08/13/26 02:25:00
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08/13 14:23 CDT Chicago Bears could merge 2 sites for potential stadium in
northwest Indiana
Chicago Bears could merge 2 sites for potential stadium in northwest Indiana
By JAY COHEN
AP Sports Writer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) --- The Chicago Bears have at least one viable site for
a new stadium in northwest Indiana and they are examining a second location as
they move closer to finalizing a place for their new home.
The Bears announced in June that they were moving forward with a stadium
development project in Hammond, Indiana. They have completed their review of
what they are calling the Lost Marsh site, and they are doing their due
diligence on the Wolf Lake Terminal site. They could merge the two options
together in some way.
"Even though we've had occasional meetings with the state of Illinois, our sole
focus at this point in time is working on a world-class stadium and mixed-use
development in Hammond, Indiana," team President Kevin Warren said Thursday.
The Bears also had been considering Arlington Heights --- about 30 miles
northwest of Chicago --- as a potential location for an enclosed stadium.
Wherever they end up, a name change is off the table.
"We will be the Chicago Bears whether we're in Arlington or whether we're in
Hammond," chairman George McCaskey said.
The Bears, a charter NFL franchise, have played in Illinois since the team's
founding in 1920 as the Decatur Staleys. They moved to Chicago in 1921 and
called Wrigley Field home before they started playing at Soldier Field in
September 1971.
The Bears' lease runs through 2033, but they can pay a fee to break the lease
early. Soldier Field is about 40 miles south of Halas Hall --- the team's
headquarters in Lake Forest --- and Hammond is about 20 miles south of the
team's lakefront stadium.
McCaskey acknowledged the "anxiety" of a move to northwest Indiana for the
team's fans.
"But when I've driven that route, other than a sign telling me so, I wouldn't
know that I've just crossed the state border," he said. "And as Kevin said,
once people see the building, once they get in there, once they understand that
our top priority from day one was a world-class stadium experience, we think
we'll make that adjustment. We think Bears fans are up for that."
The Bears ramped up their focus on Indiana after a proposal to provide
financial incentives for the team to build its new home in Illinois stalled in
the state legislature. A committee in the Indiana House of Representatives
passed a bill in February that established a Northwest Indiana Stadium
Authority to finance, construct and lease a stadium.
The Illinois Senate passed a bill that would have cleared the way for Arlington
Heights and Chicago to create local stadium authorities, creating a pathway for
the Bears to avoid paying property taxes on a new stadium. But the House
adjourned without taking up the measure on the last day of the state's spring
legislative session.
McCaskey said the team has had minimal conversations with Illinois legislators
since June. Asked if he was hopeful about Illinois coming up with a plan and
building in Arlington Heights, McCaskey demurred.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "has said to us many times in league meetings,
?Hope is not a strategy,'" McCaskey said. "We have to deal with the here and
now. We have to deal with real circumstances, and these are the real
circumstances."
The Bears have been pursuing a new home for years, but the process has been
hampered by repeated twists and turns.
The team announced in September 2021 that it had signed a purchase agreement
for 326 acres of land in Arlington Heights. The $197 million deal with
Churchill Downs Incorporated was finalized in 2023.
In September 2022, the team unveiled a nearly $5 billion plan for Arlington
Heights that called for an enclosed stadium that could host Super Bowls and
Final Fours. The conceptual illustrations also provided for a year-round
entertainment district with restaurants and shopping.
But the Bears shifted their focus toward building a new stadium next to Soldier
Field after Warren was hired as team president in January 2023, replacing the
retiring Ted Phillips. The plan to transform Chicago's Museum Campus got an
enthusiastic endorsement from Mayor Brandon Johnson and a tepid reception from
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and state legislators when it was announced in April
2024.
The team switched gears again in May 2025, announcing it had made "significant
progress" with local leaders in Arlington Heights.
Amid lingering efforts to secure tax incentives in Illinois, along with as much
as $855 million in public money for infrastructure at the Arlington Heights
site, the Bears began to take a closer look at possible options in northwest
Indiana.
"We're in regular, almost daily communication with the state of Indiana working
on this," Warren said. "We have an excellent deal, a win-win partnership
together. And the cost of the significance of this decision from a stadium
standpoint, we will make sure that we take our time to get this right."
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