Posted on 06/05/2026 10:33:48 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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," the source said.
"The club has kept the stadium committee and league office apprised of all developments," NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN
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 Senator Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago) introduced new legislation that would allow Cook County cities with more than 70,000 residents (like 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. on 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 they cannot build a stadium without property tax certainty, which Indiana passed legislation to ensure in February.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Hammond is closer to Chicago than Arlington is to Dallas.
Maybe they can lure the Cardinals back to Chicago.
More trying to get taxpayers to build stuff in my guess. Pro sports make enough money they don’t need government (taxpayers) help.
getting the H out of politically-insane and high-tax Illinois, while still being able to host ChiTown area fans.... the best of both worlds
it is the Bears’ good luck that Chicago is so close to the Indiana border
The locusts will just swarm to Indiana.
Sounds like the Bears are putting up $2B of their own money and own the 324 acte site and their asking for property tax relief if the build their stadium on it.
they’ve been swarming to nearby Michigan for several years already
Having grown up in Northwest Indiana I have followed this fiasco with a good deal of interest. I still maintain that this is strictly a negotiating ploy by the Bears. I think the Indiana Governor and Legislature know this as well so they’re just playing along to show how absolutely incompetent Fatass Pritzker and Conehead Mayor Johnson really are. I have to admit it’s been pretty entertaining.
Hammond is also closer to Soldier Field than Arlington Heights is to Soldier Field.
As a Hoosier still in NW Indiana, I agree on both counts.
So if the Bears owners pay for the stadium and everything around it in full, shouldn’t they get a cut of the increase tax revenue brought in by that new stadium????
Some new names:
The Now Free Bears; The Neighboring State Bears. The Bears Less Likely to be Shot.
“Tax Relief,” the phrase guaranteed to give any democrat the shingles. Any agreement that may result with Chicago should be scrutinized for weeks first.
Asking democrats to share tax revenue?
Shirley...
Had to look it up, but it’s a great story. I’ll keep mum.
No, they will make enough on their overpriced games, tv rights, and swag. The government shouldn’t pick winners and loser and who they will favor over others.
So you are the one to decide how much $$$ made by a team or entity is enough??? That’s very socialist of you...
Let me explain something to you- there’s a reason cities fall over themselves to bring an NFL franchise to town and build new stadiums- its a money maker- not just because of football games but everything else (concerts/soccer/Olympics/etc) involved...
NYChitty should’ve learned a hard lesson when they refused to upgrade Shea stadium in 1984 and the Jets ended up leaving, but they didn’t...now whether its 17 regular season football games or Taylor Swift concerts or the Super Bowl or now the World Cup, most of which i don’t care about, its New Jersey raking in the bucks...
Agree- let them learn the hard way when the franchise leaves for another city....NYChitty is the perfect example of this...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.