Agreement” has once again disappeared.

Collectors of pro football artifacts will note that the two most difficult Hall of Fame autographs to procure are apparently those of Hugh “Shorty” Ray and Charles Bidwill. However, I would contend that the most elusive NFL historical document is indeed the “Madison Street Agreement.”

Since both the Bears and the Cardinals endured storage room fires years ago that gobbled up most of their historical records, neither team seems to have a copy of the document. Nor do any of the libraries and museums in the Chicago area.

I was hopeful to find a copy of it at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, likely attached to the official minutes from the January 1959 league meeting. The minutes were there, but not a copy of the agreement.

Somewhere, somehow, we hope a copy still exists, but we fear that just like the Chicago Cardinals, the “Madison Street Agreement” is just a distant memory… 

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Author and Host - Joe Ziemba

Joe Ziemba is the host of this show, and he is an author of early football history in the city of Chicago.  Here, you can learn more about Joe and When Football Was Football, including all of the episodes of the podcast.

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