The Chicago Bears Board of Directors voted Thursday to advance a plan for a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana, moving the franchise closer to leaving the state it's called home for more than 100 years. It's the first time in Bears history that the board has voted on a stadium site.
"There is more work to do, but barring anything very strange, it's a done deal," one source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. A league source told ESPN's Courtney Cronin that Indiana is "in the lead," though "Illinois can still get back in the race." Hammond sits roughly 25 miles from Soldier Field, just across the Indiana border.
The numbers are doing most of the announcement work here, which is usually how teams prefer it.
The franchise had long planned to leave Soldier Field—the oldest NFL stadium still in use—for Arlington Heights, Illinois, agreeing to purchase the 326-acre Arlington International Racecourse property for $197 million in 2021 and finalizing the buy in 2023. But in a December letter, team president Ted Warren explained the change in tone: State leadership had told him directly the project would not be a priority in 2026, despite its benefits to Illinois. He had also wanted a firm commitment from Arlington Heights to make a bid for the 2031 Super Bowl in a would-be new domed stadium.
Earlier this week, the Illinois Senate passed a last-minute bill allowing cities in Cook County with more than 70,000 people to set up their own stadium authorities—a structure similar to what Northwest Indiana could offer. The Illinois House adjourned without voting on the measure. State senator Bill Cunningham introduced the bill, which would have let the Bears avoid property taxes by leasing the stadium from the city rather than owning it outright. Property tax certainty has long been crucial to the team's next move.
The Bears' lease at Soldier Field runs through 2033, though they can buy their way out, per the Chicago Tribune. The franchise began as the Decatur Staleys in 1920 and has played at Soldier Field since 1971.
A Franchise at a Crossroads
The Bears have now voted to leave Illinois for a state that already has an NFL team—the Indianapolis Colts. That's the kind of move that reads as inevitability until you actually say it out loud. Whether the new stadium rises in Hammond or elsewhere, the Bears are signaling that their future lies somewhere other than where their history began.
One Last Read On The Paperwork
The tidy way to read this is as a personnel update. The more useful way is to see the pressure behind it, because clubs rarely move this much paper when everyone is comfortable.