The Bears took a significant step toward leaving Illinois on Friday.
The Bears’ board of directors voted Thursday to advance their stadium development in Hammond, Indiana, with the exact site still to be determined. This is this first time that the Bears’ board has voted on any stadium site.
The Bears’ plans to leave the state they’ve called home since their inception for Indiana come just days after the end of Illinois’ spring legislative session.
“We believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana and the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across the neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city,” Bears chairman George H. McCaskey and CEO Kevin Warren said in a statement.
The Bears’ announcement Friday does not guarantee the team will leave Illinois. Per a league source, while Indiana is “in the lead” to lure the Bears across state lines to build a domed stadium, “Illinois can still get back in the race.”
Matt Hill, spokesperson for Illinois governor JB Pritzker, said constant shifting by the Bears has “hindered” progress toward a stadium deal.
“The Bears have built a storied legacy in Illinois for over 100 years but have spent the last six years, and especially the last few months, shifting their position on a stadium location. That has hindered their progress,” Hill said in a statement. “Today appears to be another instance of that after Illinois leaders have been working with the Bears in good faith. Governor Pritzker has always been clear that he wants the Bears to stay in Illinois and still remains open to a sensible solution that protects taxpayers.”
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN “the club has kept the stadium committee and league office apprised of all developments.”
After the “megaprojects” bill — a proposal that would have allowed the Bears to negotiate payments in lieu of paying property taxes on the Arlington Heights, Illinois, property they currently own — died in the Illinois senate last weekend, a late push was made with alternative legislation.
At 11 p.m. Sunday, Illinois state Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) introduced new legislation that would allow Cook County cities with more than 70,000 residents (such as Arlington Heights and Chicago) to create their own sports stadium authority. The Bears would pay for the construction of the new stadium, which the franchise has dedicated $2 billion in funding toward, and the land would be publicly owned.
The new bill passed the Illinois Senate 37-17 at 3:39 a.m. Monday. The House adjourned after 4:30 a.m. without taking a vote.
The Bears currently own a 326-acre property on the former site of the Arlington International Racecourse, which the team purchased in 2021.
The team has maintained that it cannot build a stadium without property tax certainty, which Indiana passed legislation to ensure in February, when lawmakers in the state House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved an amendment to Indiana Senate Bill 27 by a vote of 24-0 to create the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority with the power to issue bonds, acquire land and finance construction. The state offered the Bears up to $1 billion in incentives to relocate to the site in Hammond.
Despite the lack of finality to the potential move, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun issued a statement Friday welcoming the Bears to the “great state” of Indiana.
“We look forward to building a partnership as strong as the ’85 Bears defense, creating opportunities and economic growth that will benefit our state and the Bears organization for decades to come,” a portion of Braun’s statement read. “An NFL franchise in Northwest Indiana will be an economic boost to the entire region like we haven’t seen before.”
The Bears current lease at Soldier Field — the stadium where they play but which is owned by the City of Chicago — runs through 2033.
