The Chicago Bears arepreparing for a playoff clash with the Los Angeles Rams, and also possibly a move out of Illinois.
Bears president Kevin Warrenfloated a move to northwest Indiana last month in a letter to season ticket-holdersamid a standoff with the Illinois Legislature over a replacement for Soldier Field. The state of Indiana took a major step to return that interest withthe introduction of Indiana Senate Bill 27.
The bill would establish a northwest Indiana stadium authority and counts two major lawmakers among its authors, majority floor leader Christ Garten and appropriations chair Ryan Mishler. The authority would be tasked with acquiring, financing, constructing and leasing what's need to construct an NFL stadium.
The move comes only a day after Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said, "We are working hard to bring the Chicago Bears to the Hoosier State" in his State of the State address. Perthe Indianapolis Star, House Speaker Todd Huston told reporters that the task could be accomplished without opening the budget this year.
The Bears released a statement Thursday evening welcoming the move,via NFL Network's Ian Rapoport:
"The legislation presented by the State of Indiana is a significant milestone in our discussions around a potential stadium development in Chicagoland's Northwest Indiana region. We appreciate the leadership and responsiveness of Governor Braun and Indiana lawmakers in advancing a framework that allows these conversations to move forward productively."
Figuring out their post-Soldier Field future has been a protracted process for the Bears. The team has made it clear it isn't interested in renovating its home of the past half-century,as former mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed in 2022. Soldier Field is the NFL's smallest stadium by seating capacity at 61,500 and the league's oldest stadium at 101 years old.
Instead, the team has bothfloated a new lakefront stadium near Soldier Field (projected price tag: $4.6 billion)andpurchased land for a domed venue in the suburb of Arlington Heights (projected price tag: more than $5 billion). Both plans would require billions in taxpayer support.
The Arlington Heights plan was the team's preferred move going into the winter, but hit a major stumbling block when Illinois state leaders allegedly told the team the project wouldn't be a priority in 2026. That's what prompted Warren's statement opening the door for Indiana to step in.
Earlier this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell visited the Bears for their wild-card game against the Green Bay Packers andspent some pregame time touring both the Arlington Heights site and multiple proposed sites in northwest Indiana. It wasn't a subtle message.
The Bears' Indiana flirtation might only be a play to leverage Illinois' leadership, but Indiana certainly seems to be treating the interest as real.
